Terms and Conditions for Developers

UK Carbon Reporting Framework

Definitions

CRF – the UK Carbon Reporting Framework, administered by the Building Research Establishment Ltd.

Project – the carbon reduction project which has been submitted to the CRF in order to seek funding

Project developer – the organisation which is pursuing the development of the project

Project sponsor – the individual or organisations which are providing funding to the project

Actual project cost – the cost of delivering the project as estimated by the project developer

Total project costs – the actual project costs plus the fee payable to the CRF to cover administration costs

CRF maintenance contribution – the percentage the CRF adds to the funding total required by the project developer to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the CRF. 

N.B. It is anticipated that this is received by the project developer from the project sponsor as part of the total project cost and is paid to the CRF by the project developer on receiving all funding required for their project through the CRF

CRF administration contribution – £200 which project developers provide as a contribution to the review of their project documentation for consistency and completeness

Project Submission Form – the online form to be completed for each project to be registered on the CRF website 

Website – the CRF website available at www.ukcarbonreporting.org

Carbon accounting methodology – the approved methodology provided by the CRF for the calculation of carbon savings from the carbon reduction project

 Project Developers

 1.      Eligibility

1.1   Only projects for which a CRF approved carbon accounting methodology exists are eligible to use the CRF.  The current list of approved methodologies will be published on the CRF website: www.ukcarbonreporting.org

1.2   Only legally incorporated organisations can submit projects to the CRF, however there is no restriction on the type of organisation; i.e. charity, Local Authority, Limited Company etc.  Any eligible organisation can submit as many projects as they wish to the CRF. 

1.3   Individuals can not to submit projects to the CRF.

1.4   In order to enable a project to use the CRF to raise funding the CRF needs to have confidence that the project if it is successful in receiving funding is going to be delivered.  Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the CRF.  Project developers should contact the CRF and discuss their project if they have any questions regarding eligibility.

1.5   All project developers must agree with these Terms and Conditions in order to be able to use the CRF.  Acceptance is at the point of registering to use the CRF.

 2.      Project submissions

2.1   In order to submit a project to the CRF, project developers must complete the online project documentation for their project, accept these Terms and Conditions and provide the ‘CRF administration contribution’ (waived until April 2012).

2.2   The CRF will make every reasonable effort to acknowledge receipt of the completed project submission and CRF administration contribution within 2 working days.

2.3   If the project is eligible to be placed on the CRF website to raise financial support, the CRF will make every reasonable effort to notify the project developer within 5 working days and make the project live on the website within 10 days of this notification.

2.4   If the project submission is found to be ineligible or incorrect, the CRF will make every reasonable effort to notify the project developer within 5 working days with comments on their submission and invite the project developer to resubmit.  

 2.5   No additional administration contribution will be required if the project submission form is resubmitted within 10 working days of notification set out in 2.4 above.  If the project is found to be incorrect after a second submission the CRF reserves the right to charge a second administrative contribution.

3.      Costs

3.1   CRF Administration Contribution

3 .1.1      A non-refundable contribution of £200 will required from project developers submitting projects to the CRF.  This is to be paid online at the point submitting the project details for inspection (the CRF Administrative Contribution has been waived until April 2014). 

3.2   CRF Maintenance Contribution

3.2.1          The CRF Maintenance Contribution is added to the funding which the project is looking to raise through the CRF.  The size of the contribution varies depending on the amount of project funding achieved through the CRF (see Table 1). 

 Table 1: The CRF Maintenance Contribution to be paid by the project developer on receipt of funding through the CRF

Total amount of funding sought through the CRF

CRF Maintenance Contribution

Up to £20,000

£1,500

£20,000 to £50,000

£3,000

£50,000 to £100,000

£5,000

£100,000 to £500,000

£10,000

More than £500,000

£20,000

4.2.2          It is intended that although the project developer pays the CRF Maintenance Contribution to the CRF, the project developer receives the money to cover the CRF Maintenance Contribution from the project sponsor.  The CRF will add the CRF Maintenance Contribution to the cost of the actual project cost to make it clear to project sponsors that this is the total project cost required by the project.

4.2.3          If a project only receives financial support representing part of the total funding that they are seeking the appropriate CRF Maintenance Contribution will be applied as per Table 1.  Project developers will disclose on request all sources of funding secured for the project.

 4.      Services provided by the CRF to the project developer

4.1   The following services are provided by the CRF to the project developer:

  • An assessment of the completeness of the project submission information provided by the project developer
  • Confirmation that the appropriate Carbon Accounting methodology has been used and applied correctly
  • The placing of the project information on the CRF website and the updating of this as required
  • Notification that a project sponsor has requested the contact details of the project developer

5.       Funding from sources outside of the CRF

5.1   It is recognised that projects may receive funding from multiple sources – the CRF being just one of these.  In light of this a project developer is welcome to submit a project which already has some funding secured, in order to solicit the balance of required funding from the CRF.

 5.2   When a project is submitted to the CRF which already has partial funding secured, this will be communicated on the CRF website along with the balance of funding required to deliver the project.  The fundraising fee will only be applied to the balance of funding yet to be secured, and will be a maximum of 10% of that sum up to a maximum of £20,000.

 6.      Project exposure on the CRF website

6.1   A project will remain on the CRF website in order to solicit support for 12 months from its addition to the CRF website (unless the project developer request that the project is removed). 

6.2   If a project has not been fully funded after 11 months of exposure on the CRF website the project developer will be contacted by the CRF and reminded that they have one more month of exposure on the website.  At this point a dialogue will be entered into between the CRF and the project developer about a potential extension for their project on the website.

Any decision to grant or not to grant an extension is at the sole discretion of the CRF.

6.3   If a project does not receive sponsorship totalling 100% of project costs within 12 months the project will be removed from the CRF website if an extension has not be negotiated and all project sponsors who have previously expressed interest will be notified by the CRF.

 7.      Project variance

7.1   In order to ensure that the information communicated about a project on the CRF website is correct, project developers are required to inform the CRF of all relevant changes in details.

 8.      Use of project information

8.1   The CRF will use information supplied by a project developer about their organisation and project to support the promotion of their project on the CRF website.

8.2   By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions the project developer agrees to the CRF using and information they provide in the project submission to promote the CRF.  This might include but is not limited to, marketing brochures, flyers, emails and films. 

9.      Interaction with project sponsors

9.1   Project developers can expect to be contacted by potential project sponsors with questions regarding their project in advance of deciding to whether or not to support their project. 

9.2   The CRF requests project developers to interact with project sponsors in a professional manner.

9.3   If there are repeated complaints about a project developer their projects will be removed from the CRF website.

9.4   To help the CRF keep up to date with progress on funding for projects, project developers shall provide updates to the CRF of all contact and communication with project sponsors on request. 

 10.  Receiving funding through the CRF

10.1    A project sponsor is free to provide either a cash donation or a loan to the project developer to cover project costs.  If a loan is offered the CRF will undertake no due diligence on behalf of the project developer on the soundness of the investment or on behalf of the project sponsor on the conditions of the loan.   The CRF will not be liable to either the project sponsor or project developer in event of any issues which may arise as a result of either offering or receiving a loan via the CRF.

10.2    on receiving funding from a project sponsor the project developer must notify the CRF within 5 working days and the CRF will update the projects webpage appropriately.

10.3   On receipt of funding equalling the total project costs the project developer must make the appropriate CRF maintenance contribution within 10 working days.

10.4    If, for whatever reason, a project developer wishes not to accept an offer of financial support offered by a project sponsor they are under no obligation to accept it.

 11.  Publicity and promotion

11.1   If at any time the project developer mentions the CRF in publicity or promotional material about their project they must do so using approved wording to be supplied by the CRF.  Project developers making erroneous statements about the CRF will be requested to amend these statements.  The CRF reserves the right to remove projects from the CRF is false statements about the use of the CRF are not amended.  

 12.  Liability

 12.1   The CRF does not accept any liability for any losses or costs incurred by the project developer as a result of the CRF not being able to attract funding for their project.

12.2     The information made available by the CRF on its website and elsewhere in relation to the CRF and more generally in relation to carbon reduction projects and carbon reporting is intended to act as a guide only, and the CRF is not responsible for the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of such information.  Accordingly the CRF cannot and does not accept any liability for any loss or damage that the project developer or sponsor may suffer as a result of using such information.

 12.3    The CRF cannot and does not guarantee or underwrite the performance of any project.

 12.4    A project sponsor is free to provide financial support in any form agreed with the project developer to cover project costs e.g. grant or loan.  The CRF will not be liable to either the project sponsor or project developer for the failure of either party to fulfil any of their obligations to the other party as part of any agreement reached between the parties.

13.  Questions

13.1    Any questions regarding the operation of the CRF should be made through the CRF website and the contact us page.