I am unfortunately dealing with documentation that others gathered, and I am now trying to make it work. I have an invoice for FSC wood that was used for our doors. Although the invoice shows line items, there is no cost per line item nor FSC identification per line. There is an FSC Mix stamp and a total cost at the bottom. This obviously doesn't meet the standard format that LEED requires. The invoice is a year old (and paid) and the company is saying that they aren't able to alter and/or reprint the invoice. Any alternative? Could I get a letter from the company to suppliment the invoice, breaking down the info on the invoice the way LEED requires? Has anybody tried this, and what success have you had? Help!
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Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
May 13, 2014 - 10:52 am
if they break it down to the line-item level with the % FSC Mix in an email you may be able to submit that as documentation. It's not ideal but it's better than nothing. I had an invoice that had some errors and instead of fixing it so it was 100% correct I submitted it with an explanation and screenshots of the email exchange. (this was after about the 4th revision on the invoices.) This is something that's more likely to get approved on a final review than a preliminary review. On the preliminary review the reviewer will probably ask for proper invoices.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
May 13, 2014 - 10:54 am
a signed letter would be just as good/ better than an email
It's too bad they won't help you out by printing an invoice that conforms to the LEED rules.
On my future projects pursuing this credit I'll likely send folks a sample invoice of how things need to be broken down so they can get it right the 1st time.
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
May 13, 2014 - 2:00 pm
MRc7 requires a letter from the vendor if their invoice do not itemize FSC products. The letter & invoice must comply with the “Exception” described at the very end of the “Chain-of-Custody Requirements” section of the LEED-2009 BC+C Reference Guide:
“Exceptions: In some rare instances, it may not be practical for a vendor to invoice wood products on a line-item basis because the invoice would be dozens of pages long. In such cases, the invoice should indicate the aggregate value of wood products sold by the vendor. If the wood products are FSC certified, comply with the following requirements:
a. The vendor's COC number must be shown on the invoice.
b. The invoice must be supplemented by a letter from the vendor staring that the products invoiced are FSC certified.
c. The invoice or the letter must state whether the products are FSC Pure, FSC Mixed Credit, or FSC Mixed (NN)%.”
Renee Shirey
Stantec422 thumbs up
June 16, 2014 - 2:41 pm
Follow up: The signed letter from the vendor was accepted! The project was quite some time ago, and the software that they used at the time did not allow for the addition of the FSC info on the itemized lines. They explained this in their letter, and clarified that their FSC consultant had directed them that this letter was acceptable for projects completed with their old software program. They have since updated their software and are now able to include the required FSC info on their invoices.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
June 16, 2014 - 3:05 pm
Congrats, Renee! I'm glad you were able to work this out and kudos to the LEED reviewers for accepting this alternative documentation. Now that you've tackled this credit you can tackle any of them :)
Renee Shirey
Stantec422 thumbs up
June 16, 2014 - 3:44 pm
I would also like to say to the LEED people out there - be presistant. The contact person from the company gave me a hard time, acting like I was asking for something unheard of. I continued to be polite but to the point - I need this info and this is why. When he clearly wasn't going to provide a reprinted and revised invoice (it had long been paid and was in their old software system) I requested the letter, and was specific about what should be in it. He balked, didn't think they could do that, and then said that he would talk to there FSC person. Fast forward, I get a call back and suddenly "poof" the letter isn't a problem and guess what? Their new system actually has that info built in for their invoices. Um, yeah - because it's a REQUIREMENT for documenting FSC wood. I smile, thank them for their time and cooperation, and move on to the next LEED challenge...
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
June 17, 2014 - 1:31 pm
Bingo!
Recently, I spent weeks trying to explain to a contractor what documentation we required from their casework fabricator. The contractor made several incomplete, unsatisfactory attempts. Finally, I said, “Contact your fabricator. Tell them that you need invoices & FSC documentation for LEED. They are FSC-Certified, so they should already know exactly what we need.”
Voila! Three days later, we had it!
Lesson: Establish contact with your vendor’s FSC manager early.