Fee schedule

The fee schedule for Certificate Holders, effective from 1 October 2017, can be viewed below.


Certificate Holders are invited to raise matters requiring clarification. The matters raised, along with their answers, are given below.

If you have any matters which require interpretation or clarification please email Agita Nagle.


Certificate Holder fee schedule

Q: Why has SBP introduced fees for Certificate Holders?

A: Levying a fee on Certificate Holders is the most common, best practice and proven way to fund a certification system.

Q: What will the fees be used for?

A: The fees will cover the cost of running SBP, which includes the cost for running and improving the Data Transfer System (DTS).

Q: Will SBP be able to cover its total operating cost in 2018 solely with the fees collected?

A: Total operating costs will only be covered if sufficient volumes of SBP-certified material flow through the Data Transfer System (DTS).

Q: What will happen if the fees collected in 2018 are not sufficient to cover the total operating costs of SBP?

A: Should insufficient fees be collected to cover the 2018 operating costs of SBP, in the first instance, action will be taken to reduce the overall operating costs and then the current SBP member companies will, as they have been doing so far, financially support SBP.  

Q: Why was it decided not to maintain the current funding model?

A: It was never intended for SBP member companies to fund the organisation beyond the short term. The current funding model was put in place to enable the SBP certification system to ‘get to market’ in a timely fashion. It was always the intention to move towards a predominantly self-funding model in time.

The credibility of SBP as an emerging stakeholder organisation should not be put at risk or conflicted by a perceived financial control by a specific stakeholder group.  

Q: What is the basis for the rate of the fees?

A: Initially, the Certificate Holder fees were based on the ENPlus fee system.

Q: Why does the fee for wood pellets differ from that for woodchips?

A: The two categories of fuel - wood pellets and woodchips - have significantly different net calorific values and as a result attract different fees. Wood pellets and woodchips may be readily differentiated by physical inspection, however, where such physical inspection is not definitive biomass with a net calorific value greater than 15MJ/kg shall be defined as wood pellet and that with a net calorific value of less than 15MJ/kg shall be defined as woodchip. Note: woodchips shall be recorded in the Data Transfer System on a wet tonne basis.

Q: Who will determine the volumes of SBP-certified material that will form the basis of the ultimate fee, and where will the data be taken from?

A: SBP will determine the volumes based on data/transactions recorded in the Data Transfer System (DTS).

Q: Will the SBP accredited Certification Bodies be collecting the fees from Certificate Holders, like in the FSC and PEFC systems?

A: No, SBP will collect the fees itself.

Q: What currency will the fees be invoiced in?

A: The fees will be invoiced in Euros.

Q: Will the underlying calculation of the fee be supplied to each Certificate Holder with the invoice?

A: Yes, the process will be transparent.

Q: What should I do if I require just one invoice to cover the fees of multiple facilities in my group of companies?

A: Please contact SBP at info@sbp-cert.org as soon as possible.

Q: What happens in the case of non-payment of fees?

A: Non-payment will trigger a payment reminder and, in last instance, a suspension of the certificate and use of the Data Transfer System (DTS) will be disabled.

Q: How will the quarterly billing of Certificate Holders be handled administratively?

A: Certificate Holders will be invoiced directly by SBP.

Q: Will an annual fee be levied on a certified Biomass Producer if no biomass is sold with an SBP claim?

A: As currently proposed, if no SBP-certified biomass pellets are supplied within the period there will be no fee levied.