In February 2012, the Environment Agency (EA) published new guidance, CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme: Compliance Audit Need To Know, on how the relevant regulators will audit participants under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).

The four-page guidance note sets out the process for carrying out audits. It complements the more detailed CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme: Compliance Auditing Overview, which was published in February 2011. According to the EA's website, more comprehensive process and best practice guidance is expected to be published in due course.

The purpose of the audits is to check compliance with the scheme based on the records participants are required to keep in an evidence pack. Participants can expect to be audited once in each Phase of the CRC. The current Phase runs from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2014. The audits will be carried out either by the EA, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) or approved contractors.

The EA has said it will publish on its website an annual summary with the outcomes of the audits but will not publish individual audit reports. The first audits were expected to have started in autumn 2011. It would appear from what it says on the EA's website that there have already been a series of trial audits (see EA: Compliance auditing).

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Source: EA: CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme: Compliance Audit Need To Know (February 2012).