ISO 14044 is the international standard that sets the detailed requirements and guidelines for carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA).
Where its companion, ISO 14040, lays out the principles and framework, ISO 14044 is the one you actually work to when you run an assessment.
Its current edition dates from 2006, later sharpened by two amendments, in 2017 and 2020.
People often name ISO 14040 as the standard behind their life cycle assessment. In practice, ISO 14040 only explains what an LCA is. ISO 14044 is the standard that tells you how to carry one out properly, and what a credible study has to include.
Quick facts on ISO 14044
Below are the essential facts about ISO 14044, in plain terms.
Standard. ISO 14044
Full title. Environmental management, life cycle assessment, requirements and guidelines
Current edition. 2006, amended in 2017 and 2020
Status. Published and current
Type. A requirements and methodology standard you conform to, not a certification
Published by. ISO/TC 207, subcommittee SC 5 (life cycle assessment)
Works with. ISO 14040, its principles-and-framework companion
Note: Edition and amendments confirmed against ISO's catalogue, checked July 2026. ISO 14044 is a methodology standard you conform to and reference. There is no "ISO 14044 certificate".
What ISO 14044 requires
ISO 14040 names the four phases of an LCA. ISO 14044 is the standard that says what each phase has to contain to be sound. In plain terms, it sets the requirements for each one.
-
Goal and scope. State why the study is done, the functional unit (the exact job being compared, like "delivering one litre of drink to a shelf"), where the system starts and stops, and how good the data has to be.
-
Inventory analysis (LCI). Collect and calculate every input and output across the life cycle, and follow set rules for allocation, which is how you split the load when one process makes more than one product.
-
Impact assessment (LCIA). Choose the impact categories, sort the inventory into them, and calculate the results. Some steps, like weighting, are optional and cannot be used to back a public comparison.
-
Interpretation. Check the results are complete, consistent and not overly sensitive to assumptions, then state the conclusions, the limits, and any recommendations.
The thread running through all four is honesty. Most of 14044 exists to stop an assessment being quietly shaped to give the answer someone wanted.
How ISO 14044 handles allocation and review
Two of the standard's rules do most of that work, and they are worth knowing on their own.
-
Allocation. When a single process turns out several products, its environmental load has to be divided between them, and a convenient split can rig the result. ISO 14044 sets a strict order for that split, shown below, from the option that keeps the study cleanest to the one used only when nothing else fits.
-
Critical review. If a study is used to make a comparative claim shown to the public, saying one product is better for the environment than another, ISO 14044 requires that study to be reviewed, including by interested parties. It is the check that keeps a self-serving assessment from being published as settled fact.
Who uses ISO 14044
ISO 14044 is the working standard for anyone who actually builds or checks an LCA, rather than just reads the result.
That means LCA practitioners and consultants running the studies, the authors behind Environmental Product Declarations, sustainability teams standing behind a number, and the reviewers auditing a comparison before it goes public.
A consultant modelling two packaging options for a producer works to ISO 14044 for every judgement call along the way, from the functional unit to how the load is split. It is what makes the two results comparable and defensible.
How ISO 14044 backs a credible claim
For a producer under extended producer responsibility, ISO 14044 is not a compliance standard and it does not set your packaging fee. That fee is driven by things like recyclability, which ISO 18604 covers.
Where it matters is the environmental numbers you are increasingly asked to show. Environmental Product Declarations and product carbon footprints are built on an LCA, and it is ISO 14044 that decides whether that LCA holds up. The critical-review rule in particular is what lets a public "better for the environment" claim survive a challenge instead of collapsing under one.
Put simply, ISO 14040 tells you what a credible assessment looks like, and ISO 14044 is what you point to when someone asks you to prove yours is one.
Where ISO 14044 sits in the LCA family
A handful of standards cluster around life cycle assessment. Here is how ISO 14044 relates to the ones people meet most.
-
ISO 14044 and ISO 14040. The pair. ISO 14040 gives the principles and framework, ISO 14044 gives the requirements and guidelines. You read 14040 to understand an LCA and work to 14044 to run one.
-
ISO 14067. The carbon footprint of a product, a single-issue LCA pointed at greenhouse gases. It sits on the ISO 14040 and 14044 framework.
-
ISO 14025. The rulebook for publishing a Type III Environmental Product Declaration. It uses LCA results, produced under 14044, as its input.
-
ISO 14071. Guidance on the critical review process itself, expanding on the review that 14044 requires.
Common questions about ISO 14044
Short, self-contained answers to the questions people ask most about ISO 14044.
What is ISO 14044?
ISO 14044 is the international standard, current edition 2006, that sets the detailed requirements and guidelines for carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA). It is the working companion to ISO 14040, which gives the principles and framework.
Is ISO 14044 a certification?
No. It is a requirements and methodology standard you conform to and reference, not a scheme you get audited and certified against. The same is true of its companion, ISO 14040.
What is the difference between ISO 14040 and ISO 14044?
ISO 14040 sets out the principles and framework of an LCA, the what and the why. ISO 14044 gives the detailed requirements for carrying one out, the how. They were designed as a pair and are used together.
What edition of ISO 14044 is current?
The 2006 edition, amended by Amendment 1 in 2017 and Amendment 2 in 2020. When you cite it, cite the 2006 edition together with those amendments.
What is allocation in ISO 14044?
Allocation is how you split a process's environmental load when it produces more than one product. ISO 14044 sets a strict order: first avoid the split by subdividing the process or widening the system boundary, then split by a physical relationship such as mass or energy, and only as a last resort split by another measure such as economic value.
When does ISO 14044 require a critical review?
Whenever a study is used to make a comparative claim that is disclosed to the public, ISO 14044 requires a critical review, including a review by interested parties. This is what stops a self-serving comparison being published as fact.
Do I need ISO 14044 to make an Environmental Product Declaration?
In effect, yes. A Type III EPD under ISO 14025 is built on life cycle assessment data, and that LCA follows the ISO 14040 framework and the ISO 14044 requirements. The EPD is the published result, the LCA behind it is the work.
Is ISO 14044 mandatory?
No. ISO 14044 is voluntary. It is not required by law, but EPD programmes, buyers and reviewers routinely expect an LCA to follow it, which makes it the working standard in practice.
