Wiki source code of C0241 - CEC LCA Support Query Form (cecLQF) V2 - Guidance

Version 9.1 by SuperUwe Trueggelmann on 2025-11-22

version	line-number	content
6.2	1	[[Label>>ordering\|\|anchor="Ordering CEC Services"]]
7.1	2
2.2	3	= Introduction =
2.1	4
2.2	5	The cecQAF (CEC Query and Assessment Form) is central to the CEC Certification Process.
2.1	6
2.2	7	After signing the NDA, the cecQAF is used progressively throughout the CEC Certification Process of a Vendor's sustainable product, throughout the different phases of the CEC Certification Process:
2.1	8
2.2	9	\|=Phase\|=Function of the cecQAF\|=
9.1	10	\|[[Label>>\|\|anchor="Ordering CEC Services"]]\|Define the products and sites the vendor wants to subject to CEC Certification, and for which Product and Site combination the Vendor requests CEC Certificates\|
2.2	11	\|Preparation of the CEC Assessment\|Capture the data for the Production Sites and Components, such as electricity consumption of each production site, number of product produced by each production site, sustainable content, mass, and dimensions of each Component, transport distances and types of transport (road, sea, air)\|
5.1	12	\|CEC Assessment\|Assessment Record, Corrective Action Plan\|
2.2	13
	14	The cecQAF replaces a range of forms used in V1 of the CEC Certification Process and the optional LCA Support Process:
	15
	16	* cecAOF - CEC Assessment Order Form - used to order a CEC Assessment
	17	* cecAP - CEC Assessment Plan - used to define the products to be assessed and to facilitate and formalize the CEC Assessment
	18	* cecLOF - CEC LCA Support Order Form - used to order LCA Support
	19	* cecLQF - CEC LCA Support Query Form - used to capture the input data for the CEC Indicator calculation
	20	* cecLCR - CEC LCA support Report form - used to communicate the results of the CEC Indicator calculation
5.5	21	* cecLQRF - CEC LCA Query and Report from - used towards the end of CEC V1 to capture the input data for and communicate the results of the CEC Indicator calculation, replacing the separate cecLQF and cecLCR forms
2.2	22
2.3	23	In addition, the cecQAF enables the following improvements considered in CEC V2 compared to the previous forms:
2.2	24
2.3	25	* One form for multiple sites and multiple products, while previously each product and site combination had to be handled individually and required their own set of forms.
	26	* One form for multiple variants of a product, a case occurring for example when a second source for the overlay of a card was used, such construction with a second source overlay previously requiring its separate certification (and forms, and cost)
	27	* When using the same component in multiple sites, or for multiple products, the component data has only to be entered once, instead of previously into the forms for each product and site combination
2.2	28
2.3	29	Therefor, while initially appearing intimidating to some, the use of the cecQAF should provide a range of improvements and simplifications for the Vendor.
	30
	31	If you have feedback regarding this form, or these instructions, please email them to [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]].
	32
	33	The instructions described subsequently are grouped firstly by the Phase and then by the worksheet the Vendor has to complete.
	34
5.5	35	== General Guidance ==
	36
	37	The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to ordering CEC Services have light blue tabs.
	38
	39	The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to the CEC Assessment have dark blue tabs.
	40
	41	You can only enter information into the light blue or white fields of the various worksheets, not into the medium or dark blue fields in the vendor sections.
	42
	43	Some areas are greyed out until you enter information elsewhere. For example the fields in the Recycling worksheet are grey until you have defined that you request a certificate for the corresponding Product and Site combination; only then the corresponding fields show a light blue background.
	44
2.3	45	= Ordering CEC Services =
	46
2.4	47	== Overview ==
2.3	48
2.4	49	To request CEC Certification Services, the Vendor must enter information into the following worksheets in the cecQAF:
	50
	51	* Coversheet
	52	* Components
	53	* Products
	54	* Sites
	55	* Certificates
	56
	57	Once the Vendor entered the required information into the Worksheets, the Vendor must:
	58
	59	* save the cecQAF to their computer,
	60	* name it according to the cecQAF Naming Convention,
	61	* and send it to [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]]
	62
2.5	63	This will initiate the CEC Quotation, Invoicing, and Payment Process.
2.4	64
5.2	65	Some instructions are also given in Section 1b of the Coversheet of the cecQAF.
	66
2.5	67	Below is the description what to enter into each worksheet in the cecQAF:
2.4	68
2.5	69	== Coversheet ==
	70
	71	The Vendor must enter the following information into Section 1a of the Coversheet worksheet:
	72
	73	* Registered Company Name (must match the registered company name)
	74	* CEC Primary Contact information (must match the registered primary contact)
	75	* Commercial Contact information (the person handling the communication related to commercial questions, for example manages the quotation)
	76	* Technical Contact information (the person handling the communication related to the technical questions)
	77	* Functional Unit (from the pull down menu), email [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]] if you have a product that is not available in the pull down menu
	78
	79	The section Units is optional at this stage.
	80
	81	The section Count of Items is automaticall populated from the data the Vendor enters into the other worksheets.
	82
2.6	83	== Components worksheet ==
2.5	84
2.6	85	Enter information for each component that is part of a product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for.
2.5	86
2.6	87	The minimum information at the Ordering CEC Services stage is:
2.5	88
2.6	89	* Function
	90	* Nominal Material
	91	* Supplier
	92	* If you receive the same Nominal Material in different thicknesses from the same supplier, please complete one row for each thickness, and also complete the Thickness column for these materials.
	93
	94	The information itself can be corrected before the CEC Assessment, but the number of components must be correct. Additional components incur additional cost.
	95
	96	The other information is optional at this stage, but will have to be entered before the CEC Assessment can take place.
	97
	98	== Products worksheet ==
	99
2.7	100	For each Product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter:
2.6	101
	102	* the Name of the Product, this is the name your company assigns to the product, for example the commercial name your company intends to market the product under. The name may be corrected prior to the CEC Assessment; the purpose is to inform CEC about the number of Products and Variants, and have an initial name to identify the product.
	103	* Select the components each Product consists of, using the pull-down menu in each cell. This may be corrected prior to the CEC Assessment.
	104	* If you have multiple card constructions to make one product, for example you use overlay from different suppliers when making a card, then define your primary construction (the one sold in the highest volume, or the one initially qualified) as the Product in column C, and the variants in columns D to H. Note that you will just receive one CEC Certificate for a product including its Variants, reflecting the worst case. If you want separate certificates, then define the different constructions (for example card with overlays from different suppliers) as individual Products and not as Variants of one Product.
	105
2.7	106	== Sites worksheet ==
2.6	107
2.7	108	For each Site the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter the requested data, including a name for each site.
2.6	109
2.7	110	== Certificates worksheet ==
2.6	111
2.7	112	The Products and Sites you defined following the instructions above will show up in the Certificates worksheet.
	113
	114	CEC Certificates are issued for a specific Product produced in a specific Site.
	115
	116	For each combination of Product and Site you request a renewed CEC Certificate for, enter the Claim Number (like "clm1234") from the current CEC Certificate into the cell in the column corresponding to the Site and the row corresponding to the Product. If the CEC Certificate is already expired, then add "(exp)" (without the quotes) behind the Claim Number.
	117
	118	For each combination of Product and Site you request a new CEC Certificate for, enter the word "New" (without the quotes) into the cell in the column corresponding to the Site, and the row corresponding to the Product. You need to request a new CEC Certificate if the combination of Product and Site had not previously been CEC Certified.
	119
5.3	120	Every CEC Certificate requested as a result from this process must be correctly specified at this point in time. Additional Certificates will require completing a new cecQAF once this one has been processed.
	121
2.8	122	= Prepare the CEC Assessment =
2.7	123
5.3	124	To prepare the CEC Assessment, the Vendor needs to provide accurate information about the Components, Sites, and Products.
2.7	125
5.3	126	This information will be verified during the CEC Assessment.
2.8	127
5.3	128	The Vendor is not permitted to make changes less than 5 working days before the scheduled start of the CEC Assessment.
	129
	130	The subsequent sections give guidance for entering the required information into the worksheet named in the heading of each section.
	131
	132	== Coversheet ==
	133
	134	Verify the information in the Coversheet Section 1a.
	135
	136	If not completed already, select the correct Unit in the tow "Unit for the Functional Unit":
	137
	138	* "card" for card bodies, IC Cards, personalisation solutions
	139	* IC for Integrated Circuits
	140	* ICM for IC Modules
	141	* kg for plastic films and plastic resins
	142	* If you are uncertain what to choose, e-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]]
	143
	144	Follow the instructions in section 1c.
	145
	146	== Components worksheet ==
	147
	148	Enter information for each component that is part of a product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for.
	149
	150	All blue columns except the CEC Claim ID column must be completed.
	151
	152	In the CEC Claim ID column enter the CEC Claim ID granted to your supplier for this component. Check with your supplier if the component is CEC certified. If the component is not CEC certified, then leave the cell empty.
	153
	154	The information must be correct for the CEC Assessment to be successful.
	155
	156	== Products worksheet ==
	157
	158	For each Product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter:
	159
	160	* the Name of the Product, this is the name your company assigns to the product, for example the commercial name your company intends to market the product under. This name will be used to identify the product on the CEC Certificate.
	161	* Select the components each Product consists of, using the pull-down menu in each cell. This is the construction that will be assessed during the CEC Assessment.
	162	* If you have multiple card constructions to make one product, for example you use overlay from different suppliers when making a card, then define your primary construction (the one sold in the highest volume, or the one initially qualified) as the Product in column C, and the variants in columns D to H. Note that you will just receive one CEC Certificate for a product including its Variants, reflecting the worst case.
	163
	164	== Sites worksheet ==
	165
5.5	166	For each Site the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, verify the requested data, including the name and address for each site.
5.3	167
	168	This information will be used on the CEC Certificates for this site.
	169
	170	== Certificates worksheet ==
	171
	172	Verify the information already entered into the worksheet. E-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]] regarding changes or corrections you think you need to make to this worksheet.
	173
5.5	174	== Recycling worksheet ==
5.3	175
5.5	176	=== Production waste recycling quota ===
	177
	178	==== Information to enter ====
	179
	180	If you recycle the production waste from producing a specific Product in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the production waste.
	181
	182	The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the production waste specific from producing that type of product (for example PVC card) divided by the total mass of the production waste from producing that type of product.
	183
	184	Note that production waste containing plastic material usually has to be sorted by material type (PVC, PET, PETG) to allow for effective recycling.
	185
	186	During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
	187
	188	==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
	189
5.6	190	You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of production waste accepted:
5.5	191
	192	* You maintain records about your production waste, including waste categories differentiating different types of plastics (unless you only use one type of plastic) and other materials (like paper or packaging materials)
	193	* The amounts of production waste you claim are recylced correlate reasonably with the amounts of waste expected from your production, for example for card producers the amounts of waste resulting from rejects and punch grids/skeletons
	194	* You have evidence of shipping the correct amounts of material to your recycling provider
	195	* Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
	196	* Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
5.6	197	* If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
5.5	198
	199	=== Product EOL waste recycling quota ===
	200
	201	==== Information to enter ====
	202
5.6	203	If you recycle the product waste at end of life of a specific Product produced in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the Product EOL (EOL = End of Life) waste.
5.5	204
5.6	205	The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the product EOL waste specific to that that product divided by the total mass of the product EOL waste of that specific product.
5.5	206
	207	During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
	208
	209	==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
	210
5.6	211	You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of product EOL waste accepted:
	212
	213	* You have control of the collection process, and reasonable assumptions about the effort the collection takes
	214	* You have evidence about the collected amounts of material
	215	* You have evidence that the collected amounts of material have been forward to recycling providers
	216	* Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
	217	* Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
	218	* If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
	219
5.5	220	== Yield Loss and Sheet Format worksheet ==
	221
5.7	222	==== Information to enter ====
5.5	223
5.7	224
5.3	225
	226
3.2	227	(% class="box warningmessage" %)
	228	(((
	229	The below text is from the V1 cecLQF form, and needs to be updated. We keep this text for the time being as it may provide some help when completing the V2 LQF form, until it is replace by an updated text.
	230	)))
2.8	231
1.1	232	\|Step\|Action
	233	\| \|NOTE: You can only enter information into the light blue fields of the various worksheets, not into the medium or dark blue fields!
	234	\|1\|On worksheet "Coversheet",
	235	\|1.1\|- define the contact information for the LCA Support work
	236	\|1.2\|- define the information requested under "Card Construction Summary"; this information is used to identify and understand the product; it is not used for any calculation, especially the "Primary Card Material".
	237	\|1.3\|- define the information requested under "Yield Summary". This information is used for calculations.
	238	\|2\|For each layer of your card construction, starting with the front layer as "Layer 1" (ISO standards define that the side of a card containing the ISO/IEC 7816-2 contacts is the front, and the side containing the magnetic stripe is the rear of the card), define the information requested in the respective sheets:
	239	\|2.1\|- Row 2 is automatically determined based on the name of the worksheet tab
	240	\|2.2\|- Row 3: Select "Yes" if that layer is present in the construction, "No" if it is not. The first 5 "Layer N" worksheets are pre-set to 5, the others to "No". You can change in cell B2 of each "Layer N" worksheet if that "Layer N" worksheet shall be included.
	241	\|2.3\|- Row 4 - select the function the layer has in the card construction, eg "Overlay (coated)" or "Core (printed)".
	242	\|2.4\|- Row 5 - Select the material the layer is primarily made of. Usually this is the primary polymer.
	243	\|2.5\|- Rows 6 to 9 identify the material and this information may help to identify accurate information for the calculation of the LCA. If you consider this a serious trade secret and do not or are not permitted to disclose this information, then write "CONFIDENTIAL". We will try to do the calculations without this information, and will come back to you if that is not reasonably possible.
	244	\|2.6\|"Sheet matrix": Define the number of cards on your printed sheet, or in case of injection moulded cards the number of cards from one mould.
	245	\|2.7\|"Dimensions": Following the instructions in column G, define the dimensions and the weight of a single sheet of this Layer. As most companies do not have a scale accurate in the microgram range, to get a somewhat accurate value for the weight of a single sheet, please weight a larger number of sheets, eg 1000 sheets, then divide the measured total weight by the number of sheets and enter the result as the Sheet Weight in cell B20.
	246	\|2.8\|"Composition of the Plastic Material": Following the instructions in column G, enter the information you have or can obtain from your supplier. If you do not have certain information, then leave the corresponding fields empty. You need to at least define the Type of the Primary Polymer. If you do not provide any additional information in this section, we will make assumptions for the percentage of additives and colorants, and assume that the Primary Polymer is the only polymer in the layer. If eg a specific additive is a trade secret you, or your supplier, do not want to disclose, then include the percentage of this under "Other known" in cell C30, but write "CONFIDENTIAL" under "Type" in cell C30.
	247	\|2.9\|"Embedded materials and coatings": If you receive the layer pre-coated, define the coating in column B under "Material" and the thickness in mm under Quantity in column C. If you only know that the coating is an adhesive but not the chemical composition, just enter "adhesive" in column B.
	248	If the layer contains an antenna or other metal structures, calculate the volume of metal according to the guidance in column G and enter it into column C. "Embedded antenna wire" is typically copper wire of 0.1 mm diameter and appear as very thin lines. If the antenna structure is wider and appears silverish and is visible on both sides, it is likely Aluminium and you need to use the rows 39 and 40 "Metal on front/rear". If the layer is a weighted inlay with metal inside, use row 41 "Meal inside".
	249	\|2.10\|"Transport": Transport from your supplier can significantly contribute to the environmental impact, so it must be considered. To determine the actual distances in an acceptable way, you may find the following websites useful:
	250	- For Sea freight distances: https:~/~/www.searates.com/services/distances-time/;
	251	- For Rail and Road, directions obtained from maps.google.com or maps.bing.com are generally acceptable;
	252	- For Air Freight, the distance between the two airports, determined using Google Earth or similar services is generally acceptable.
	253	- Take records, eg screenshots, from these calculations, as you will need them as evidences during the CEC Assessment!
	254	\|3\|If the product you requested the LCA Support for contains an IC (eg ICC, but not CB), then complete the IC worksheet to the right of the "Layer 20" worksheet:
	255	\|3.1\|Set B3 to "Yes"
	256	\|3.2\|Enter the supplier and product information in B6 to B9.
	257	\|3.3\|Enter the width and the height of the IC into B12 and B13. Use the nominal dimensions provided by the IC supplier. If these are not available, measure the width and height of the IC and then also set E12 and E13 to "Vendor measurements".
	258	\|3.4 \|Enter the thickness of the IC into B15. Use the nominal thickness provided by the IC supplier; if the IC supplier provides a range, then take the arithmetic average of the minimum and maximum specified for the rante. If these are not available, measure the thickness of one IC and then also set E15 to "Vendor measurements"; in this case also describe how you did the measurement under "Vendor's notes" as some corrections of the obtained value might be necessary.
	259	\|3.5\|If you buy the IC in wafer format, then complete the Transport section too. If you buy the IC packaged into an ICM or an IL containing the IC, then leave the Transport section on the IC worksheet empty as transport of the IC will be covered by the Layer worksheet for the inlay or the ICM worksheet.
	260	\|4\|If the product you requested the LCA Support for contains an ICM (eg many ICC, but not CB), then complete the ICM worksheet to the right of the "Layer 20" and the "IC" worksheets:
	261	\|4.1\|Set B3 to "Yes"
	262	\|4.2\|Enter the supplier and product information in B6 to B9.
	263	\|4.3\|Select the module tape construction type in B10. If you know that the module tape is single sided, then select "Single Sided", otherwise leave it as "Double Sided" as that is the most common construction. If you are using a module tape construction different from these two, select "Other" and describe the construction under "Vendor's notes".
	264	\|4.4\|Select the way the IC is connected to the contacts of the module tape in B11. If you do not know the interconnection technology, then leave it as "Die and Wire Bond". If you know the IC is connected using flip chip technology, then select "Flip Chip". If another technology is used, then select "Other" and describe the interconnection technology under "Vendor's notes". Wire bonded ICs typically are encapsulated by a clear or black plastic material to protect the wires. Flip chip'ed ICs are usually not encapsulated.
	265	\|4.5\|Enter the width of the module tape into B14. This is in almost all cased the standard width of 35 mm. If you determine a different value, please send a photo of the module tape with this form.
	266	\|4.6\|Enter the pitch between two modules in the winding direction of the tape into B15. Note that normally this value is either 9.5 mm (many 6 contact modules, but not for 8 contact modules), or 14.25 mm (for 8 contacts modules and for many 6 contact modules with a surrounding antenna)
	267	\|4.7\|To determine the mass of the module tape attributable to a single module, 3 measurements are take:
	268	- Measure the weight of a whole module reel, without packaging but otherwise as received, before inserting it into the embedding machine, and before adding any leader tape to it, should you do that, and enter the determined weight, in gram, into B17.
	269	- Once you have processed the whole reel, measure the weight of the empty reel plus the weight of the black interleave tape (should there have been one between the windings of the module tape), plus the weight of any reject modules punched from the module tape (if any) and enter the determined weight, in gram, into B18.
	270	- Enter the number of good ICM according to the module reel supplier 's label, into B19.
	271	The worksheet will now determine the mass attributable to a single module in B20.
	272	\|5\|Additional notes:
	273	- The worksheet "Card Construction Summary" is determined automatically from the other worksheets. DO NOT ENTER ANY INFORMATION INTO THE "Card Construction Summary" worksheet.
	274	- If you find any issues with this workbook, or have any questions completing it, please e-mail the Excel workbook you are working on together with your observations or questions to uwe@trucert.com.