Benchmarking certificates

To stimulate continuous improvement of water services, EBC Foundation acknowledges utilities for their benchmarking- and improvement efforts.

In this context, EBC grants one of the following three types of Certificates to qualifying utilities, depending on the period of engagement and the way benchmarking- and improvement activities are carried out and “internalised”.

At first, a 1-Star Certificate is awarded to utilities that:

• participate in the programme for at least two consecutive benchmarking cycles;
• timely provide good quality data;
• actively participate in the programme, in particular by attending the annual benchmarking workshop.

A 2-Star Certificate is awarded to utilities that on top of that:

• participate in the programme for multiple years;
• actively participate in improvement efforts like knowledge exchanges or the implementation of good practices or innovations.

Finally, a 3-Star Certificate is awarded to utilities that on top of that:

• continuously work on improving their water services;
• volunteer to organise or host improvement activities for colleague utilities, like site visits or workshops.

After each benchmarking cycle, EBC Foundation determines if participating utilities qualify for a Certificate or an upgraded one and notifies them of this.

Utilities that receive a Certificate are entitled to display the associated logo in their business communication channels (letters, newsletters, website etcetera), as long as they participate in the programme.