Four of the thirteen firms we reviewed sell measurement and verification or investment-grade audits without naming a single credential anywhere on their site. One advertises mechanical design without naming an engineering licence. This page sets out which designation is actually required for which deliverable — so you can ask the right question, of us and of everyone else.
Credentials in this field are not interchangeable, and the marketing rarely distinguishes them. Here is the map, with the source of each requirement.
| Deliverable | What is required | Required by |
|---|---|---|
| ASHRAE Level 1, 2 or 3 energy audit | No licence is inherent to the standard. Buyers and public tenders commonly require CEM or CEA, and a P.Eng on the team for larger or tendered work. | Buyer and tender practice, not Standard 211 itself |
| Sealed design, engineered specifications, anything presented as professional engineering | P.Eng licence | Provincial engineering regulation |
| IPMVP measurement and verification | CMVP (Association of Energy Engineers) is the recognised designation; some owners and programmes require it | Programme and owner requirements |
| Programme-incentivized IESO EBCx | Accredited building commissioning provider from IESO's qualified provider list | IESO Existing Building Commissioning Program |
| ENERGY STAR building certification application | Licensed Professional site visit, verification and sign-off | Natural Resources Canada |
| CMHC MLI Select energy attestation | A qualified certified, licensed or trained engineer, building consultant, energy advisor or Certified Energy Manager with relevant energy assessment and modelling expertise | CMHC Energy Efficiency Criteria Attestation, document 70616 20251110-001A, 10 November 2025 |
| EnerGuide / ENERGY STAR mark use, Registered Energy Advisor work | NRCan licensing or Service Organization status | Natural Resources Canada |
| CSA B651 accessibility assessment (MLI Select accessibility points) | An accessibility consultant or architect — a different discipline | CMHC scoring categories |
CMHC's own attestation wording names an energy advisor and a Certified Energy Manager as acceptable signatories, alongside engineers and building consultants. At least one competitor states the gate more narrowly, as engineers, architects, certified engineering technicians and CEMs only. CMHC's own document is the authority, and it is broader. If a consultant has told you that only a P.Eng can sign your MLI Select attestation, check the source.
1. Which named individual will sign this deliverable, and what designation do they hold?
2. Does this programme require an accreditation, licence or listing that your firm holds today — and can you show it?
3. Do you, or any affiliated company, sell, install or earn a commission on any work this report may recommend?
Put them in the RFP. The answers are short if they are good.
We will answer those three questions in writing, by named individual and designation, in the proposal for your project — before you engage us, not after. Where a deliverable requires a credential that sits with a partner rather than with us, we say so and name them. Where a programme requires an accreditation or a listing, we tell you our standing on it rather than letting the word "certified" do the work.
We would rather lose a tender than imply an authority we do not hold, for a straightforward commercial reason: the one thing that destroys an energy consultant is a report that gets rejected at the programme or the lender for a signature problem that was knowable on day one.
Generally not, and you should not want it to be. Public tenders frequently make a designation a mandatory requirement rather than a preference, and a bid that does not meet a mandatory requirement is non-compliant regardless of its merits. Tell us the mandatory requirements at the start and we will tell you plainly whether we meet them.
No. Standard 211 defines the procedure, not the licence, and the CEM is the credential most commonly held by competent auditors. What a firm without a P.Eng must not do is use the words "engineering study", "engineered design" or "engineering-grade" about its own work, or imply design authority it does not have.
Ask for the certificate number and check it with the issuing body — the provincial engineering regulator for a P.Eng, the Association of Energy Engineers for CEM, CEA and CMVP, Natural Resources Canada for Service Organization status, and IESO for its qualified provider list. A firm that hesitates at that request has told you something.
Related
Request a proposal
A compliance deadline, an incentive application, a financing requirement, or a capital plan. Tell us which, and we will tell you what you need and what it will cost — as a fixed fee, before any work starts.
If you do not need an audit, we will say so.