PDD and Project Documentation Development

Updated 2026-11-02 · 2 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

PDD and project documentation development for Verra, Gold Standard and Plan Vivo projects in Indonesia, written to survive validation body review.

PDD and project documentation development turns your project’s data, design and stakeholder work into the documents a carbon standard requires: the Project Design Document, calculation workbooks, maps, and later the monitoring reports. We write them so a validation and verification body can follow every number back to its evidence.

Who it is for

• Project developers in Indonesia and Southeast Asia without a dedicated documentation team.
• Landowners and community groups moving from feasibility to registration.
• Developers whose draft PDD has stalled or received heavy findings from a validation body.

The problem it solves

A PDD is long, technical and unforgiving. Each methodology has its own equations, default values, tools and evidence rules, and versions change. Common failures include outdated methodology versions, unsupported baseline assumptions, missing evidence for land eligibility, and calculation workbooks that do not match the narrative. Each finding adds weeks and audit cost.

What we deliver

• PDD in the current template of your chosen standard, with the CCB section where relevant.
• Calculation workbooks for baseline, project and leakage emissions, uncertainty and buffer, transparent and traceable.
• Eligibility and boundary maps in GIS formats the auditor can open.
• Monitoring plan that is realistic for your field team and fits dMRV collection.
• Evidence index linking each claim to a document or dataset.
• Stakeholder consultation and safeguards sections, built on records you provide.
• Later: monitoring reports for each period, see monitoring reports.

How it works

1. Gap check. We review what exists: feasibility, data, consultation records and licences.
2. Methodology confirmation. Version, applicability conditions and any tools, for example VM0047 with AR-Tool 14.
3. Data completion. Where data is missing, we specify it or run a field data campaign.
4. Drafting. Sections are drafted, with AI-assisted first drafts reviewed and rewritten by a specialist.
5. Internal review. A second specialist checks numbers against the workbook and the methodology.
6. Submission support. We prepare the package for the registration process and the validation body.

What you provide

• Feasibility outputs, boundary files and land documents.
• Field inventory or planting data, or access to collect it.
• Records of community consultation, FPIC and benefit sharing.
• A decision-maker who can confirm design choices quickly.

Typical timeline

With data in place, a first full draft typically takes two to four months. Projects that need new field data or consultation take longer.

Tools we use

The AKAR Carbon Simulator for ex-ante projections, AKAR Eligibility for eligibility maps, and AKAR dMRV to set up the monitoring data flow described in the plan.

Quality checks before submission

Every package goes through a checklist before it leaves us: the methodology version matches the latest applicable release, every equation in the narrative appears in the workbook, every map uses the same boundary and projection, default values cite their source, and every claim in the safeguards section points to a dated record. This is where most avoidable findings are caught. AI agents help with cross-checking long documents, but a specialist signs off each section.

Next step

When the PDD is ready, validation and verification support carries it through audit. Browse the standards hub for methodology background, then message us with your methodology, standard and how far your draft has got.