METHODOLOGICAL NOTE AND LIMITATIONS
Contractual document — Annex 1 to the Framework Contract; integral part of the VERGO Platform Terms and Conditions
The most important document in the legal package. In the event of a dispute, it determines what VERGO actually promised. Every statement made in marketing must find its support here.
1. What the VERGO analysis does
The VERGO potential analysis is an informative pre-selection (pre-screening) tool. It automatically aggregates data from public, administrative and commercial sources, as well as from documents provided by the User, relating to an identified plot of land, evaluates a set of predefined criteria, and produces:
- a Readiness Score on a 0-100 scale;
- a structured report organised by criteria categories, indicating the source and date of each element;
- flagging of risk factors identified on the basis of the available data.
Purpose: prioritising and quickly eliminating certain sites within a portfolio, before allocating resources to in-depth checks.
2. Territorial coverage
2.1. As of this version, the analysis is calibrated for, and available exclusively for, land located in Romania.
2.2. Users may be established in any state of the European Union or the European Economic Area. The User's state of residence does not extend the territorial coverage of the analysis.
2.3. The territories covered, kept up to date, are permanently displayed on the Platform. Scores are not comparable across jurisdictions — thresholds, weights and data availability differ structurally from one country to another.
3. What it is NOT and what it does NOT do
| It is not | Clarification |
|---|---|
| A cadastral, geodetic or cartographic work | No on-site measurements, no boundary delimitation, no cadastral documentation (Law no. 7/1996 on cadastre and real estate publicity). Graphic representations are indicative |
| Urban planning documentation | Does not substitute for the General Urban Plan (PUG), Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ), Detailed Urban Plan (PUD), the urban planning certificate or the building permit (Law no. 350/2001 on territorial and urban planning, Law no. 50/1991 on authorising construction works) |
| A property valuation report | Does not express an opinion on market value (Government Ordinance no. 24/2011 on authorised valuers). Any reference to prices is statistical information, not a valuation |
| An opinion, approval or certificate of an authority | Including a technical grid-connection opinion |
| A feasibility study or technical expert report | Does not replace the geotechnical study, the solution study, the connection study, or the environmental assessment |
| A legal audit of title | Does not verify the validity of title, encumbrances, litigation, claims, or the owner's capacity to contract |
| An investment recommendation | Does not constitute investment, financial, tax or legal advice |
| An official act | In none of the states the Users come from |
4. Data sources
4.1. External sources
| Category | Source | Update frequency | Known limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadastral boundaries and property identification | the public portal of the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration (ANCPI), under its applicable terms of use | at each individual query | Uneven territorial coverage; properties not registered in the integrated system; discrepancies between the area stated in the title documents and the measured area |
| Power grids, substations, connection capacities | public data collected and processed by VERGO | manual update; last version of the data set used: 30 June 2023 | Available capacity is indicative and changes frequently |
| Administrative-territorial boundaries (UAT, counties) | public data processed by VERGO; geoBoundaries (CC BY 4.0) for county boundaries | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Boundaries may differ from official cadastral delimitations |
| Protected natural areas, Natura 2000 | the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas (ANANP) and other public data | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | |
| Archaeological sites and heritage protection zones | public data on archaeological sites, processed by VERGO | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Does not include undeclared or uninventoried archaeological heritage |
| Digital terrain model, slope, exposure | public data processed by VERGO | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Limited resolution; does not substitute for a topographic survey |
| Solar / wind resource | Global Solar Atlas 2.0 (Solargis, for the World Bank Group) and Global Wind Atlas 3 (DTU, in partnership with the World Bank Group), CC BY 4.0 licence | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Modelled data, not measured on site |
| Road network and accessibility | OpenStreetMap | live query, on each analysis | Collaborative data, variable accuracy |
| Natural hazards | ANAR (the Romanian Waters National Administration) flood hazard maps; seismic zoning under technical code P100-1/2013 | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Large-scale hazard maps, not applicable at a specific point |
| Soil | SoilGrids 2.0 (ISRIC — World Soil Information), CC BY 4.0 licence | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Data modelled at regional resolution, not applicable at a specific point |
| Aeronautical restrictions | ROMATSA (restricted zones for unmanned aircraft, weather radars) and OpenStreetMap (military zones) | manual update, no automatic synchronisation | Does not substitute for opinions from aeronautical authorities |
The date of the last update of each layer is displayed in the report, next to the corresponding result.
4.2. Documents provided by the User
4.2.1. The land may be identified on the basis of documents uploaded by the User — land book extracts (extras de carte funciară), plans, graphic delimitations.
4.2.2. VERGO does not verify the authenticity, validity or currency of these documents. The analysis reflects their content as provided. An expired, altered document, or one that does not correspond to the current situation, produces a report that is correct from a processing standpoint but factually irrelevant.
4.2.3. Only the elements necessary for the analysis are extracted from the uploaded documents. Personal identifiers are automatically removed, and the original file is not retained.
4.2.4. The User is responsible for the correctness of the site identification. VERGO does not verify whether the indicated parcel corresponds to the User's actual intention.
4.3. Licences and attributions
The mandatory attribution notices of the source holders — OpenStreetMap (ODbL), Global Solar Atlas and Global Wind Atlas (CC BY 4.0), SoilGrids (CC BY 4.0), geoBoundaries (CC BY 4.0) — are set out in the Data Source Attribution Notice and are reproduced in every report.
5. Scoring methodology
5.1. The score is calculated by evaluating up to 30 automated criteria, depending on the project's technology (solar, wind, storage), to which criteria evaluated through manual analyses from the catalogue available on the Platform may be added.
5.2. Each criterion is scored on the basis of predefined thresholds; categories are aggregated using weights set by VERGO. The weighting structure is VERGO's property and is disclosed as a matter of principle, not as exact values.
5.3. Eliminatory criteria. Certain findings (for example, overlap with a strictly protected area) cap the score, regardless of the rest. They are explicitly flagged in the report.
5.4. Missing data. When a layer is unavailable, the criterion is marked "data unavailable" and excluded from the calculation, with proportional renormalisation of the weights. The report indicates the data coverage rate — the percentage of criteria actually evaluated. A score obtained with reduced coverage has proportionally lower informative value.
5.5. Interpretation.
| Range | Indicative meaning |
|---|---|
| 80-100 | No major impediments identified in the available data |
| 60-79 | Conditional potential; factors requiring clarification |
| 40-59 | Significant constraints identified |
| 0-39 | Major or eliminatory impediments identified |
A high score does not guarantee the project's feasibility. A low score does not necessarily rule it out.
5.6. Changes to the methodology. VERGO may change the criteria, thresholds and weights. Substantial changes are communicated and generate a new version of this Note. Reports already generated are not recalculated retroactively and remain interpretable by reference to the version indicated in the report.
6. Expressly stated limitations
6.1. Currency of information. The report reflects the state of the data as of the generation date. The situation may change afterwards, without the report being updated.
6.2. Accuracy of sources. VERGO does not control and does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or currency of third-party data. Errors and omissions in the sources are reflected in the result.
6.3. Spatial precision. Overlaying layers from sources with different reference systems and scales generates alignment errors. Results concerning boundaries, distances and overlaps are indicative, especially in the vicinity of a boundary.
6.4. Parcel identification. Depends on the data and documents entered by the User.
6.5. Comparability. Scores are not comparable across jurisdictions or between different versions of the methodology.
6.6. Aspects not covered. The analysis does not evaluate: the validity of title to the property; encumbrances, litigation and claims; the owner's willingness to contract; actual geotechnical conditions; historical soil pollution; undeclared archaeological heritage; local social acceptability; the actual availability of grid capacity at the time of a future connection request; financing conditions.
6.7. Automated components. Details of the automated processing and any use of artificial intelligence systems are set out in the Notice on Automated Systems and Artificial Intelligence.
6.8. Analyses with human validation add professional interpretation based on the same sources, but do not constitute authorised technical or legal expertise and do not exceed the limitations set out above.
7. Recommended use
Recommended for: internal prioritisation of a portfolio; early elimination of sites with obvious impediments; directing subsequent specialist checks.
Expressly discouraged: using the report as the sole basis for purchasing land, signing a preliminary sale agreement, or committing to an investment; presenting it to third-party financiers as a supporting document; extrapolating the results to neighbouring, unanalysed parcels.
8. Substantiation of public claims
VERGO maintains an internal substantiation file for every quantitative, comparative or environmental claim used in commercial communications, including the measurement methodology, the basis of comparison, and the date of determination. The file is made available to the competent authorities upon request.
9. Contact
Methodology: office@vergo.ro · Data or processing errors: office@vergo.ro, indicating the report identifier. Correspondence is conducted in Romanian or English.