WELL AP

No, and neither can any WELL AP. WELL Certification is awarded by IWBI. Its third-party review team assesses the documentation, in up to two rounds, and the on-site performance testing is done by a separate IWBI-approved Performance Testing Agent.

What I do is everything that surrounds that: picking the route, building the scorecard, driving the features, writing the documentation, coordinating the design team and FM, and managing the submission through review.

There's no WELL Assessor to appoint the way there is on BREEAM. The review sits with IWBI. That catches a lot of people out when they're budgeting.

Not sure what your project needs? Ask me.

It's IWBI's credential for expertise in the WELL Building Standard. A 115-question exam with an applied project scenario, kept current by logging 30 hours of continuing education every two years. It isn't a licence to certify anything.

What it's actually worth to a project is judgement before money gets spent: which features are realistic for the budget, which preconditions will quietly block the target level, and where the standard's US code references can be met with a UK equivalent instead of being written off as unachievable.

It also earns a point in its own right, which is the next question.

Yes. IWBI lists Feature I02: WELL Accredited Professional among its pre-approved Innovation pathways, so a project team that includes a WELL AP can claim an Innovation feature. Innovation is worth up to 10 points on WELL Certification. The ratings have smaller Innovation allowances, and the Health-Safety and Performance Ratings include a WELL AP option too.

Confirm it against your own scorecard before anyone banks it, because the pre-approved list does change.

The practical point is the same as on BREEAM. The appointment can pay for part of itself before any other work is done.

Want to check what's available on your scorecard? Get in touch.

Three questions decide it. Which achievement do you actually want, how many locations, and do you want all ten concepts or one theme.

One building going for the top mark is WELL Certification: every precondition in every concept, performance testing passed, then 40 optimisation points for Bronze, 50 for Silver, 60 for Gold, 80 for Platinum, with at least 1, 2 or 3 points in every concept for the top three levels. Valid three years.

One clear theme, or a first step, is the matching Rating. Health-Safety, Performance, Equity or Coworking. Pass marks run from 15 to 23 features or points, no preconditions, renewed annually.

Five or more locations wanting several achievements is WELL at scale, and it's usually cheaper than the sum of the parts. Worth running that comparison before you commit to either route.

Yes, more than most people expect. WELL publishes crosswalk tools that map its features against BREEAM, LEED and others, and the digital scorecard has a crosswalk filter built into it.

Run it before anybody starts collecting. Transport, daylight, acoustics and materials work you're already doing for BREEAM can do double duty, and on some features it picks up WELL points you weren't counting on.

The saving only exists if it's set up at the start. Gather the same evidence twice and it's gone. Worth flagging at the outset if more than one scheme is in play.

More than people budget for, and it's the single most common problem on WELL projects.

IWBI's fees are the visible part: Certification from $8,000 plus a $3,000 enrolment, capped at $98,000. Ratings and WELL at scale are priced separately, so get IWBI's current figures before you budget. All in US dollars, so allow for the exchange rate.

Behind that sits an approved Performance Testing Agent on site, usually one to three days plus lab turnaround, then annual reporting where your features call for it: occupant surveys, maintenance records, and air and water quality monitoring. Ratings renew every year. Certification recertifies every three.

There are discounts worth asking IWBI about. I price the full three-year picture at proposal stage rather than letting it land on facilities later.

If that's what the project needs, yes. I work in your systems, to your templates and within your reporting lines. You keep the client relationship throughout and your project lead still leads.

Often the client doesn't know I'm not one of your team, and that suits me fine.

Depends on the engagement.

A fixed fee works well for a defined scope on a single project. Day rate or retained capacity tends to suit teams with recurring workload or a framework agreement.

WELL adds one wrinkle: a lot of the work is operational and lands after practical completion, so I scope that separately rather than let it get absorbed into a design-stage fee and then quietly dropped. Either way you'll get a clear scope and a fee before anything starts, and I'll tell you if I think the work doesn't need me.

Send me the scope and I'll come back with a figure.