BREEAM Assessor (New Construction) cheat sheet

BREEAM New Construction is a third-party certified scheme for non-domestic buildings, using a 0-100+ percentage score translated into ratings Pass (≥30), Good (≥45), Very Good (≥55), Excellent (≥70) and Outstanding (≥85).

The rating is calculated from category percentage scores weighted by environmental weightings that differ between building types; the five rating thresholds are fixed, but weightings vary by scheme version and building type.

Minimum standards (prerequisite credits) apply per rating level; a project cannot achieve a rating unless all mandatory credits for that level, including the mandatory Energy credit, are met.

Categories in New Construction include Management, Health and Wellbeing, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials, Waste, Land Use and Ecology, and Pollution, plus an Innovation category of additional credits.

Innovation credits are awarded for exemplary performance and are capped (typically 10% of the total available score); they add to the overall percentage but do not replace mandatory credits.

The scheme version is fixed at registration: a project registered under a given manual version is assessed against that version's credits, weightings and thresholds throughout its certification.

BREEAM New Construction applies to new buildings and major refurbishments; fit-out-only projects are covered by separate BREEAM schemes, so scheme selection must match the actual scope of works.

Energy performance is assessed using the building's EPC rating and associated modelling, and the Energy category carries the largest weighting of any category in New Construction.

The certification route runs: registration with a licensed assessor, appointment of the assessor, evidence collection and assessment, QA by the assessor's organisation, submission to BRE, and final certification.

Registration must occur before the design stage is complete and before the target rating is fixed; the registered scheme version and building type govern all subsequent assessment.

A design-stage assessment can be undertaken after registration; a final certificate is only issued after post-construction assessment confirms as-built performance and evidence.

Interim design-stage certification is optional and provides a formal indication of likely final rating, but the final as-built certificate supersedes it.

The assessor submits the assessment via the online BREEAM assessment tool; BRE Global reviews the submission and may issue queries (technical or evidence) that must be resolved before certification.

Certification is issued by BRE Global, not by the assessor; the assessor's role is to compile, validate and submit evidence, and to advise the client.

The assessment timeline is driven by project milestones; evidence for post-construction credits cannot be submitted until the relevant construction activity is complete.

A certificate is valid for the building as assessed; changes in use, major alterations or a new scheme version may require a new assessment rather than an amendment.

Each credit has defined evidence requirements in the technical manual; evidence must be current, project-specific, dated and traceable to the credit being claimed.

Acceptable evidence types include drawings, specifications, manufacturer declarations, commissioning records, invoices, photographs, calculations and signed statements; generic marketing material is not acceptable.

Evidence must demonstrate the credit was achieved in practice, not merely specified; post-construction credits require as-built or operational evidence such as commissioning results.

The assessor validates evidence against the credit's stated requirements and records the evidence reference in the online tool, retaining copies for audit.

Where evidence is missing or ambiguous, the credit is either not claimed or the client is asked to supply further evidence; the assessor must not invent or infer evidence.

Internal QA by the assessor's organisation checks credit claims, calculations and evidence trails before submission to BRE; QA records are retained.

BRE's technical queries must be answered with additional evidence or clarification; unresolved queries can result in credits being disallowed and the rating reduced.

Evidence retention: the assessor must keep assessment records and evidence for the period required by the licensing scheme, and make them available for audit on request.

A BREEAM assessor must hold a current licence for the relevant scheme version and building type; practising outside the licensed scope is a breach of the licence.

The assessor's duties include advising the client on scheme selection and target rating, registering the project, compiling and validating evidence, submitting the assessment and responding to BRE queries.

The assessor must act with integrity, independence and competence, declare conflicts of interest, and avoid misrepresenting a project's performance or the likelihood of certification.

Confidentiality applies to client information and project data; information may only be shared with BRE and authorised parties for the purpose of assessment and audit.

Continuing professional development and licence renewal are mandatory; lapsed licences prohibit acting as assessor until reinstated.

The online BREEAM assessment tool holds the project record, credit-by-credit evidence references, assessor declarations and submission status; it is the authoritative record submitted to BRE.

The assessor must not certify or imply certification; only BRE Global issues certificates, and the assessor must correct any client misunderstanding of this.

Accurate record-keeping in the online tool is a licence condition: entries must reflect the actual evidence held, and retrospective edits must be justified and traceable.