BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit Out: Scope and Boundaries
What RFO covers
BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit Out (RFO) assesses projects that alter existing buildings - refurbishment, fit-out, or a combination. Its defining feature is the scope boundary: not every part of a building is in scope, only the works being undertaken and the areas affected. This is the single most examined concept. A fit-out of one floor does not trigger assessment of the whole building's energy performance; the assessor must define what is inside and outside the project scope.
The four parts
RFO is structured into parts reflecting different extents of work: Fabric and Structure, Core Services, Local Services, and Interior Design. Which parts apply depends on the scope of works. A light interior fit-out may engage only Interior Design and Local Services; a deep refurbishment may engage all four. Candidates are frequently tested on matching the extent of works to the applicable parts.
Traps
Watch for questions that assume RFO requires the same evidence as New Construction (e.g., full design-stage modelling for untouched elements). Also beware answers that apply credits to parts of the building outside the defined scope - this is a classic distractor. Finally, RFO is not a 'lesser' scheme; it uses the same rating bands and weighted categories but applies them only to in-scope elements.
Worked rule of thumb
When a scenario describes works, first identify the boundary: which building elements and services are being changed? Then map those to the four parts. Credits only apply where the element is in scope and evidence exists.