WELL Precertification

Projects registered for WELL v2 may opt for an early phase of review to receive the WELL Precertification designation. This interim designation can help projects communicate progress toward achieving WELL Certification and provide greater confidence that their designs, operational intents, and/or existing conditions meet the requirements of WELL features. WELL Precertification can be pursued for an existing space or in advance of renovation/construction completion (as applicable). Additional fees apply for precertification review except for projects enrolled in WELL Portfolio (see the WELL Portfolio Guidebook for more information).

If a project elects to pursue precertification, this occurs prior to Documentation Review and Performance Verification. For precertification, projects may submit feature-specific documentation reflecting operational commitments and design intents (intent-stage documents), or implemented conditions (implementation-stage documents), or a combination of these two categories. (For more information about these document stages, see the WELL Certification Guidebook) Implementation-stage documentation that is approved during the precertification review does not need to be re-submitted during Documentation Review and can fulfill the documentation requirements for that feature, unless the relevant project conditions have changed.

How to earn a WELL Precertification designation

For a WELL v2 project to be awarded precertification, projects must submit documentation that demonstrates compliance with all preconditions and that achieves enough points for the lowest level of WELL Certification as follows:
WELL Core projects:

• 40 points, including a minimum of one point in each concept

• All other projects: 50 points, including a minimum of two points in each concept

Above this minimum, the precertification designation does not further differentiate how many points are successfully reviewed (e.g., there is no “WELL Precertified Gold” for WELL v2 projects). Projects may submit feature documentation for precertification review that exceeds the minimum but does not exceed 100 points in order to receive an early-stage review of those strategies. Alternatively, projects may submit the minimum levels of documentation for precertification review, and then submit additional features for review during Documentation Review to pursue higher levels of certification.

After documentation is submitted, the WELL Reviewer will respond with review comments within 20-25 business days, indicating if the documentation submitted for each feature is satisfactory, and indicating if additional information is needed. The project will be notified if the WELL Reviewer finds any submissions to be inaccurate or unsatisfactory, or if further documentation is required. The project will have an opportunity to amend existing documents or submit additional materials for a second review if necessary. The WELL Reviewer will respond with the results of the second review within 20-25 business days.

If any additional reviews are required, additional fees will apply. Any additional rounds of review will also be completed within 20-25 business days. The project will be notified when all documents have been reviewed and approved. At this point, the project is awarded WELL Precertification.