WELL Building Standard

In 2014, the WELL Building Standard was released as the first building certification focussing purely on human health.

WELL is based on ten holistic ‘concepts’ that must be addressed to ensure good health and wellbeing in the built environment. Actions are required by both the design & construction and the client & operations teams to deliver long-term benefits to occupants.

WELL has similarities with BREEAM (e.g. specific design criteria, a scoring system based on preconditions & optional additional credits, third-party certification), but places a heavy emphasis on performance testing for air, water and light quality.

A third-party assessor visits the building post-occupation to carry out an inspection, take measurements and samples, to verify that the property meets the standard’s criteria in operation.

There are three levels of certification. Silver, Gold & Platinum and certification is valid for three years.

Element Four are WELL Building Standard Accredited Professionals, qualified and experienced in guiding design teams and clients to achieve certification.