Each project moves through the WELL program toward a milestone award at a different pace. The information below can help you estimate the amount of time you'll need to earn the milestones that you are targeting.
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The third-party WELL Reviewers conduct two rounds of review of submitted documentation: preliminary and final.
Preliminary review
This is your first round of review. WELL Reviewers may flag areas that require attention from your project team. If this is the case, your project team can address any feedback and resubmit your documentation for the final round of review.
- If, after the preliminary review, the project is determined to be in compliance with WELL criteria, the reviewer will notify you of your project’s success.
Final review
This is the second and final round of review. If the project is determined to be in compliance with WELL criteria, the reviewer will notify you of your project’s success.
- If the required number of features have not been met (15 for the WELL Health-Safety Rating, 21 for the WELL Performance Rating or WELL Equity Rating), review the technical advice provided and submit for curative action review. There are additional fees associated with curative action review.
- For more information, see the WELL Program Guidebook and WELL Health-Safety Rating pricing or WELL Performance Rating pricing.
Review timelines
For both preliminary documentation and final documentation review, you can expect a response from your WELL Reviewer within 8 to 10 business days for WELL Health-Safety Rating and WELL Equity Rating projects or 20-25 business days for WELL Performance Rating projects.
For multiple-location submissions, review timelines may be longer, with a maximum of up to 25 business days.
If you are seeking to pursue both a WELL Rating and WELL Certification, Certification can be pursued concurrently with a WELL Rating. When you submit both reviews together, they will be returned together. The review timeline for WELL Certification is 20-25 business days for each review.
If you submit for preliminary review concurrently, when you submit for final review, it should also be submitted concurrently. Submitting final reviews separately will trigger an additional review fee.
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For WELL Certification projects, use our Timeline Estimator to stay on track to reach your goals. Submitting documents for third-party review is a key milestone for projects. Use this documentation submission date in the timeline estimator to see the review timelines and estimated award date.
Other variables that can impact your timeline include:
- Quality of documentation submitted for review
- Project team response time to comments or clarifications during review
- Scheduling performance testing and submitting results to GBCI
- Curative action and appeals processes
- Determine your estimated date of documentation submission
The project's documentation submission is variable based on construction schedule, team collaboration and scope of work.
The construction timelines will impact how soon you may be able to collect the necessary documentation to confirm compliance with feature requirements. We recommend that projects with lengthy construction schedules pursue WELL Precertification as an early-stage milestone that validates your intentions for the final project and that enables you to promote your progress to key stakeholders.
The scope of work will depend on the number of features pursued. For example, if your goal is to earn the highest level of certification, WELL Platinum, it may take more time to implement and document than a project that pursues fewer features.
Lastly, team coordination can play a big role in finalizing your documentation submission, as a variety of professionals contribute verification documents. Ensure you follow an integrative design approach and use your WELL project account to manage progress to move swiftly toward the estimated date of documentation submission.