You must submit documentation for each feature part you are pursuing at your project or within your organization to provide that you have met the feature requirements. Each feature has one or more verification methods–these tell you what type of documentation you must provide.

Find a feature's verification method

In the digital standard, the verification method is listed under each feature–see the image below for an example from WELL v2 feature A02.1:

The verification method for this feature is "Policy and/or Operations Schedule". See below for descriptions of each of the verification methods.

Document Stages

For WELL Certification (including those subscribed to WELL at scale) and WELL Community projects, there are two stages of WELL documentation that projects may utilize during the certification process:

• Intent-stage documents, for use in the optional WELL Precertification early stage review
• Implementation-stage documents, for use in either WELL Precertification or Documentation Review.

WELL Certification requires approval of all implementation-stage documents for features being pursued. Intent-stage documents refer to planned conditions or operations, while implementation-stage documents refer to construction/as-built drawings or implemented programs.

Both stages of documents must contain sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with the relevant features.

Verification methods

• Technical Documents include several documentation types and are usually submitted during documentation review.
  • Architectural Drawings: Technical drawings of a building or space for the floor plan view.
  • Beta Feature Feedback Form: Beta feature implementation form, including proof of completion. 
  • Mechanical Drawings: Technical drawings that show information about HVAC systems
  • Modeling Reports: The reports from a digital simulation software that demonstrates compliance with feature requirements.
  • Product Specification Sheets: A document that outlines the technical information about an installed product which may include materials, functionality or environmental performance metrics (e.g., MSDS, cut sheets).
  • Maps: A document that showcases the topographical features of an area, including proximity of the WELL project to amenities specified in the requirements.
  • Remediation Reports: A report documenting the results of risk reduction activities carried out once a hazard is identified for a project. Remediation reports and associated activities are typically carried out and prepared by trained professionals.
  • Other: A list of specific data that the project must provide to document compliance.

  You may see verification methods listed in the digital standard as "Technical document (shareable)" or "Technical document (audited)." These "shareable" or "audited" designations only apply to WELL Ratings or WELL at scale where there are potentially multiple locations pursuing WELL. They do not apply to single-location WELL Certification projects.
  
  In these instances, individual WELL Certification projects that are not part of a WELL at scale commitment should simply upload a Technical Document as part of their documentation submission.

• Separate Letters of Assurance must be submitted by the appropriate professional overseeing the implementation of a specific WELL feature during design, construction or operation. For instance, the project owner, architect, contractor and mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) engineer must confirm that various features have been met by signing the Letter of Assurance templates located in your project's Scorecard or a similar verifying document. 

  An MEP LOA should be signed by the person that has acted as the engineer for the project. That person does not necessarily have to be a licensed engineer but should have an engineering background and be working as the engineer on the project. The same applies to the architect LOA. This may also vary by country as licensing requirements may be different.

  If an architect, contractor or MEP is no longer available to sign off on the appropriate Letters of Assurance, any other team member that can attest to the statements can sign off instead. An exception to this would be for requirements that are based on ASHRAE standards. These would still require statements from a mechanical engineer but not necessarily the original mechanical engineer of record. Please follow the instructions at the top of the Letter of Assurance. 

  You can find templates available for download on your Scorecard under any feature that requires an LoA as a verification method:

  

• A professional narrative consists of a statement or summary written by a project team that describes how WELL requirements have been met in a space.

  Performance Rating feature PM5 part 2 - Operable Window requires a professional narrative. In this case, the professional might write a detailed description of how the the outdoor air measurements required by this feature are obtained by the project.

• Policy documents and operation schedules communicate information to the occupants or staff in the space or other personnel involved with fulfilling feature requirements, unlike documents such as Letters of Assurance or Professional Narratives which are generated solely for the purposes of WELL Certification.

  • Policy Document: A document that describes an enacted policy, program or initiative. The policy document submitted for feature verification must include enough information to demonstrate that the feature requirements are met and also highlight how this information is communicated to occupants or staff. This may include company handbooks, human resource documents, hiring protocols, all-staff emails or newsletters. Policies and laws enacted by a government that apply to a location may also be submitted.

  A policy and/or operations schedule is required for v2 feature C06.1 Promote Health Benefits. Your documentation for this feature part might include the section from your company handbook that details your benefits offerings and identifies the individuals responsible for confidential benefits consultations.

  • Operations Schedule: A document outlining a schedule or cadence of events or activities that relate to WELL requirements.

  For Health-Safety Rating feature SA5 Manage Moisture and Mold, this might be a document describing who is responsible for inspecting the premises for mold and moisture and logging the results, and the frequency of inspections.

• Certain WELL features require documentation to be submitted annually following WELL Certification. Reports are submitted to WELL Online per the scheduled listed in the requirements and are not submitted for initial WELL Certification.

  • Data Report: The data output for WELL requirements that require ongoing monitoring or reporting. This may include survey data.
  • Maintenance Report: A record demonstrating that ongoing maintenance activities (e.g., inspections, photographs taken by the project team) have been met.

• Photographs provide evidence that certain requirements are present within the space such as signage or furniture. They typically supplement other types of documentation (e.g., Letters of Assurance). The location where the photograph was taken and the date must be clearly identified. Photographs may be taken on-site either by a WELL Performance Testing Agent as part of performance verification or by a member of the WELL project team and submitted for documentation review.

  You can find additional guidance regarding requirements for photographs on the Verification tab of each feature that requires on-site photographs with the WELL v2 Standard.

  

  Health-Safety Rating feature SH5 - Promote a Smoke-free Environment requires a photo of the signage communicating the smoking ban.

• Performance tests include a series of on-site measurements conducted by a WELL Performance Testing Agent to gather data about the location’s environmental conditions. Performance testing requirements, including methodologies and guidelines, are outlined in the WELL Performance Verification Guidebook. Performance Verification occurs after Documentation Review. To learn more about performance testing, check out the Performance Verification Guide.

• Some WELL features (A01.1, for example) can be verified through data collected from permanently installed sensors. Teams must also include annotated drawings and photographs showing information about the sensor density and placement within the space. See the WELL Performance Verification Guidebook for more information. 

• General documents are not linked to the verification of a specific feature but are required as a general document for the certification process. These documents do not need to be annotated since they are used to inform IWBI and the WELL Reviewer of project details. For example, these may include the signed WELL Certification Agreement, the project checklist, representative floor plans and/or project maps, or proof of construction completion, (e.g. a certificate of occupancy).

  The above documentation outlines criteria to be submitted by project teams. During performance verification, the performance testing agent will be responsible for taking photographs, conducting performance tests on-site, sending samples to labs for testing, analyzing data and submitting results for performance review by the WELL Reviewer.

  In addition to the documents outlined above, WELL Community projects must provide the following:

  • Narrative describing the project in general, listing the attempted features and identifying which buildings in the master plan will be pursuing a health and well-being and/or green building certification
  • Community narrative detailing the mission and goals of the WELL community, the stakeholders involved, the expected timelines and schedules for various types of development and how health and well-being are integrated into the project