What is Mid-Review Clarification?
To support a smooth and efficient review process, the Review Team may issue a Mid Review Clarification (MRC). MRCs are intended to resolve critical questions early in the review process so that the project can move forward without unnecessary delays.
The Review Team can issue MRCs during either the preliminary or final review phases.
This article explains when a WELL Reviewer will issue an MRC versus a traditional review comment. A key takeaway is that an MRC will only be issued when essential information is unclear or missing from a submission and needs to be resolved before the review can continue.
When an MRC Will Be Issued
An MRC is issued only when the Review Team cannot continue the review without additional information or clarification from the project team. This typically happens in two situations:
1. When key project-scope details are unclear or conflicting
An MRC will be issued when the project’s scope is unclear. This scenario leaves WELL Reviewers without critical information about your project and often means it’s unproductive or impossible to review documentation for many features.
Examples issues that could warrant an MRC:
- Missing or inconsistent general project documents.
- Documentation that conflicts with enrollment details, such as:
- Project type (e.g., enrolled as WELL Core but documentation suggests otherwise)
- Selected space types
- Presence of commercial kitchens or commercial dining areas
- Residential or hospitality/assisted living spaces that don’t match the space type selections
- Mismatched project boundary or size information
- Project name suggesting a scope different from the one enrolled
- Any other scope-related issues that create uncertainty about what is being reviewed.
2. When significant information is missing or difficult to locate
An MRC will also be issued if there is significant information missing or is challenging to find within the documentation submission.
Examples that could warrant an MRC include:
- Insufficient points attempted for the targeted WELL achievement, such as:
- Preconditions are missing documentation required for WELL Certification.
- Not enough feature parts attempted to satisfy the minimum concept requirements for the targeted level of WELL Certification.
- Not enough points attempted for a WELL Rating.
- Very long or complex documents where it is unclear where specific evidence of feature implementation is located.
- Issues affecting most of the submission, such as:
- Corrupt or inaccessible files.
- Documentation that requires translation before it can be reviewed.
- Missing required templates, such as the Project Information and Performance (PIP) Template for projects undergoing performance review or a concurrent review.
3. When WELL Certification cannot be awarded at final review due to unmet preconditions
In some cases, an MRC may be issued during final review when a project has unmet preconditions but has otherwise achieved enough optimization points to achieve at least Bronze certification. A single MRC will be issued for all unachieved preconditions. These MRCs will not address any optimizations regardless of the project's targeted achievement level.
When an MRC Will Not Be Issued
If the issue does not prevent the Review Team from completing the review, an MRC will not be used. Instead, the issue will be documented as a review comment and reflected in the review outcome for the feature:
- During Preliminary Review: The feature part will be marked Pending, along with comments outlining what needs to be addressed.
- During Final Review: The feature part will be marked Not Achieved.
Situations where an MRC will not be issued include:
- Documentation clearly showing that a feature part was not met.
- Inconsistencies within documentation that do not impede the ability to complete the review (e.g., differing ventilation system descriptions).
- Missing documentation for optional optimizations that are not required for the targeted achievement level.
- Newly added or updated feature parts that are incomplete but not critical for meeting minimum requirements.
What to Do if Your Project Receives a Mid-Review Clarification (MRC)
If your project receives a Mid-Review Clarification (MRC), it means the reviewer needs additional information in order to continue the review. To keep your project moving forward, your team should:
- Carefully review the MRC request.
- Submit the requested clarifications or documentation through the WELL platform.
- Ensure all responses are complete, clearly labeled, and directly address the request.
Once all requests for clarification have been addressed, click Re-submit Review at the top of the page.
Response Timelines
Whenever possible, the review team aims to issue any necessary MRC within 15 business days from the start of a review phase.
The time to respond to an MRC depends on the type of request:
- Documentation or performance review–related MRCs: Responses are due within 30 business days.
- AAP-related MRCs: Responses are due within 10 business days.
You will receive an email notification when the MRC is issued. For documentation or performance review–related MRCs, you will also receive a reminder when 15 business days remain in your response window.
If a response is not submitted within the applicable timeframe (30 business days for documentation/performance review or 10 business days for AAPs), the review will be completed and returned as-is.
Timeline Impact and Extensions
While a project is under mid-review clarification, the review timeline is paused. Once the project team responds to the MRC via the WELL platform (or does not respond within 30 business days), the new estimated review return date is calculated as follows:
- For MRCs issued on days 1-15: the original estimated return date PLUS 5 business days.
- For MRCs issued on days 16-25: the return date to be the original estimated return date PLUS 15 business days.
If you need additional time to respond, please notify us through your project’s Support tab as soon as possible.
How to respond to mid-review clarification requests
Note: if you have questions about your mid-review clarification request, submit them via the Support tab prior to re-submitting your review rather than including them as part of your submission.
Once you are ready to respond to the mid-review clarification request, follow these steps:
- Sign in to your WELL account and open your project dashboard.
- Go to the Reviews tab.
- Find the review requiring mid-review clarification and click the View button in the Actions column. The Status column will say “Require Clarification.”
Read the mid-review clarification request carefully.
When you are ready to respond, use the comment box below to type your response. Attach any necessary documentation as follows:
-
WELL Certification; Health-Safety Rating projects registered before April 18, 2023:
- Use the file upload box under the comments field to choose your file, then click Add Comment.
-
WELL at scale, Equity Rating, Performance Rating; Health-Safety Rating projects registered after April 18, 2023:
- Upload documents and assign them to locations following the standard document upload process.
Once all requests for clarification have been addressed, click Re-submit Review at the top of the page.
If you have questions about your MRC request, and would like support via email or would like to schedule a call, please reach out to your support team via the support tab.
You must click Re-submit Review in order to resume the review process.