Construction Completion and Occupancy Requirements
A key aspect of WELL is the on-site performance testing, which evaluates the as-built, real-world conditions that occupants experience. Before testing can take place, projects must meet certain construction and occupancy requirements to ensure that results accurately reflect the building’s intended operations. The guidelines below explain what must be in place before a Performance Testing Agent arrives on site.
WELL Certification Requirements
For most project types, performance testing should occur after construction is complete—often referred to as “substantial completion”—in all areas that will be tested. Testing must also take place once the space is operating under normal occupancy rates so that measured conditions reflect real environmental performance.
In addition, at least one month must have passed since the certificate of occupancy was issued for the location. (This requirement does not apply to WELL Core or multifamily residential locations.)
To ensure that testing reflects representative conditions, IWBI requires that the project be at least 50% occupied at the time of testing. This should be based on typical occupancy levels for that time of year. The examples below illustrate how this requirement should be interpreted:
- Over the summer, students may not be present in a school. If on-site testing is scheduled to take place over the summer, the 50% occupancy calculations would be based on the number of staff typically present during these summer months (e.g., security, administrators).
- An office may have a flexible work-from-home policy which allows for any number of staff to work remotely on a given day. In this scenario, the 50% occupancy calculation would be determined based on the average number of staff present in the office each day.
- An office where only 20% of workstations are occupied because the remaining 80% of additional occupants are in the process of moving from a different office would not be eligible for on-site testing since the current occupancy rate represents an atypical pattern.
WELL Core and multifamily residential projects
WELL Core and multifamily residential projects follow a slightly different approach. These project types do not have an occupancy requirement, as performance testing may occur before tenants or residents have moved in. However, the base building areas that will be tested must still be substantially complete and ready for occupancy.
Tenant spaces and dwelling units do not need to be finished for testing to occur, but testing is not recommended during tenant fit-out construction, as construction activities—especially those affecting air quality—can interfere with testing results (particularly with regards to air quality).
The ideal timing for testing is either:
- After WELL Core construction is completed but before tenant fit-out begins, or
- After all tenant fit-out work has been completed, with careful consideration given to minimizing any impacts tenant construction may have had on base building conditions.
See the table below for more details about the conditions necessary to schedule Performance Verification, including specific conditions for WELL Core and multifamily residential locations.
Table 2: Conditions Necessary to Conduct Performance Testing
| PATH | CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE | ONE MONTH FROM CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY | 50% OCCUPANCY |
WELL v2 and WELL v2 Pilot (excluding multifamily residential and Core) WELL v1 New and Existing Buildings WELL v1 New and Existing Interiors | Yes | Yes | Yes |
WELL Core and Shell (WELL v1) WELL Core (WELL v2, WELL v2 Pilot) | Construction of base building must be complete. Build-out of leased spaces does not have to be complete. | No | No |
| WELL v1 pilots: Retail, Restaurant, Education Facilities and Commercial Kitchen | Yes | Yes | No |
| Multifamily Residential (WELL v1, WELL v2, including pilots) | The building must be complete but does not need to be furnished. | No | No |
Core testing scope and sampling area
In a WELL Core project, each feature includes a Core Guidance note, as seen below, that identifies the portion of the project that the feature is applicable for and the scope of performance testing.
For WELL Core, at least 2.5% of the total building floor area must be made available for performance testing. This minimum area must include all common spaces and any other areas directly managed by the building owner or property management team. Sampling locations should represent the building’s occupiable spaces and should prioritize regularly occupied areas whenever possible.
In some cases, a building may have very limited common space or no owner-controlled areas at all. If these spaces account for less than 2.5% of the total building floor area, the project will need to supplement the testing scope with tenant spaces to reach the required threshold. Testing within leased spaces may occur before tenants move in or after occupancy begins, depending on access and scheduling needs.
- “Building floor area” refers to all space within the building’s exterior walls across all floors. This includes non-occupiable rooms—such as mechanical or utility spaces—but excludes areas like open carports or garages. Because these non-occupiable spaces contribute to the total building floor area, they should also be considered when determining how much area must be identified for testing.
Certain performance-based optimizations require testing directly within tenant spaces, regardless of the minimum testing area requirement. For example, Feature A05 requires testing access to at least 10% of leased space in order to demonstrate achievement for WELL Core projects. If your project plans to pursue any optimization that involves tenant-space testing, it is important to plan ahead. The building owner is responsible for determining which spaces will be made available and for coordinating access with the WELL Performance Testing Agent.