Recertification, which is required every three years following initial certification, helps ensure that the project is continuing to operate at a high standard for people's health and well-being. Project teams are responsible for reporting any changes that may have impacted WELL feature compliance since initial WELL Certification; this may include changes to design, policies or operations protocols. This report determines the need for resubmission of relevant documentation and/or reevaluation through performance testing, and reduces the need to re-document aspects of the projects that are unchanged. With this in mind, the following processes are essential for projects to understand after achieving WELL Certification.

When should my project begin the recertification process?

Your project must file an application (register) for recertification on WELL Online no later than three years after the date on which the project was awarded its initial certification.

Filing an application for recertification extends the validity of the project’s original certification period by twelve months, during which time you must satisfactorily complete the recertification process to determine that your project continues to perform to the requirements of the WELL Building Standard (WELL).

If you do not file an application for recertification before the expiration of the original certification period or fail to successfully obtain recertification, your project’s WELL Certification status will expire.

What should my project team consider after achieving initial certification?

In order to maintain the annual reporting schedule and to be eligible to pursue recertification, project teams are recommended to plan for the following after initial certification:

Step 1: Submit annual reporting

Annual reporting should be submitted on WELL Online under the ‘Documents’ tab by using the ‘Ongoing data reports’ document type. A review of annual reporting documentation is conducted when the project registers for recertification.

Step 2: Plan for recertification

Your team must report any updates made to the project boundary (for example, change in ownership, adding more floors, excluding any floor due to ownership changes, etc.) after initial certification. In addition, you are encouraged to consider the following items:

1. Level of certification: Projects have the option to pursue additional features at the time of recertification and increase their certification level.
2. The version of WELL: Projects have the option to pursue recertification under the same version as the initial certification or upgrade to WELL v2.

Note: Projects are only required to upgrade to the then-current version of WELL at the second recertification (6-year mark).

Step 3: Enroll for recertification

If your project is enrolled under v1 or v2 pilot, follow the steps below to either enroll under the same version as your initial certification or to upgrade to WELL v2:

1. Log into your project and navigate to the Dashboard tab.

2. Click on the “Start Recertification” button.

3. Answer the enrollment questions asking about project ownership, size, and the version you’d like to pursue recertification under.

If your project is under v2, send us a note through your Support tab to let us know that you would like to enroll for recertification. Our team will then help you register your recertification project and support you with next steps.

Step 4: Submit for Documentation Review

Recertification under WELL v1

All projects pursuing recertification must complete the Recertification Tool (v2 pilot | v1) as part of their analysis and documentation submission.

• In this tool, teams are asked to identify any changes made to interior design, food services, exterior design, cleaning protocols, mechanical systems, organizational policy, overall structure and plumbing systems over the three years since initial certification.
• Based on the features pursued during initial certification and any changes made, features are once again verified based on the extent of changes and noted in the ‘Documentation’ and ‘Performance Verification’ tabs of the recertification tool.
• Projects that are upgrading to v2 during recertification must complete the Upgrade - v2 Features and Upgrade - v2 Documentation tabs of the Recertification Tool to conduct the WELL v1 to WELL v2 feature analysis.

Step 5: Schedule on-site Performance Testing

The recertification process aims to recognize the importance of re-evaluating performance-verified metrics in buildings every three years. During this process, the project is re-evaluated to verify that it continues to perform as designed. The requirements for retesting performance verified features depend on the extent of alterations made to the project since initial certification. Projects teams can contract with an approved WELL Performance Testing Organization–learn more about hiring a performance testing agent. Your performance testing organization can provide you with a quote for testing based on the information you provide on the scope of changes since the point of certification.

If a WELL Certified project has not undergone extensive alterations, it is eligible for a reduced amount of testing. (Table about Eligibility for Reduced Sampling Points Based on Extent of Alterations located below.)

In Table 3 in the Performance Verification Guidebook, reduced sampling points for parameters are categorized as:

• Full: Parameters are assessed to the full scope of test locations specified in the Performance Verification Guidebook
• Reduced: Parameter is assessed at half the number of test locations specified in the Performance Verification Guidebook
• None: No performance testing is required

The extent of project alterations that may affect a project’s eligibility for reduced testing, as noted in Table 3 of the Performance Verification Guidebook, is defined by changes since certification in five main categories relating to the building, each with their own subcategories, as follows:

• Interior design: doors, appliances, furniture, finishes, layout and lighting

• Exterior design: building grounds, exterior lighting

• Mechanical systems: heating, ventilation and air conditioning

• Structure: building envelope and fenestration

• Plumbing systems: water distribution and treatment

For reduced sampling points to be considered applicable, the project must not have any substantial alterations in the categories relevant to the test parameter—“substantial” is defined as at least 10% of the scope covered in each category above. More details on this, including an example of where this rule is applicable, can be found in the Project Alterations subsection of the recertification section chapter in the Performance Verification Guidebook (page 31).

Eligibility for Reduced Sampling Points Based on Extent of Alterations

• For WELL v2 pilot projects, there is an option to utilize annually aggregated data for compliance with select performance verified features in accordance with the Performance Verification Guidebook for recertification.
• For projects to be eligible for this pathway, a WELL Performance Testing Agent must conduct all annual testing for the relevant feature(s). Additional information and examples of these relevant annually assessed features can be found at the end of the Annually Aggregated Data subsection of the new recertification chapter in the Performance Verification Guidebook.

How should I calculate the recertification fee?

Recertification fees for all versions of WELL Certification can be estimated using the recertification pricing table provided on the v2 pricing page.

This fee estimate excludes performance testing. If you are contracting directly with a local Performance Testing Organization, contact the PTO directly for a quote. If you are coordinating performance testing through IWBI, the additional performance testing fee quote will be provided by the IWBI team when your team contacts us to schedule performance testing.

What version of WELL do I need to pursue during recertification?

For the initial recertification, project teams can choose to recertify in the project's current system, or choose to upgrade to the latest version of WELL. After the first recertification, subsequent recertification (typically 6 years following the original certification date) should be under the latest version of the WELL Building Standard that is available, not including pilot versions.

For example: If a project achieved initial certification in 2019 under WELL v1, recertification in 2022 can be under WELL v1. Any succeeding recertifications will require WELL v2 or later versions of WELL.

Are there cost impacts when upgrading to a newer version of WELL?

As IWBI updates the version of WELL to promote market leadership that reflects the latest scientific evidence, projects wishing to upgrade may be required to make provisions for alterations to stay current with the latest WELL rating system.

For example, in WELL v2 pilot, there are new preconditions related to annual testing in Air, Water, and Thermal Comfort and the legionella management plan has moved from an optimization to a precondition. However, for features that are related to those from previous versions, projects may continue to meet the original requirements with few or no modifications. For example, WELL v1 projects may continue to use the circadian lighting measurement and calculation method described in Feature 54, Part 1a, even though this is not listed in the WELL v2 pilot.

As a second example, there are minor changes in the requirements of sink dimensions in hand washing feature between WELL v1 and WELL v2; however, projects that met the requirements in WELL v1 will automatically be able to receive credit for the related feature in WELL v2.

Note: they will need to meet any new performance thresholds that may be relevant.

Frequently Asked Questions

• In addition to this guide, project teams can reference the following resources for additional information about annual reporting and recertification:

  • The WELL Program Guidebook (pages 18 and 23).
  • The WELL Performance Verification Guidebook (page 40).

• If a WELL v1 project is upgrading to WELL v2, you are not required to submit ongoing monitoring reports per WELL v2 requirements at the time of upgrade. Project teams are required to meet these on-going WELL v2 requirements once the project achieves recertification under WELL v2. However, the project is required to submit annual reporting for the WELL v1 features it achieved at initial certification.

• Yes, projects do receive additional complimentary AAPs when pursuing recertification. Same as initial certification, the number of complimentary AAPs available to projects depends on the version the project is pursuing recertification under.

  If a project is pursuing recertification under WELL v2 pilot, the project will receive 10 complimentary AAPs. If a project is pursuing recertification under WELL v1 or WELL v2, the project will receive 3 complimentary AAPs.

  If a project upgrades from v1 or v2 pilot to v2, the project will receive 3 complimentary AAPs, the number of complimentary AAPS available under v2.

• IWBI is in the process of finalizing the WELL v2 recertification tool and the timeline for publishing the tool is end of Q1 2025. In the meantime, project teams can still make progress with the recertification process by reaching out to IWBI via the support tab under your WELL digital account. IWBI will then provide step-by-step instructions on what documents should be uploaded and the scope of performance test relevant to the project. This will support the project to move forward with the recertification process.