After you've opted in to Precertification, you'll need to prepare your documentation. Keep reading to learn more about what's required. This article applies to WELL Certification, WELL Community and WELL for residential projects, as well as locations pursuing WELL within a WELL at scale subscription.

• Precertification documentation requirements for WELL Certification, WELL Community and WELL at scale

  WELL Precertification requires a compilation of intent-stage or implementation-stage documents for each feature being pursued.  

  Intent-stage refers to planned conditions or operations. Intent-stage documents are created to represent early-stage design or plans for the development of a program, policy or operations protocol.

  Precertification projects pursuing feature I05: Green Building Rating Systems may submit proof of registration for a green building rating system as an intent-stage document rather than a final certificate of achievement. The final proof of achievement would then be required when submitting for full Certification.

  Implementation-stage refers to implemented programs and structures. Implementation-stage documents represent the final project, such as "as-built" drawings. 

  Both stages of documents must contain sufficient detail so as to demonstrate compliance with the relevant features. Table 3 on page 15 of the WELL Program Guidebook (pictured below) describes details on what type of documentation is required at each stage. These documents should be signed by an individual responsible for the initiative.

  For features requiring a Letter of Assurance (LOA), the LOAs in the scorecard will update after you have opted in to Precertification and will have a check box for you to indicate whether they are relevant to the intent stage (Precertification) or implementation stage (Certification).

  For features requiring ongoing data or maintenance reports, or performance testing, no documentation is required at the time of precertification review–simply indicate on your Scorecard that you will pursue these features.

  Sample documentation, including both intent-stage and implementation-stage guidance, is also available to help you through this process.

• WELL for residential precertification documentation requirements

  When documenting for precertification, the following verification method types (at least one verification method type eligible for that stage)* are eligible to be submitted (non-underlined verification methods in the scorecard with the exception of onsite test results), which include: 

  • Location-specific (required for audited units only)
    • Drawings
    • Area Maps
    • Calculations and modeling reports
    • Onsite test results: the following intent-stage documentation is eligible to be submitted for precertification:
      • Detailed quote: including pricing, parameters, quantities, and the credentials of the qualified professional
      • Financial commitment: either a signed contract or a signed Letter of Assurance confirming the budget allocation
  • Shareable (shared across units)
    • Specifications
    • Policy and/or operations schedules
    • Letters of Assurance
    • Professional narrative
    • Project team documentation 
    • Certificates from third-party programs 

  *Documentation still in draft may be submitted for precertification review. Drafts must still contain sufficient detail for review but do not have to reflect final design decisions. When drafts are submitted, the WELL Reviewer will award the feature as “Achieved – Precertification Only.” This review status indicates that the feature part is conditionally verified with intent-stage documentation and requires additional implementation-stage documentation at certification review. This status is also used when design-based documentation is submitted.

  Otherwise, implementation-stage documentation can be submitted during precertification review. In this case, the WELL Reviewer will award the feature as “Achieved.” This review status indicates that the feature part is fully verified with implementation-stage documentation and does not require any additional documentation during the certification review, provided that the previously submitted documentation still represents what was implemented in the project boundary.