The recertification tools were created to guide you and streamline your recertification process. Projects completing recertification as part of a WELL at scale subscription must complete the recertification tool and upload it to their account–the process varies depending on whether your project is v2, v2 pilot or v1, so be sure to follow the instructions below. These instructions apply only to projects that are part of a WELL at scale subscription–for WELL Certification projects that are not participating in WELL at scale, see Use the recertification tool.

Use this article to learn how to access and use the tools to complete recertification. 

• These instructions apply to v2 projects that are part of a WELL at scale subscription, including projects that were created in order to upgrade from v2 pilot or v1 at recertification. Refer to "Use the recertification tool" for non-WELL at scale v2 projects or the "v2 pilot and v1" tab for WELL at scale projects enrolled under a previous version.

  Before you get started, download your latest progress report–you’ll need it to complete the recertification tool. Watch this video or read the instructions below to learn how to complete the recertification tool for your certified locations.

  1. Download and open the v2 recertification tool.
  2. Open the “Step 1 - v2 Achieved Features” tab.
  3. On your WELL at scale progress report, go to the “v2 Scoring by Part” tab.
  4. Copy column D (Part ID) from the WELL at scale progress report - “v2 Scoring by Part” tab and paste in column H of the recertification tool - Step 1 - v2 Achieved Features tab.
  5. Find the location you are completing the recertification tool for on the progress report’s “v2 scoring by part” tab.
  6. Copy the column containing the results for that location and paste in column I of the recertification tool’s “Step 1 - v2 Achieved Features” tab. It should now look similar to the example below–yours may look slightly different depending on the feature parts achieved:
     
  7. Once you have pasted your results, open the “Step 2 - Questionnaire” tab of the recertification tool.
  8. Enter Yes or No for each question in the “general questions” section to indicate whether any changes in each category have occurred in your space since initial certification. Be sure to complete this section before moving on to the “category specific questions” section. Changing responses to General Questions after answering Category Specific Questions may cause errors.
  9. Enter Yes or No for each question in the Category Specific Questions section to indicate whether any changes have occurred in your space since initial certification.
  10. After you have entered a response for every question, open the “Step 3a - Regular Documentation” tab. There are two sections on this tab. 
      •  “Feature list that require new documentation” - this section indicates feature parts that require new documentation based on your responses to the questionnaire (documentation is required because of changes made to your project).
        • 
      • “Feature list that always requires new documentation” (at every recertification) lists all of the feature parts that will require new documentation even if you have not made any changes to your project, based on the feature parts you achieved as part of your initial certification. The features listed below always require new documentation:
        • T02.1
        • I01.1
        • I01.2
        • I01.3
        • I01.4
        • I01.5
        • I01.6
        • I01.7
        • I01.8
        • I01.9
        • I01.10
  11. Open the “Step 3b - Ongoing Documentation” tab. This page will list all ongoing documentation required for your project. You should have uploaded these documents over the past 3 years since achieving Certification. If you missed any years, contact us for next steps.
  12. Open the “Step 3c - Performance Testing” tab. This tab lists the performance verification features that will require additional testing. Column D indicates whether they will require full or partial testing.
      • Full testing - testing must occur at rate of the current Project Information and Performance (PIP) Tool and the criteria listed in the WELL Performance Verification Guidebook.
      • Partial testing - testing is only required at 50% of the sampling locations determined in the Full Testing rate as described above, rounded down with a minimum of 1 sampling point
  13. Be sure to share your completed recertification tool with the Performance Testing Provider when you schedule testing.
  14. The upload process differs depending on whether your project is a v2 project completing recertification under v2, or a new v2 project that was created as part of an upgrade from v2 pilot or v1.
      • For v2 projects completing recertification, upload this completed recertification tool under the first performance test feature part (Feature A01.1) along with the new performance test documents and select Performance Test as the verification method. If any performance test feature does not require testing and therefore no new documents, make sure to upload this completed recertification tool as an indicator that feature will still be pursued.
      • For example, if your project previously achieved S03.2 and did not make any changes prior to recertification, no testing is required. In this case, simply upload your completed recertification tool as a “performance test” document to S03.2–no additional documentation is required.

      For v1 or v2 pilot projects that have created a v2 project to upgrade at recertification, upload the completed recertification tool to every feature that was achieved at initial certification that does not have new performance verification data or updated documents. Upload the document as "Alternative feature alignment tool"

      

       

• These instructions apply to both single asset v2 pilot and v1 projects and those enrolled under WELL at scale

  1. Download the recertification tool (v2 pilot | v1).

  2. On the v1 or v2 pilot Project Information tab, complete the questionnaire regarding changes to building design and operation. 

     Exclude any changes that affect less than 10% of the scope of the category (e.g., in a project with 100 doors at the original WELL certification, have 10 or more doors been modified or replaced?).

     WELL Core projects should only include areas under owner control as they evaluate extent of alterations. In other words, include all non-leased spaces (e.g., common areas and private spaces directly under the control of the building management team), but exclude areas within the project boundary that are leased to or owned by tenants.

  3. On the v1 or v2 pilot Achieved Features tab, identify which WELL Building Standard v1/v2 pilot features your project achieved during Certification by referencing your WELL v1/v2 pilot final WELL Report. Mark as “Yes” or “No;” those marked “No” will be hidden in the v1/v2 pilot Documentation tab

  4. Go to the v1 or v2 pilot Documentation tab. This tab shows the documentation required for recertification. The documentation you must submit is based on the information you entered about changes to the project and the features pursued. 

     To show all features and parts, even those not being pursued or requiring documentation, click the "Show/hide" button on this tab. Some features indicate documentation is required "for new products/construction only.” This means that you only need to submit documentation if you have introduced new products or carried out any construction within the WELL project boundary since initial certification.

     • There are two types of verification that may be required:

       • Normal - Full documentation of the type submitted at initial certification is required for recertification. Normal with parentheses denotes that full documentation is required based on the conditions outlined therein (e.g., for new products, for new construction only).

       • Annual Submission - WELL v1 or v2 pilot features that require annual submissions will be checked at recertification. Upload all 3 annual submissions (each year following Certification) to your v1 or v2 pilot Documents tab on your project dashboard. If you were unable to obtain or record all three (3) annual submissions, please provide a note explaining the challenge you encountered to prevent annual submissions. Also describe the changes you will make to ensure all annual submissions are carried out in the future.

       The v1 or v2 pilot Documentation tab will ask for “Normal” documentation for all of the features that are impacted by a specific category in the Project Information tab. In the case that the change has not impacted a specific feature, upload a narrative stating this in place of the “Normal” documentation. Your document will be reviewed to assess whether or not the change has affected compliance with the feature.

  5. Go to the Performance Verification tab. This tab shows the scope of testing required based on the types of alterations that the project has listed in the Project Information tab. Testing for different parameters will either be listed as "Full," "Reduced," or "None." 

     • Full - Testing will occur at the same rate as at initial certification for that parameters.
     • Reduced - Testing will occur at 50% of the sampling locations.
     • None - No additional testing is required for recertification.

     Information detailing the extent of performance testing (i.e., reduced, full, or none) should be communicated to the contracted Performance Testing Agent prior to testing for recertification.

  6. (Optional - only applicable for projects upgrading to v2) Go to the Upgrade - v2 Features tab. This tab shows the extent to which features achieved through initial WELL v1 or v2 pilot certification are transferable to the WELL v2 rating system. Before reviewing, select "Yes" or "No" in the "WELL v2 Innovations" table as it applies to your project. Options for WELL v2 achievement are indicated in Column K as either "Expected," "Not Pursued," or "Needs Achievement."

     • Expected - An alignment exists between the WELL v1 or v2 pilot feature already achieved by the project and the corresponding WELL v2 feature.

       • If the achievement for a WELL v2 feature is “Expected” determine if documentation is needed for recertification by looking at the feature in the Upgrade - v2 Documentation tab (more information on this in step 6).

     • Not Pursued - The WELL v1 or v2 pilot feature was not pursued during initial certification, or a WELL v2 feature is not aligned with the previously achieved WELL v1 feature.

       • If the achievement for a WELL v2 feature is “Not Pursued”, but the project team would like to pursue this feature as part of recertification, follow the steps below: 

         • Indicate that you are pursuing the feature by navigating to your Scorecard and clicking “Yes” to the feature you are pursuing 

         • Upload new documentation adhering to the WELL v2 feature requirements

     • Needs Achievement - An alignment between WELL v1 or v2 pilot and WELL v2 features does not exist and the project should meet the WELL v2 feature requirements.

  If the achievement for a WELL v2 feature is “Needs Achievement”, the project will need to provide new documentation adhering to the WELL v2 feature requirements.