THE

CERTIFICATION
GUIDEBOOK

WELL Building Standard

Copyright
Copyright 2016 by Delos Living LLC. All rights reserved.
Delos Living LLC authorizes individual use of this WELL Building Standard. In exchange for this authorization, the
user agrees:
1. to retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the WELL Building Standard,
2. not to sell or modify the WELL Building Standard, and
3. not to reproduce, display or distribute the WELL Building Standard in any way for any public or
commercial purpose.
Unauthorized use of the WELL Building Standard violates copyright, trademark and other laws and is prohibited.

Disclaimer
None of the parties involved in the funding or creation of the WELL Building Standard, including Delos Living LLC,
its affiliates, members, employees, or contractors, assume any liability or responsibility to the user or any thirdparties for the accuracy, completeness, or use of or reliance on any information contained in the WELL Building
Standard, or for any injuries, losses, or damages (including, without limitation, equitable relief ) arising from such
use or reliance. Although the information contained in the WELL Building Standard is believed to be reliable
and accurate, all materials set forth within are provided without warranties of any kind, either express or implied,
including but not limited to warranties of the accuracy or completeness of information or the suitability of the
information for any particular purpose. This document and the WELL Building Standard are intended to educate
and assist real estate owners and tenants in their efforts to create healthier work and living spaces, and nothing in
this document or in the WELL Building Standard should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment.
As a condition of use, the user covenants not to sue and agrees to waive and release Delos Living LLC, its affiliates,
members, employees, or contractors from any and all claims, demands, and causes of action for any injuries, losses
or damages (including, without limitation, equitable relief ) that the user may now or hereafter have a right to assert
against such parties as a result of the use of, or reliance on, the WELL Building Standard.

Trademarks
The WELL Building Standard is a registered trademark of Delos Living LLC.
Delos Living LLC
22 Little West 12th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10014

TABLE OF CONTENTS
REGISTRATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
WELL REPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
AWARD & CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
INNOVATIONS & ALTERNATIVE ADHERENCE PATHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CURATIVE ACTIONS AND APPEALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
PRECERTIFICATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
RECERTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
USE OF PROJECT INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
GLOSSARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Congratulations on your decision to pursue WELL certification for your project! This guidebook describes the steps
in WELL certification process.

Gather project information &

prepare documentation

Submit for
Documentation
Review

WELL Assessor
is assigned to
the project

Provide
technical/
operational
support

Complete
Documentation
Review

Schedule
Performance
Verication

Approved

Perform on-site
Performance
Verication

Create nal
WELL Report

Approved

Project Team

Register project
on WELL Online

WELL Assessor

The figure below outlines the steps of successfully achieving WELL.

Each step is covered in greater detail in the following pages.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

REGISTRATION
Registration signifies your intent to pursue WELL certification. WELL Online (projects.wellcertified.com) is the
official online registration application and project management system for WELL. Registration requires submitting
basic information about the project and declaring the project path by indicating the primary project space type
and project scope as described in the previous section. At this time, the project typology must be selected for the
project. The typology is based on the primary space type of the project and determines whether a given feature is
applicable to the project. Refer to the WELL Building Standard for more information on the different typologies.
Upon registration, projects must complete documentation submission and schedule Performance Verification
within a certain timeframe:

Projects utilizing WELL have five years from the date of registration

Projects utilizing a WELL pilot standard have three years from the date of registration

If a project does not submit documentation within this period, its registration will expire. If project teams anticipate
that they will have difficulty meeting this deadline, they must request an extension from IWBI at least one year prior
to the registration expiration date and submit documentation explaining why a longer period of time is necessary.
A project will be reviewed under the version of WELL or WELL pilot standard that is in place on the date the project
is registered, unless the project team elects to proceed under a subsequently released version.

WELL Assessor
After registration, the Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) will assign a WELL Assessor to the project. The
WELL Assessor is the third-party certification entity responsible for assessing/reviewing your project. Before
documentation is submitted for review, the WELL Assessor can assist in answering technical questions about WELL
features. After submission for certification, the WELL Assessor is responsible for both the documentation review
phase of WELL Certification and for Performance Verification activities.

Project Team Roles

Team members will have distinct responsibilities throughout the certification process, as described below.

Project Administrator
Project administrators act as project manager and oversees the WELL process. The project administrator is the
primary point of contact on the project and must be copied on all correspondence with GBCI. This individual
will also be the recipient of a comprehensive WELL report following Documentation Review and Performance
Verification, as well as the WELL building award package.
The project administrator can be a WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP), the building owner, or another
designated representative of the project team.
This individual is responsible for ensuring that all project documentation is complete and accurate before submitting
for review. The project administrator is ultimately responsible for the overall quality of the documents submitted
and is expected to complete a thorough quality control check of all documentation and forms prior to submission
for review.

Owner
Owners are responsible for authorizing registration of the project and will be required to validate various documents
used to demonstrate that WELL features are satisfied.
The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:
Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

An owner can be an individual property owner or a representative who is delegated responsibility by an entity
that owns the property. Owners have the authority to hold and control project-relevant property and to authorize
decisions pertaining to that property.
In circumstances where multiple owners hold rights over a property, a single owner must be identified as the
authorized decision-maker for purposes of WELL. In such cases, the project team must submit a Confirmation of
Primary Owners Authority Form, which will be made available upon request.

Additional Signatories
Some WELL documents will require validation by the appropriate professional overseeing the relevant aspect of
design, construction or operations. Therefore, architects, contractors, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing
(MEP) engineers are required to provide specific declarations and/or calculations pertaining to the project.

WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP)

The WELL AP credential recognizes building industry professionals who are knowledgeable of the conceptual and
applied frameworks of WELL, and are experienced in its application on registered and certified WELL projects.
WELL APs can help guide projects to successful certification or compliance awards. Project teams are not required
to include a WELL AP, but having a WELL AP as part of a project team will help to address all necessary aspects of
WELL.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
While a core tenet of WELL is performance verification and achievement of measurable criteria, it also requires that
project teams provide documentation as evidence that certain WELL features have been met. These documentation
requirements are summarized below.

Required Document Types

All documents that the project team is responsible for providing must be submitted via WELL Online. The type of
document required to verify each feature is described in the WELL Building Standard.

1. Annotated Documents
Annotated documents refer to existing project documents that are marked up to provide additional information
to indicate how WELL features and constituent parts have been met. Types of annotated documents include
the following:
A. Design drawings (with pertinent information marked or highlighted)
B. Operations schedules (with time log templates, if appropriate)
C. Policy documents (e.g., employee handbooks)
D. Other materials, including narratives and balancing reports.

2. Letters of Assurance
Separate letters of assurance must be submitted by the appropriate professional overseeing the implementation of
a specific WELL feature and its parts during design, construction or operations. Letters of assurance will be required
from the following licensed professionals to confirm that the requirements of WELL features have been met:
A. Architects
B. Contractors
C. Engineers

3. General Documents
Both annotated documents and letters of assurance are tied to specific feature requirements. The documents listed
below, however, are not linked to the verification of a specific part, but are instead required as a general document
for the certification or compliance process at large. These documents do not need to be annotated but are used to
inform GBCI of details on the project.
Required general documents include the following:
A. Representative floor plans
B. Mechanical drawings
C. Narrative describing the project in general and listing the attempted features

Documentation Submission, Review and Approval

WELL Online is the official online registration application and project management system for WELL Certification
and compliance. This online system is used to house all documentation related to a WELL project, and to submit
information for review by the WELL Assessor. The project must successfully complete the Documentation Review

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

phase (marked as approved in WELL Online) before Performance Verification can be scheduled.
Documents can be uploaded to WELL Online as they are prepared. Once all documents are uploaded, the project
administrator is expected to perform a thorough quality check before submitting the documentation for review in
WELL Online.
A first round of Documentation Review by the WELL Assessor will follow documentation submission. The WELL
Assessor will respond with his/her preliminary review within 20-25 business days, indicating which of the features
the documentation requirements have met, and indicating what additional information is needed. If all documents
are found to be satisfactory, then the project team will be able to proceed to the next steps.
The project team will be notified if any submitted documents are found to be inaccurate or unsatisfactory, or if
further documentation is necessary. In that case, the project team will have an opportunity to correct existing
documents or submit further documentation for a second round of review. The WELL Assessor will respond with
the results of the second round of review within 20-25 business days. If more than two rounds of review are needed
before all documentation is found to be satisfactory, additional fees will apply. Any additional rounds of review will
also be completed within 20-25 business days.
The project team will be notified via WELL Online when all documents have been reviewed and approved, at which
time the project team can schedule Performance Verification. Features approved during Documentation Review are
subject to inspection during Performance Verification.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION
Performance Verification entails a site visit during which a WELL Assessor performs or oversees tests and inspections
to verify that all applicable requirements of WELL features have been met.

Scheduling Performance Verification

For a project seeking to achieve WELL Certification, certain conditions must be met before the project can schedule
Performance Verification. These vary based on the project type and are described in Table 2. For projects utilizing
WELL pilot standards, there may be additional criteria as outlined in the introduction to the pilot standard.
1. All documents for which the project team is responsible must be submitted, reviewed and approved in
WELL Online through the Documentation Review process.
2. At least one month must pass since the spaces certificate of occupancy was issued.
3. A minimum of 50% of expected occupancy must be achieved in the project.

Table 2: Conditions Necessary to Schedule Performance Verification

PATH
New and Existing Buildings
New and Existing Interiors
Core and Shell

DOCUMENTATION
APPROVED

ONE MONTH FROM

CERTIFICATE OF
OCCUPANCY

50% OCCUPANCY

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

Retail Pilot Program

Education Facilities Pilot Program
Restaurant Pilot Program
Commercial Kitchen Pilot Program
Multifamily Residential Pilot Program

On-Site Measurements and Inspections

Performance Verification is performed or overseen by the WELL Assessor. Depending on the building size, this
may require the WELL Assessor (and testing organization, if applicable) to be at the site for multiple days in order
to fully validate the projects design documentation via inspections and spot-checks, and to complete all on-site
performance tests to confirm adherence to WELL requirements.
During Performance Verification, an individual with authorized access to all areas of the building must be present
so that performance tests and inspections may be conducted in any area, including mechanical and tenant spaces,
grounds and the roof.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

Testing and measurement during Performance Verification will be completed according to sampling protocols set
by IWBI based on the size and typology of the project, and some collected samples will be sent to a third-party
laboratory for analysis. The WELL Assessor will evaluate all applicable environmental parameters in accordance with
WELL, including, for example:
1. Air quality (e.g., organic and inorganic gases, and particulates)
2. Water quality (e.g., dissolved chemicals and suspended solids)
3. Light attributes (e.g., color quality, intensity and spectral power distribution)
4. Thermal considerations (e.g., ambient and radiant temperature, air speed and humidity)
5. Acoustic elements (e.g., decibel levels and reverberation)
Refer to the WELL Performance Verification guidebook for details on all activities executed during Performance
Verification.
Any WELL feature and its parts are subject to verification on-site by the WELL Assessor during Performance
Verification, including those accounted for by documentation. This means that the WELL Assessor will perform
spot-checks and confirm on-site that certain features reflected in the submitted documents are in fact satisfied.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

WELL REPORT
The WELL report will provide a feature-by-feature assessment of whether requirements of WELL features pursued by
the project were approved. A comprehensive WELL report will be available on WELL Online within 40-45 business
days of the site visit. This includes inspection details, analysis results and the status of documents previously
submitted by the project team for approval. If the project has not met WELL criteria in any area, the WELL report
will indicate where deficiencies exist.
Once the WELL report is issued, the project team is required to either accept their WELL report via WELL Online,
or initiate curative actions or an appeal within 180 calendar days. If the WELL report indicates a pass, then the
project will be issued the applicable certification level or compliance as described in the WELL report. If, within 180
calendar days after issuance of the WELL report, the project has neither affirmatively accepted the WELL report
on WELL Online nor initiated a curative action or appeal, the project will be deemed to have accepted the WELL
report as final.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

AWARD & CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT

Certification Award
Projects that have satisfied the requirements of WELL and have accepted the WELL report will receive a WELL
building award package from IWBI.
The WELL building award package will contain the official award letter, the WELL Certification plaque and other
relevant documents. IWBI will also provide sample materials to assist the project in its promotion of successful
WELL Certification.
The WELL Certified plaque will indicate the level of certification and the year certified, and may only be displayed
at the site of the WELL Certified project. For additional details, please view the IWBI Trademark Policy and Branding
Guidelines.

Continued Engagement
In order to maintain status as a WELL Certified project prior to recertification, there are specific ongoing requirements.
Certain features may require projects to provide ongoing records of the following:
A. Results of post-occupancy surveys
B. Proof of maintenance (e.g., logs of cleaning schedules and filter replacement)
C. Ongoing environmental parameter measurements (e.g., air and water quality)
These features generally require submission to GBCI for review on an annual basis. To remain in good standing,
projects must submit the documents within 15 months of certification and then every 12 months thereafter. Failure
to provide these documents within this time frame may result in an additional fee assessed at recertification. If the
ongoing records are not submitted at all by recertification, then in addition to the fee, the project will be ineligible
to pursue these features for the following certification period. For details on what is required in these documents,
please refer to the relevant features in the WELL Building Standard.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

INNOVATIONS & ALTERNATIVE ADHERENCE PATHS

WELL features create linkages between elements of building design and occupant health, wellness and comfort.
WELL ultimately seeks to establish a set of universally applicable features that are feasible across all building types
and contexts. However, the various ways in which the built environment impacts health across diverse contexts are
multiple and overlapping, and there are paths to healthful construction and design that may be uncovered during
implementation of the current version of WELL.
In recognition of the complexity involved in fully exhausting all dimensions of health through the built environment,
and of the challenges that may be involved in meeting requirements as outlined, WELL provides opportunities for
creativity through two processes:
1. Alternative adherence paths
2. Innovation features
Both approved alternative adherence paths and innovation features are submitted to GBCI for review and are
approved at GBCIs sole discretion. If proposals are denied, projects may appeal this decision by following the
protocol described below.

Alternative Adherence Paths

WELL allows for innovative, alternate solutions for meeting requirements through the alternative adherence path
process, as long as proposals still meet the intent of the requirement and are supported by cited scientific, medical
and industry research. Project teams may propose an alternative for any requirement of WELL by submitting a
completed alternative adherence path for review.
These forms are used specifically for proposing alternate means to meeting existing WELL features. Each form
pertains to one feature, and there is no limit on the number of alternative adherence path forms that can be
submitted per project.
While requests for alternative adherence paths will be kept private, summaries may be published. If alternative
adherence paths have broad application, the strategies described in the application may be incorporated as official
pathways of feature adherence in future versions of WELL.
Project teams may submit an alternative adherence path proposal for pre-approval before or after registration. Each
project receives three alternative adherence path submissions at no additional cost; further alternative adherence
path forms may be submitted for a fee.
The alternative adherence path form is available on www.wellcertified.com/resources.

Innovation Features
Innovation features pave the way for project teams to develop unique strategies for creating a healthy environment.
The features can relate to any of the WELL Concepts. For a given project, innovation features must either address a
novel concept or strategy not already included in WELL, or may include implementation of the requirements in an
existing WELL feature that is designated as not applicable to the projects typology..
Innovation features must be supported by sufficient rationale based on cited scientific, medical and industry
research. To request input on Innovation Feature proposals ahead of the Documentation Review submission, the
innovation proposal may be submitted as an alternative adherence path using the process described above.

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Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

10

WELL Features Addenda and Interpretations

WELL addenda incorporate changes and improvements to the WELL Building Standard and help to clarify,
correct, interpret, or provide alternative language. Addenda will include alternative adherence path proposals and
innovation features without project identifying information.

International Projects and Standards

Projects registered in countries other than the United States may find some challenges based on local regulations
and standards that differ from those outlined in WELL. In those instances a project will have two options:
1. Adhere to the requirements cited in WELL.
2. Petition IWBI for the use of equivalent requirements within a standard that is more relevant to the country
where a project is located, along with evidence of equivalency. If IWBI approves use of a new requirement
as sufficiently equivalent to a WELL requirement in a given country, the new requirements will be
incorporated into WELL features addenda and interpretations, as an alternative adherence path available
for other projects in the pertinent country to use.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

11

CURATIVE ACTIONS AND APPEALS

The WELL report will outline any failed performance criteria or other requirements.
As previously stated, after the WELL report is issued, the project owner has 180 calendar days to either accept the
WELL report, initiate curative action or file an appeal. Curative action is available to project teams that wish to enact
curative efforts to address unmet criteria and request to schedule follow-up Performance Verification. Appeals are
available to project teams that wish to contest findings of the WELL report or attempt new features.
Fixed baseline fees are associated with curative action requests and appeals. Additional fees apply depending on
the WELL features in question, and whether performance re-testing is necessary to confirm compliance with WELL
requirements. Visit WELLCertified.com for a current schedule of fees and for further details on the curative actions
or appeals processes.

Curative Actions
To pursue a curative action path for any features with unmet requirements, a curative action plan must be submitted
within 180 calendar days after issuance of the WELL report. The plan must be signed by the project owner and
outline steps for addressing unmet features.
The curative action plan will be reviewed by the WELL Assessor and results will be provided within 20-25 business
days. If the curative action plan is accepted, the project team must then enact curative actions as outlined and
schedule another Performance Verification with their WELL Assessor.
The features that are re-tested during the follow-up Performance Verification will vary based on which features are
impacted during the execution of the curative action plan. For example, projects that fail to meet requirements
concerning microorganisms in a Water feature may address this problem with the addition of chlorine. By doing so,
however, they could risk exceeding the chlorine limits of another feature in Water.
After follow-up Performance Verification has been completed, an updated WELL report will be created and
shared with the project administrator.
Performance Verification can be repeated (for additional fees) following additional curative actions should the
WELL report resulting from the follow-up Performance Verification again indicate a failure to achieve certification
or compliance.

Appeals
Project teams may (for a fee) challenge any findings of the WELL report or submit new features for review by
submitting an appeal application. The appeal application allows the submission of supplementary information
and allows for an additional round of review. Each appeal is applicable to one feature; a separate appeal must be
submitted for each feature being challenged. All appeals must be submitted within 180 calendar days after the date
of issuance of the WELL report.
An appeal must provide an explanation of the basis of the appeal and identify suspected errors. Upon receiving the
appeal, GBCI will respond with an appeal review report within 20-25 business days.
Like the WELL report, a project may either accept the appeal review report. Projects are limited to one subsequent
appeal for each feature, which must be submitted within 90 calendar days of the date of issuance of the appeal
review report being challenged.

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Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

12

PRECERTIFICATION
This is an optional review pathway available to all project typologies for a fee. The Precertification review is focused
on the intended design, construction, and operational strategies for the project. WELL Precertification allows project
owners to demonstrate health and wellness in the built environment, market the proposed wellness features of a
project to potential tenants looking to occupy the WELL-certified space, and determine which features the project
is likely to achieve during the full WELL certification review.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

13

RECERTIFICATION
WELL Certification (for New and Existing Buildings and for New and Existing Interiors) is valid for three years. During
this three year time period, annual performance data must be submitted for the select features that require more
frequent reporting.
In order to maintain a current certification, a project must file an application 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 projects original certification period for six months, during which time the
project must satisfactorily complete the recertification process to determine that the building continues to perform
to the WELL standard
If a project does not file an application for recertification before the expiration of the three-year original certification
period, or fails to successfully obtain recertification within 42 months of receiving the initial certification, the projects
WELL Certification will expire. Upon expiration of a projects WELL Certification, the project must immediately
discontinue all use and display of the WELL Certified plaque, trademark and logo, and must not indicate or imply
that the project is WELL Certified. The project will be removed from IWBIs list of certified projects.
A buildings certification may be compromised if WELL features have not been properly maintained or if the quality
of the environment has declined below the thresholds required in WELL. During recertification, projects can elect
to submit additional WELL features to improve their score and achieve a higher level of certification.
For the first recertification event following initial certification, a project can elect to be reviewed under either the
version of WELL for which it achieved initial certification or any subsequently released version. For all subsequent
recertifications, a project will be reviewed under the version of the rating system that is in place 12 months prior to
expiration of their certification. If they so choose, a project team may elect to be recertified under a more recent
version of the standard.
Projects may preemptively begin the recertification process before the three-year period is up. All of the rules and
timelines regarding acceptance of the WELL report apply normally. The new results from Performance Verification
and the WELL report supersede the results from the prior certification.
WELL Core and Shell certified projects provide healthy and productive amenity spaces to their occupants and enable
tenants to pursue WELL Certification for their interior spaces. WELL Core and Shell projects may recertify to verify the
ongoing performance of amenity spaces and core elements of the building, but it is not required. After projects certify
through Core and Shell, the interior spaces are primed for WELL for New and Existing Interiors Certification.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

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14

USE OF PROJECT INFORMATION

WELL requires the submission of extensive information related to each project. Collected information typically
includes project and owner identifying information, attestations, narratives, data, calculations, maps, drawings,
specifications and other design, construction and operational-related information. This information may contain
personal or proprietary information, as well as valuable intellectual property including copyrighted materials and/or
trademarks. By submitting this information, each project grants IWBI and its affiliates and their respective employees,
agents, representatives and subcontractors a limited, non-exclusive and non-revocable license to access and view
all information that is submitted in the application as necessary to perform an assessment.
IWBI also uses project data to educate and provide resources for WELL project teams and others, showcase
project strategies and promote WELL on a global scale. WELL-registered and certified projects are, by default,
considered public projects and, as such, they are included in IWBIs public WELL project directory. Inclusion in
this directory allows the general public and members of the media to look up specific project listings and details,
including the following: project name, project address, project typology, registration date, identity of the owner,
owner organization type, project team information, project gross square footage, date of certification and level of
certification achieved, among other project identifying information. With the exception of information provided
to IWBIs and its affiliates employees, agents, representatives and subcontractors, IWBI and its affiliates will not
distribute or publish any submitted plans, drawings or schematics pertaining to any project without permission.
All public projects also benefit from publicity opportunities: IWBI may use project data to create case studies
highlighting a projects features, reference a project on the website or to the media, or create other derivative
works. Information that may be used for articles, project profiles or similar promotional pieces may include service
providers, project team members, promotional or other project photographs, project strategies for certification, or
quotations from team members.
A project may opt-out of the WELL project directory and publicity opportunities by electing to be a private project
at the time of registration. See WELL Online for specific instructions in this regard. A private project means that the
project name, street address and identity of the owner will not appear within the WELL project directory. Certain
other non-project identifying information may be disclosed, including, but not limited to, the city and state in which
the project is located and the total project square footage. All private projects that achieve WELL Certification or
WELL Compliance will be prompted upon issuance of award, if any, to transition to public status. A project that
wishes to remain a private project will need to re-confirm its private status at the time of certification.
For so long as a project maintains its election as a private project, the project cannot market or represent itself
to the general public as having applied for certification or compliance, or as being certified or compliant, and no
intellectual property including the WELL certification or compliance trademarks may be utilized or displayed in
relation to the project. Project owners may change the privacy setting for a project at any time before acceptance
of the final award, using functionality in WELL Online.
Further development of the WELL program depends upon the collection, analysis and distribution of information
pertaining to WELL design, construction and performance. IWBI and its affiliates may make internal use of any
information that is submitted to IWBI whether by a public or private project including, and not limited to, project
performance data, and may publish this information to third parties, including the general public, in aggregated
non-identifying form.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

15

GLOSSARY
Alternative Adherence Path Alternative solutions for meeting the intent of any WELL feature requirement. Projects
may submit an alternative adherence path proposal to IWBI to replace any requirement in WELL. Fees apply.
Curative Action Plan Document that outlines strategies that project teams will employ to address any unmet
criteria as identified in a WELL report. These plans must be submitted to IWBI within 180 calendar days of receiving
the WELL report, and must detail a specific and feasible plan of action.
Feature A set of requirements in the WELL Building Standard with a specific health intent. Features are classified
as either mandatory Preconditions or as Optimizations that offer more flexibility.
Innovation Features Features which allow for project teams to submit ideas for new features under a certain
concept. The proposals for these features must address a novel aspect relevant to the concept, with robust supporting
literature from health and medical research. Innovation features for a given project may include implementation of
the requirements in an existing WELL feature that is designated as not applicable to the projects typology.
Letter of Appeal Document that outlines a project teams disagreement with any finding of the WELL report, or of
any decision regarding proposals for alternative adherence paths, curative actions, or innovation features. Appeals
must be submitted to IWBI within 90 calendar days of the date of issuance of the WELL report or the appeal review
report, as applicable.
WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP) A professional who has extensive industry experience and knowledge
of the WELL process. Such professionals have successfully completed IWBIs WELL AP exam, and may be hired by
a project team as consultants to guide successful certification or compliance award.
WELL Assessor An independent professional who conducts on-site performance tests, inspections, and spotchecks, as well as Documentation Review in order to evaluate a projects eligibility for WELL Certification. These
professionals are trained to understand proper adherence to testing protocols for evaluating WELL performance
criteria.
Performance Verification A site visit where a WELL Assessor conducts performance tests, visual inspections and
spot-checks, and also includes follow-up analysis of collected data and samples from the site.
WELL Features Addenda and Interpretations Addenda incorporate changes and improvements to the WELL
Building Standard to help clarify, correct, interpret or provide alternative language.
WELL Online (projects.wellcertified.com) Official online registration application and project management system
for WELL. Project administrators must register projects on WELL Online, and may delegate responsibilities over
specific features to other project team members. All documents must be uploaded onto WELL Online for review
and approval.
WELL report Comprehensive report of the project which includes a feature-by-feature summary of whether or not
project teams successfully provided documentation to verify that each feature has been satisfied, or if the project
has successfully performed to measurable criteria relevant for specific features. Provided via WELL Online for the
project administrator to view.

The WELL Building Standard: WELL Certification Guidebook:

Copyright 2016 by International WELL Building Institute, PBC. All rights reserved.

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