For a typical new office development, set BREEAM Excellent as the minimum committed target. Use BREEAM Outstanding as the preferred stretch target when planning policy, the client or funder, the budget, site conditions and delivery team can support the additional design, evidence and delivery requirements.
That is a briefing position, not a universal legal rule. Confirm the country, national scheme operator, registered BREEAM version, local planning policy, procurement route and any client or funding standard before fixing the target in the employer’s requirements.
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What the BREEAM bands actually represent
BREEAM ratings are performance bands, not labels that can be selected independently of the credits and minimum standards in the registered scheme. BREEAM’s current International New Construction ratings page describes the bands in relative terms:
| Rating | Broad position described by BREEAM | What that implies for a client |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding | Less than the top 1% of buildings; “innovator” level | A highly ambitious target that requires exceptional performance and dependable evidence. |
| Excellent | Top 10%; “best practice” | A demanding but generally defensible benchmark for a new office brief. |
| Very Good | Top 25%; “advanced good practice” | Strong performance, but increasingly below the stated floor for leading office developments. |
| Good | Top 50%; “intermediate good practice” | A lower level that may not satisfy an office-sector, funder or public-client brief. |
| Pass | Top 75%; “standard good practice” | The entry band, not normally the strategic target for a new commercial office. |
Those descriptions are not the same as the percentage score used for certification. Under the cited BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 technical manual (issue dated 29 November 2024), the headline thresholds are at least 70% for Excellent and at least 85% for Outstanding. The applicable manual and version control the actual calculation, category weightings, minimum standards and evidence rules.
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Why Excellent is the normal office baseline
The British Council for Offices’ Guide to Specification reported that its minimum BREEAM target was moving from Very Good to Excellent and noted that many developers already target Outstanding for new offices. That sector position makes Excellent a credible floor when a client wants an asset that can demonstrate best practice without assuming that every exceptional credit, study and operational commitment is achievable.
Excellent is also a useful briefing threshold because it can be tested early. The design team can model energy and carbon, review water and transport, plan ecology and resilience work, and create an evidence responsibility matrix before the project is committed to construction. If the pre-assessment shows a comfortable route to the threshold, the team can protect that route through design development rather than trying to recover credits at handover.
Choosing Excellent does not mean accepting an ordinary environmental outcome. It still requires coordinated decisions across energy, materials, water, health and wellbeing, transport, waste, land use and ecology, pollution, management and innovation under the registered scheme. A project that targets exactly 70% is exposed to small changes, lost evidence and assessor judgments; the brief should therefore include a margin above the published threshold.
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Outstanding belongs in the employer’s requirements when the project’s strategic value justifies the additional effort and the team can make the necessary commitments early. The following conditions are strong reasons to adopt it as the committed target rather than merely mentioning it as an aspiration.
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A policy, client or funding requirement drives the decision
A local plan, public-sector client, funder, corporate standard or lease covenant may require Outstanding or reward it materially. Check the wording: “target,” “achieve,” “certify” and “minimum” create different obligations, and some policies allow a lower rating only when infeasibility is demonstrated and approved.
The building is a flagship or long-hold asset
Outstanding can be proportionate for a headquarters, campus centerpiece or long-term investment where the owner values market differentiation, stronger investor reporting, resilience and preparation for tighter future regulation. The business case should identify who receives those benefits and over what holding period.
The team can fund and manage exceptional performance
Outstanding requires more than an efficient concept. The project should be able to commit early to predictive energy modelling, operational energy and carbon targets, whole-life-carbon analysis, climate-risk and resilience work, biodiversity measures, commissioning, post-occupancy performance planning and rigorous evidence management. These activities need named owners, fees, programme allowances and access to the information required to prove compliance.
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The project can tolerate less delivery uncertainty
An Outstanding target is credible only when the assessor, designers, contractor and specialist suppliers have a coordinated route to the required credits. If procurement is likely to separate design from construction, if specifications will be value-engineered late, or if evidence systems are weak, the target should be re-tested before it becomes a contractual promise.
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Is Excellent enough for a new office?
Excellent is enough when it satisfies the applicable planning and client requirements, the owner’s environmental and investment objectives, and a realistic project-specific credit plan. It is not enough where a policy or funder explicitly requires Outstanding, or where the owner has made a flagship, top-tier performance commitment that an Excellent certificate would contradict.
Do not use the label alone as a proxy for operational results. Ask what the design predicts for operational energy and carbon, how embodied and whole-life carbon are being addressed, how commissioning will be completed, and how post-occupancy performance will be checked. A well-delivered Excellent project with transparent performance data can be more credible than an Outstanding claim with fragile evidence or unrealistic assumptions.
Check the scheme, country and version before setting a score
BREEAM is not one global checklist. BREEAM’s New Construction material describes Version 7.1 as a science-led standard with stronger whole-life-carbon requirements, updated climate-resilience and biodiversity criteria, and greater attention to predictive energy modelling and operational targets. It also introduces new minimum standards intended to reflect what Excellent and Outstanding should look like.
The UK commercial scheme is tailored to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. International New Construction is used where a country does not have a national scheme operator or local adaptation. Confirm which route applies to the site and which version the project will register under. A pre-assessment prepared against an older version is not proof that the same score is available under the registered version, especially where minimum standards or category requirements have changed.
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Record the decision in the project brief:
- Country and jurisdiction.
- National scheme operator, if one applies.
- Scheme name and registered version.
- Assessment type and project scope.
- Required certification stage and any post-occupancy commitments.
- Planning, client, funder and lease requirements that affect the rating.
Compare Excellent and Outstanding on the issues that can change the brief
A useful target decision tests more than the headline percentage. Use the following questions with the client, assessor, design team and cost consultant.
| Decision axis | Questions to answer before committing |
|---|---|
| Planning and client compliance | Does a local plan, public client, funder, corporate standard or lease covenant require or strongly reward either level? What approvals are needed for a justified fallback? |
| Energy and carbon | Can the team demonstrate the required predicted operational energy and carbon performance, plus the applicable embodied and whole-life-carbon, refrigerant and transport measures? |
| Resilience and ecology | Are climate risk, heat, flooding, water, biodiversity and adaptability measures feasible on this site and capable of being evidenced? |
| Cost and programme | Have consultant scope, specialist studies, design iterations, commissioning, construction evidence and contingency been priced and scheduled? |
| Asset value | Will investor reporting, tenant demand, operating-cost exposure, financing expectations or future regulation justify the additional commitment? |
| Delivery confidence | Does the assessor have the right experience, and can the contractor and supply chain collect, control and submit evidence without relying on late recollection? |
There is no universal published cost premium or probability of achieving Outstanding rather than Excellent. Treat any generic percentage as unreliable unless it is tied to the project’s scope, location, procurement and registered version. Commission a project-specific pre-assessment and cost the credit plan instead.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical workflow for setting the target
- Identify the applicable scheme. Confirm the country, national scheme operator, assessment type and registration/version. Do this before using a score from a feasibility study as a commitment.
- Map external requirements. Review local planning policy, the client’s employer’s requirements, funder criteria, corporate standards and any lease or investment covenant. Note whether each item is mandatory, preferential or conditional.
- Commission an early licensed-assessor pre-assessment. Use realistic credit assumptions, not optimistic placeholders. Ask the assessor to identify minimum standards, likely credits, evidence owners, dependencies, exclusions and the score sensitivity to design changes.
- Set the contractual floor. For a normal new office, write Excellent as the minimum committed target unless a stronger requirement or a documented project strategy supports Outstanding. State the certification stage and the evidence obligations in the brief and appointments.
- Build the Outstanding case where appropriate. If Outstanding is selected, price the credit plan, assign an owner for every credit and study, reserve design and construction contingency, and retain a score buffer above 85% under the applicable scheme. The buffer should cover lost credits, minimum-standard issues, assessor findings and late changes.
- Re-test at formal decision gates. Revisit the target at concept design, technical design, tender and pre-certification. At each gate, compare the current score, evidence status, cost, programme and risks with the committed rating; escalate any loss of buffer before approving changes.
How to protect the score during design and construction
At concept design
Freeze the scheme and version, complete the pre-assessment, and reserve the credits that depend on site layout, massing, orientation, transport strategy, ecology and energy concept. Decisions that are cheap at concept stage can become expensive or impossible after planning approval.
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At technical design
Translate credits into specifications, calculations, drawings and schedules. Confirm the energy model, whole-life-carbon approach, materials information, water strategy, climate-resilience measures, biodiversity actions and commissioning plan. Each item should have one accountable lead and a defined evidence format.
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At tender
Make BREEAM obligations visible in the scope and preliminaries. Require bidders to identify substitutions, product data, testing, commissioning and records that could affect credits. A low tender that removes an unpriced study or evidence task can create a much larger certification risk later.
At pre-certification
Close evidence gaps before practical completion. Check installation records, commissioning results, construction-stage materials and waste data, testing certificates, policies, photographs and assessor queries against the credit tracker. Do not rely on a predicted score if the installed solution or available evidence has changed.
Common target-setting mistakes and their fixes
- Assuming Outstanding is legally universal. BREEAM sets a certification framework; a particular planning authority or client may add its own requirement. Check the local policy and the project’s approvals rather than generalising from another scheme.
- Carrying forward an old pre-assessment. Version 7.1 and other registered versions can change minimum standards and credit requirements. Re-run the assessment against the version actually registered.
- Targeting the threshold with no margin. A 70% Excellent or 85% Outstanding score can fall when a credit is lost, evidence is rejected or a late design change affects several categories. Set and monitor a buffer.
- Leaving evidence until handover. Many credits depend on decisions, tests and records created months earlier. Put evidence duties in consultant appointments, specifications, subcontract orders and the construction information system.
- Confusing design intent with operational performance. Predicted energy and carbon are not the same as measured outcomes. Include commissioning quality and a post-occupancy performance plan where the selected scheme requires or rewards them.
- Ignoring resilience and biodiversity until late. Climate risk, heat, flooding, water and ecology can affect site planning and landscape design. Commission the relevant studies early enough to change the design.
- Promising a rating without delivery capability. An ambitious target needs an assessor with the right scheme experience, a contractor able to produce reliable evidence and a client prepared to resolve trade-offs quickly.
A decision rule for the employer’s requirements
Write the brief so that the target is auditable: name the scheme and version, the certification stage, the minimum rating, the score buffer expectation, the assessor’s role, evidence responsibilities and the review gates. For most new offices, that means an Excellent floor. Add Outstanding only when the policy, asset strategy and delivery plan can support the exceptional performance and evidence burden, and retain a documented fallback process if feasibility changes.
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