Mistakes That Could Delay Your BREEAM Certification & How to Avoid Them!
Discover the common mistakes that delay BREEAM certification and learn how to avoid costly setbacks with expert tips from Encon Associates.
Achieving a BREEAM certification is a powerful way to demonstrate your commitment to sustainable building practices. However, the road to certification isn’t always smooth. Missteps (big or small) can result in costly delays, missed targets, or even failure to certify.
At Encon Associates, we’ve supported hundreds of successful BREEAM assessments, and we’ve also seen the pitfalls that catch many project teams off guard. In this post, we outline the most common mistakes that delay certification and more importantly, how you can avoid them.
1. Lack of Early Planning and Engagement
Why Early Involvement Matters
One of the biggest mistakes is waiting too long to involve a BREEAM Assessor or sustainability consultant. BREEAM rewards decisions made during the design stage and not after construction begins. Delays often occur when:
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Credit opportunities are missed early on
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Evidence is hard to gather retroactively
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Design choices contradict BREEAM requirements
How to Avoid It
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Engage a licensed BREEAM Assessor from the outset
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Include BREEAM objectives in early design meetings
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Plan your credits strategy based on your target rating
Top Tip from Encon: Align BREEAM with your project programme from day one—it saves time, money, and stress down the line.
2. Poor Communication Between Stakeholders
The Coordination Challenge
Successful BREEAM certification depends on effective collaboration between architects, contractors, engineers, and sustainability consultants. Delays often arise when:
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Key team members are unaware of credit responsibilities
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Submissions are late or incomplete
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Evidence is not coordinated or standardised
How to Avoid It
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Assign a BREEAM lead within the project team
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Set regular sustainability coordination meetings
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Use shared folders and document trackers for all credit evidence
Key Pitfalls to Avoid in Your BREEAM Journey
3. Incomplete or Incorrect Documentation
Documentation is Everything in BREEAM
You can have the most sustainable building in the world, but if you can’t prove it, you won’t get the credits. Projects are frequently delayed due to:
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Missing evidence for specific criteria
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Incorrect formats or mislabelled documents
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Unverifiable third-party certifications or reports
How to Avoid It
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Create a documentation checklist per credit
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Ensure every submission meets BREEAM’s required formats
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Submit early drafts to your Assessor for feedback
Bonus Tip: Stay Organised
At Encon Associates, we recommend using cloud-based project management tools to streamline evidence submission and version control.
Final Thoughts
Avoiding delays in BREEAM certification isn’t just about knowing the standards, it’s about proactive planning, tight coordination, and expert guidance.
Partnering with Encon Associates, ensures your project stays on track, on budget, and on target for the BREEAM rating you’re aiming for.
Need help with your BREEAM strategy?
I have both employed and recommended Encon Associates Ltd for a number of the differing services they are able to provide and without exception, always been extremely satisfied with the cost, timescales and quality of the work produced.
The services in question have consisted of code assessments, BREEAM assessments and various environmental (sound, dust, contaminated land etc) assessments, all of which have been successfully undertaken with uttermost dedication by Glenn and Mark. I would have no hesitation in recommending them on future commissions in the knowledge that they will work with the team to achieve a satisfactory conclusion for the client.