Purpose
To minimize any risks associated with conflicts of interest which may compromise judgement, decisions or outcomes.
Requirements
It is important that any potential conflict of interest is highlighted as early as possible in the project. The Assessor should identify any work that the Assessor, Assessor organisation or associated companies are involved in, or any other conflicts of interest that may arise over the course of the project.
Applicability:
Where the Assessor or Assessor organisation has performed other roles on the project and/or produced evidence, a conflict of interest statement must always be submitted as part of the QA submission.
The identification of any conflicts, together with a clear plan of how they will be managed on the project, should be included within the initial submission to the BRE; or at an appropriate time thereafter when the potential conflict becomes apparent. It is not sufficient to merely state that there was no conflict of interest where a potential conflict is identified. Full details, as set out in the list below, must be included within the assessment evidence.
What must be included:
The conflict of interest statement should be in the form of a signed letter or statement on headed paper, from the assessor to whom the assessment is registered, and should include the following:
- Details of the roles undertaken by the Assessor on the project (e.g. BREEAM Assessor/BREEAM AP).
- Details of any other roles performed by the Assessor organisation on the project, including names of those involved and what involvement they had in the assessment, (e.g. building services consultant).
- How any of the above identified conflicts have been managed, (e.g. Assessor works independently in a different office, details of quality assurance processes in place). The statement should include a level of detail which explains that any potential Conflict of Interest has been identified and steps have been taken within the Assessor organisation to mitigate any conflict of interest when working on the assessment.
When the Assessor role and the AP role are undertaken by the same person:
This is acceptable. The Assessor is trusted to work in accordance with the Assessor Code of Conduct and ensure that the additional duties do not compromise their integrity and objectivity as the Assessor.
BREEAM AP is an advisory role only, and it does not include design work or the preparation of design reports. Therefore, it is acceptable for the Assessor to also undertake this role and produce reports documenting their involvement, and monitoring and reporting on progress.
When the Assessor only performs the role of the Assessor:
The BREEAM Assessor must not be personally responsible for producing evidence as part of their assessor role. However, Licensed Assessors can, and often will, be asked by clients, project teams and asset owners/managers to comment on whether one or more proposed solutions comply with the criteria. This type of advice does not necessarily constitute a conflict of interest, but Assessors should be mindful that it does not lead to one.
01 Sep 2026 - Wording updated to clarify the intent. 01 Nov 2024 Minor amendments to wording including clarification on when to submit and consequences if not provided.