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Mat 03 - Responsible Sourcing of Materials
Information correct as of 13thDecember 2024. Please see kb.breeam.com for the latest compliance information.
Assessing furniture - KBCN00019
Fixed furniture within the building should be assessed. Examples of this include: built-in desks, kitchen units, toilet cubicles, any use which constitutes a significant fitting.
Movable furniture which is not fixed to the building should be excluded from the assessment.
Building elements’ Materials - KBCN0190
For each element, only the materials that make up a significant majority of the building element (up to 80%) need to be responsibly sourced. Any material which comprise the remaining 20% can be included at the discretion of the assessor if it contributes to achieving more points. It should be noted that including additional elements from a lower tier level may reduce the number of points scored.
Criterion 2.b To achieve points for any given building elements, at least 80% of the materials that make-up that element must be responsibly sourced i.e. classified in tier 1-7.
Design stage requirements where specific product details are unknown - KBCN1483
The Mat 03 tool must be completed in accordance with the Methodology, providing all available details and submitted as evidence.
Where products or materials are subject to a performance specification and a specific manufacturer and certificate reference cannot be provided, the missing details should be completed as 'tbc'.
This ensures that a strategy for compliance can be demonstrated, even where some specific details are unavailable.
Evidence requirements – responsible sourcing of materials at post-construction - KBCN1599
Whilst the UK BREEAM manuals are less prescriptive in the evidential requirements to allow flexibility, to ensure consistency across the schemes, it is expected that robust evidence should be provided to verify the source of any certified materials and how the assessor has confirmed the products and manufacturers used.
Evidence supplied at post construction stage must reflect the completed building and confirm the responsibly sourced materials that have been procured and installed on the project. Supporting documentation is required to validate letters of confirmation or schedules of materials.
Evidence provided could include proof of purchase, for example, invoices, delivery tickets, purchase orders or correspondence from suppliers. This may be an example for each material sourced, rather than every delivery ticket for instance. Alternatively, evidence of the use of the responsibly sourced materials may include as-built drawings, O&M documentation or site photographs.
Fitting elements in Shell and Core assessments - KBCN0835
All elements present in a building need to be assessed. Therefore, where fitting elements are included in a development being assessed as shell and core, they need to be included in the BREEAM assessment.
FSC and PEFC Mixed Sources certified timber - KBCN00091
Products labelled:
- FSC Mix or
- PEFC Mixed Sources
Meet the BREEAM responsible sourcing requirements. This means any such products:
- In HQM, and in BREEAM NC 2016 or older schemes: meet the prerequisite for legally harvested and traded timber.
- In BREEAM NC 2018 or newer schemes: meet the prerequisite for legal and sustainable timber.
- In all schemes: can be used to demonstrate responsible sourcing.
Products carrying the FSC Mix label contain at least 70% FSC certified and recycled material. These products may contain a small proportion of FSC Controlled Wood (KBCN00054). However for BREEAM compliance, the FSC Mix label is sufficient to meet our requirements.
14-Mar-2024 - Wording clarified and expanded. Relevant prerequisites and requirements clarified. Scheme applicability updated.
FSC Controlled Wood - KBCN00054
The
FSC Controlled Wood label minimises the risk that wood comes from illegal or controversial sources, however it does not eliminate this risk.
Therefore, products which are:
- Labelled as FSC Controlled Wood or,
- Where the majority of material in a product is comprised of FSC Controlled Wood,
Do not meet the BREEAM definition of responsibly sourced.
Where FSC Mix labelled products contain FSC Controlled Wood, see KBCN00091.
This means that any such products:
- In HQM, and in BREEAM NC 2016 or older schemes: do not meet the prerequisite for legally harvested and traded timber.
- In BREEAM NC 2018 or newer schemes: do not meet the prerequisite for legal and sustainable timber.
- In all schemes: cannot be used to demonstrate responsible sourcing.
14-Mar-2024 - Wording clarified and expanded. Relevant prerequisites and requirements clarified. Scheme applicability updated.
GN18 BREEAM Recognised Responsible Sourcing Certification Schemes and BREEAM Scheme Applicability - KBCN0723
Latest version: v3.7, May 2023
BREEAM awards credits for responsibly sourcing construction products (typically under the Mat 03 issue) to encourage responsible product specification and procurement in construction. To achieve these credits, applicable specified products (as listed in the relevant technical manual) must be covered by an Environmental Management System (EMS) or a responsible sourcing certification scheme (RSCS) recognised by BREEAM.
Guidance Note 18 lists the responsible sourcing certifications schemes recognised by BREEAM along with the relevant summary scores to be used in BREEAM assessments.
Download Guidance Note 18
Download Guidance Note 18 v2.0 (licensed assessors only - optional for projects registered prior to release of v3.0 in September 2016)
View all Guidance Notes on BREEAM Projects (licensed assessors only)
GN24 Demonstrating compliance with Mat 03 in BREEAM - KBCN0721
Latest version: v1.1, May 2022
Guidance Note 24 provides additional guidance to assessors and specifiers on demonstrating compliance with the criteria set out in Mat 03. It should be read in conjunction with the Technical Manual for the relevant assessment scheme. It covers:
- How to deal with constituent products/materials including those with certification that is different from the overall product.
- The precision required in estimating quantities:
- For the cut-off volume
- Of products/materials in the building (route 2 only)
- Of different material categories in products/materials.
- An example route 2 calculation.
- ‘Broken chain’ situations.
- How to treat building services.
Download Guidance Note 24 (licensed assessors only)
View all Guidance Notes (licensed assessors only)
Legally harvested and traded timber – Examples - KBCN0956
The following examples are considered compliant for BREEAM purposes.
Legally harvested:
- Evidence of compliance with the CPET (see here, timber bought inside the UK only)
- FSC, PEFC or SFI certification
- Evidence of compliance with the EUTR (timber bought inside the EU only)
- Risk assessment/due diligence documentation demonstrating a low risk of non-compliance with the ‘legally harvested’ requirements given in the manual.
Legally traded:
- Evidence of compliance with the CPET (see here, timber bought inside the UK only)
- FSC, PEFC or SFI certification
- Risk assessment/due diligence documentation demonstrating a low risk of non-compliance with the ‘legally traded’ requirements given in the manual.
Legally harvested and traded/Legal and sustainable timber – Reclaimed/recycled timber - KBCN1402
As an alternative to virgin timber and wood-derived products from a Legally harvested and traded timber/Legal and Sustainable source, ‘recycled timber’ is acceptable. For the purposes of these prerequisites, ‘recycled timber’ is defined by BREEAM as:
Recovered wood that prior to being supplied to the assessed project had an end use as a standalone object or as part of a structure and which has completed its lifecycle and would otherwise be disposed of as waste. The term ‘recycled’ is used to cover the following categories: pre-consumer recycled wood and wood fibre or industrial by products but excluding sawmill co-products (sawmill co-products are deemed to fall within the category of virgin timber), post-consumer recycled wood and wood fibre, and drift wood. It also covers reclaimed timber which was abandoned or confiscated at least ten years previously.
BREEAM requires documentary evidence that all reclaimed/recycled timber products meet the definition of ‘recycled timber’ given above.
Mat 01 / Mat 03 calculator not big enough - KBCN0647
If a project has more specifications than there is rows available in the tool you can group specifications that have the same green guide rating/responsible sourcing level with each of the specifications with the same rating listed in the same row. The proportion that they contribute to the overall area is also combined. For example where a project has 30 different upper floor specifications, if 10 upper floor specifications are A+, 10 are A, 5 are B and 5 are C then you would only need to use 4 lines.
Mat 03 calculator – combined elements - KBCN1245
Where a building element acts as two or more of the building elements combined (e.g. reinforced concrete slab that acts as substructure and ground floor), the assessor has a choice between two methods for inputting the elements into the Mat 03 calculator tool:
Method 1: The entire element specification can be entered into one of either element. This produces the worst case scenario.
Method 2: The element specification can be split into notional specifications as if the elements act independently.
Example: a reinforced concrete slab that acts as foundation and ground floor
Method 1: The element specification is input as one of either the foundation/substructure OR ground floor
Method 2: The notional specification as if the slab acts solely as ground floor is entered under ground floor (components of the specification that are 'added' to the slab so that it also acts as foundation are removed) AND the notional specification as if the slab acts solely as foundation is entered under substructure/foundation (components of the specification that are 'added' to the slab so that it also acts as ground floor are removed)
On site fabrication - KBCN1292
Where concrete (or another construction product) is produced on site, there is no requirement to provide responsible sourcing certification for the end product. As in this case fabrication on site is effectively part of the onsite building process, the certification of the individual products (e.g. aggregates, cement), as delivered to site, shall be used in the assessment instead.
Outdoor foundations - KBCN0787
Outdoor foundations for lighting poles, bike racks, charging stations, etc., need to be included under hard landscaping, provided they are above the cut-off volume.
Raised access floors - KBCN00018
For the purposes of Mat 03, raised access floors should be considered as part of the floor structure.
HQM - Applies to HQM's Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products assessment issue.
Recognition of UK CARES SRS in the responsible sourcing tier levels - KBCN0222
UK CARES SRS falls within tier 4 of the responsible sourcing tier levels.
Responsible sourcing certification – validity - KBCN1693
Where it can be demonstrated that the responsible sourcing certificates were valid either at the time of specification, or at the time of purchase, they may contribute to the awarding of the credits.
BREEAM is primarily trying to encourage designers to take responsible sourcing into consideration when specifying or selecting products and as such it is not necessary for certification to be valid at the time of design or post-construction stage submissions.
RSCS summary score level for BES 6001 products - KBCN0955
For products certified under BES 6001, the rating score (between 5 and 7) can be found in the Green Book Live. This is the rating that needs to be entered in the Mat 03 calculator.
The RSCS score that is entered into the Mat 03 calculator comes from the relevant table in Guidance Note 18. However, for BES 6001, the score is per certificate because 6001 works at different levels of rigour.
Once you have found the product, by searching on the page below, click 'More..' on the right-hand side to reveal further details, including the BREEAM score level.
GreenBookLive Responsible Sourcing
Information correct as of 13thDecember 2024. Please see kb.breeam.com for the latest compliance information.