Man 03 - Responsible construction practices

Considerate construction: Checklist A1 – Photo card identification - KBCN1632

Checklist A1 Reference 4.e. requires the following: 'Operatives’ identification; all operatives to be provided with a photo identification clip card' However, since this was introduced into 'considerate construction' requirements, data protection legislation and expectations around privacy have progressed. This requirement can, therefore, be disregarded.

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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.

30-Oct-2025 - Applicable to HQM V6 and UKNCR V6.1
14-Mar-2024 - Wording clarified and expanded. Relevant prerequisites and requirements clarified. Scheme applicability updated.

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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.

30-Oct-2025 - Applicable to HQM V6 and UKNCR V6.1
14-Mar-2024 - Wording clarified and expanded. Relevant prerequisites and requirements clarified. Scheme applicability updated.

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Legally harvested and traded timber – Examples - KBCN0956

The following examples are considered compliant for BREEAM: Legally harvested:

1. Evidence of compliance with the UK government Timber Procurement Policy (see here, timber bought inside the UK only)
2. FSC, PEFC, SFI or GiB certification
3. Evidence of compliance with the EUTR (timber bought inside the EU only)
4. Risk assessment/due diligence documentation demonstrating a low risk of non-compliance with the ‘legally harvested’ requirements given in the manual.

Legally traded:

1. Evidence of compliance with the UK government Timber Procurement Policy (see here, timber bought inside the UK only)
2. FSC, PEFC, SFI or GiB certification
3. Risk assessment/due diligence documentation demonstrating a low risk of non-compliance with the ‘legally traded’ requirements given in the manual.

04-Dec-2025 - Examples updated to include Grown in Britain (GiB) certification. Previous reference to 'CPET' clarified as 'UK government Timber Procurement Policy'.
KBCN applied more widely to all relevant scheme issues in BREEAM and HQM

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Prerequisite – Reused temporary site timber - KBCN1769

Timber formwork or scaffold boards, that are being reused and are verified as such, can be excluded from the criteria. It is more sustainable to reuse existing timber than to potentially promote the use of virgin timber just to ensure responsible sourcing paperwork is available, which may be logistically hard to obtain for reused timber.

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