When delivering a BREEAM project, two roles often come up early in the conversation: the BREEAM Assessor and the BREEAM Advisory Professional (AP).
They are closely connected, but they perform different functions.
Understanding that distinction – and involving the right expertise at the right stage – can help project teams protect targeted credits, reduce certification risk and avoid problems emerging later in the programme.
What does a BREEAM Assessor do?
The BREEAM Assessor is responsible for formally assessing the project against the relevant BREEAM standard.
Working with the project team, the Assessor reviews the evidence required to demonstrate that targeted credits have been achieved and manages the assessment through the relevant certification stages.
Their role includes reviewing project information and evidence, assessing compliance against BREEAM criteria and coordinating the formal assessment process.
Put simply:
The BREEAM Assessor determines whether the project has met the requirements necessary to achieve the targeted credits and certification rating.
What does a BREEAM AP do?
A BREEAM Advisory Professional (AP) plays a different role.
Rather than primarily assessing whether requirements have been achieved, the AP works alongside the project team to help embed BREEAM requirements into the way the project is designed and delivered.
This can include helping teams establish achievable targets, identifying risks and opportunities, coordinating sustainability responsibilities and monitoring progress as the project moves through design and construction.
The value is therefore largely proactive.
A BREEAM AP can help the project team understand what needs to happen – and when – before opportunities are lost or decisions become difficult to change.
BREEAM AP vs Assessor – the simple distinction
A useful way to think about the two roles is:
The Assessor evaluates and verifies.
The AP advises, coordinates and supports delivery.
The roles are complementary rather than interchangeable.
The Assessor provides the formal assessment required for certification, while the AP works with the project team to help protect the intended BREEAM outcome throughout delivery.
Why does the distinction matter?
Timing is one of the biggest risks on a BREEAM project.
Certain opportunities depend on decisions or activities taking place at particular stages of design or construction. If these are identified too late, it may no longer be practical – or even possible – to recover them.
Early AP involvement can help project teams:
- identify achievable credits and certification risks early;
- establish clear responsibilities across the project team;
- understand evidence and documentation requirements;
- maintain focus on the target rating as design and procurement decisions evolve;
- identify issues before they affect programme, cost or certification outcomes.
Under BREEAM v7, appointing a suitably qualified BREEAM AP at the appropriate project stages can also contribute directly towards Management credits, including opportunities under Man 01 and Man 03.
For projects targeting Excellent or Outstanding, protecting these opportunities can be particularly valuable.
What does this look like on a real project?
The recently completed Rhenus Parkmore 5 industrial and logistics facility in Galway provides a good example of BREEAM certification being integrated into wider project delivery.
Lawler Sustainability acted as BREEAM Assessor, working alongside the wider project team from concept through to completion while also providing sustainability consultancy, energy modelling and other specialist assessments.
The project ultimately achieved:
- BREEAM Excellent – Design Stage & Post-Construction Stage
- A2 BER
- 50% reduction in primary energy consumption
- 52% reduction in operational water use
- Fully electric building
- 76,126 kWh of annual renewable electricity generation
The project demonstrates an important point: successful certification isn’t simply about assessing a building at the end.
Sustainability objectives need to remain connected to design, engineering, construction, evidence and commissioning throughout project delivery.
Click the button below to explore the Rhenus Parkmore 5 case study.
Can the same consultancy provide both services?
Yes.
Lawler Sustainability is qualified to provide both BREEAM AP and BREEAM Assessor services.
Where appropriate, combining this expertise can provide project teams with greater continuity throughout the certification process – helping simplify communication, clarify evidence requirements, reduce duplication and identify potential assessment risks earlier.
The important point is that the two functions remain distinct: assessment provides independent verification against the BREEAM methodology, while AP support helps the project team work towards the desired outcome.
Which service does your project need?
If you’re pursuing BREEAM certification, you’ll need a BREEAM Assessor to undertake the formal assessment.
The question is whether your project would also benefit from BREEAM AP support.
For projects at concept or early design stage, AP involvement can help establish the certification strategy and protect early-stage opportunities.
For contractors taking responsibility for a project during construction, BREEAM AP support can help maintain the agreed target, coordinate requirements on site and reduce the risk of credits being lost through procurement, sequencing, documentation or evidence gaps.
The earlier these requirements are understood, the more opportunity the project team has to manage them effectively.
Planning or delivering a BREEAM project?
Whether you’re at concept stage, progressing through design or preparing to deliver a BREEAM project on site, Lawler Sustainability can provide BREEAM Assessment and BREEAM AP support tailored to the stage and requirements of your project.
Click the button below to speak to Lisa Martin, Head of Green Building Certification, about your project.