BREEAM and CEEQUAL

On 23rd November 2015, BRE announced their acquisition of CEEQUAL in a move designed to enable the development of a new sustainability rating scheme for civil engineering and infrastructure projects.

The move has been prompted by industry desire for a single sustainability rating scheme to address the challenge of delivering more sustainable and resilient infrastructure on the part of clients and contractors. By bringing together CEEQUAL with BRE’s BREEAM scheme, the plan is that this standard and certification tool will fulfill this desire and be able to serve civil engineering and infrastructure projects in the UK and globally.

The Institution of Civil Engineers has shown its support for the move, which sees CEEQUAL transfer its business operations to BRE Global.

CEEQUAL was established with the aim of delivering improved specification, design and construction of civil engineering works, providing an evidence-based sustainability assessment, rating and awards scheme.

Over the next two years, a new and improved scheme for industry will be developed that combines the team and process-focused approach of CEEQUAL with the asset-based scientific methodology of BREEAM. The need for integration with building related schemes will also be addressed, so that a single combined asset rating can be provided to clients with mixed developments.

During this period of transition before the planned 2017 launch, CEEQUAL will continue to operate as normal, with commitments and contracts with current customers being unaffected. Upon its launch, CEEQUAL Assessors will be able to transition their qualifications to the new scheme.

BRE Chief Executive Peter Bonfield said, “Our long term aspiration with a single scheme is to bring together the significant experience and expertise behind the two rating systems to deliver enhanced environmental and social benefits for civil engineering works and better economic outcomes that benefit society, and broaden up-take in the UK and international markets.”

CEEQUAL's Roger Venables said, “CEEQUAL is an internationally respected rating and awards scheme and has been applied to – and positively influenced – some of the UK’s most successful infrastructure projects like Crossrail and the London 2012 Olympics. It is increasingly used outside the UK, especially in Sweden and, most recently, in Qatar. I and my colleagues look forward to working with BRE to develop the next generation rating scheme that will address the significant challenges faced by those working in the sector.”

In June 2019, BRE Global launched CEEQUAL Version 6 to support infrastructure project teams’ sustainability goals. It combines the technical content of the CEEQUAL and BREEAMInfrastructure methodologies, and builds upon the well-proven processes of the CEEQUALapproach to assessment.

The launch of Version 6 marks the closure of both BREEAM Infrastructure (Pilot) and CEEQUAL Version 5 schemes. To aid transition, teams already working on CEEQUAL but who have not yet registered have until 30 September 2019 to register their projects to Version 5. Those who have already registered on these schemes are able to continue on them.

For more information see: CEEQUAL version 6.

--BRE Group