The Built-In™ Framework: what BREEAM readiness means for main contractors
The Built-In Framework is the five-pillar method behind the scorecard. It asks one question: is sustainability on this scheme built in from the day you pick it up, or is it being managed as issues come up?
Most main contractors inherit a BREEAM pre-assessment, energy and overheating reports and a targeted credit list they didn't write. The framework checks five things about what you've inherited: how much of it has been checked, whether the assessments share one set of assumptions, whether sustainability is in the room when decisions are made, how actions get closed, and how certification evidence is captured. Each check becomes a pillar score, and together they give one readiness percentage.
It matters because BREEAM, Part O, HEM, TM59 and whole-life carbon now land on the same scheme at the same time, and each can pull against the others while a decision is still open. Readiness isn't a rating certificate. It shows whether you're steering the scheme or catching up with it.
How the score works
There are ten scored questions, two for each pillar, and each answer scores 0, 1 or 2 points. Each pillar is scored out of four and shown as a percentage. Your overall readiness is scored out of twenty, also shown as a percentage, and places you in one of three tiers: Exposed (0 to 40%), Reactive (41 to 69%) or Built-In (70 to 100%).
With your score you get your weakest pillar, the risk it carries on your scheme and the first action we'd take. Five short questions at the end ask about your company, your priorities for the next 90 days and what's in the way, so any walk-through starts from your situation, not ours.
The five pillars
SET
Knowing what FHS will cost you
The risk
Sites are falling under FHS before anyone has costed what it means for each flat type, so the cost turns up late, at full price.
What to do about it
Map every site against the FHS deadlines, and cost FHS for each flat type at RIBA Stages 0 to 2, before the spec is fixed.
SEE
Assumptions you can check
The risk
Default psi-values and inconsistent inputs make flats fail on paper, not in reality. That pushes you towards PV and triple glazing you may not need.
What to do about it
Replace default psi-values with calculated ones for your real junctions, and agree one set of inputs that every consultant uses.
SHAPE
Costed options before the spec is fixed
The risk
Failing flats get fixed by adding PV or triple glazing, the most expensive route, and the roof often has no room for it.
What to do about it
Test two or three costed options in SAP before the spec is fixed. Aim for flats that pass without relying on PV.
SMOOTH
A spec you can repeat
The risk
Every site re-solves the same problems, and design changes slip through without a compliance check.
What to do about it
Build a standard FHS spec and junction set you reuse, and check compliance before any design change is agreed.
SHOW
Results you can prove
The risk
EPCs fall short of B, lessons stay on one site, and HEM arrives before your team is ready for it.
What to do about it
Track EPC results across schemes, share your standard spec across the business, and start testing your homes in HEM.
The three readiness tiers
FHS is likely to cost you more than it needs to. The good news is that most of that cost sits in modelling assumptions, not the build, so it can still be designed out. Now is the cheapest time to do it.
Your homes will comply, but probably by adding kit rather than by making decisions early. A few changes upstream could take real cost out across your sites.
You're ahead of most of the market. FHS is designed in and costed. The next gain is making your spec repeatable across sites and ready for HEM.
Who uses the framework
Technical directors, design and project managers, bid teams and sustainability leads at regional, mid-tier and major contractors, and at design and build or specialist firms. Run it at PCSA or Stage 3 to 4 pickup, or at bid, while what you've inherited is still open to challenge. Fifteen questions give you your score, your weakest pillar and the offer of a 20-minute walk-through with a senior consultant.