14.2 Submission Requirements & the EDGE Checklist

14.2 Submission Requirements & the EDGE Checklist

Exam Focus: Sub-topics 6.7 "EDGE checklist" and 6.8 "Submission requirements at the design and construction stage and format of submission" are both named in Domain 6.0. The material is procedural, so questions tend to be precise about who does what and when.

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What Must Be Submitted

The scope rule is broader than candidates expect. It is not only the claimed measures:

Supporting documentation shall be submitted for each subsection in the Design Tab and the claimed measures in the Energy, Water, and Materials tabs.

So the submission has two parts:

1. Design Tab evidence — the parameters that establish the project and its base case: location, typology and sub-typology, gross internal area, storeys, operating hours, occupancy, air-conditioned area, and the area and loads breakdown.
2. Measure evidence — for every measure claimed in the three calculator tabs, the documentation that measure requires.

A team that documents its measures meticulously but leaves the Design Tab parameters unevidenced has submitted half a package. The base case is derived from those parameters, so they are as auditable as the measures.

The User Guides are the authority on what each measure requires. GBCI directs teams to them for detailed information on each EDGE measure and the documentation information required, and it is the Expert's job to work from the User Guide version governing the project rather than from memory.

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The EDGE Checklist in Practice

The checklist is not a static PDF; it is the live approval state of every claimed measure inside the EDGE software. During the initial review of the Design Audit:

Your Auditor will check your application for completeness and compliance with the EDGE Standard requirements. Through the EDGE software, the Auditor will indicate which measures are approved, not approved, or are pending further information.

Those three states are the working checklist, and each has a distinct correct response:

The savings arithmetic behind the checklist

Every not approved measure removes its savings from the model. This is why an Expert tracks not just the count of open items but the percentage headroom above each threshold. A project sitting at 20.4% energy cannot afford to lose a single measure; a project at 27% can lose several. Knowing which of the two you are managing determines how hard you fight each item.

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Design Stage and Construction Stage

EDGE certification has two stages, and GBCI describes their relationship precisely: each stage mirrors the other, except that a site audit is required at the construction stage. The cost of certification covers both stages.

The Site Audit exists because designs change. GBCI is explicit that a building must be reviewed again at post-construction in case any changes have been implemented during the construction process. Any specification substituted during construction must be reflected in the model before the Site Audit, not defended during it.

Sequencing rules that gate each audit

• The team must provide all the post-construction stage documentation to the Auditor before the Site Audit can begin.
• The Site Audit must take place within 12 months of the project's practical completion for new construction projects.
• Audits begin only after the project team has provided all required documentation. Partial packages delay the audit, not the Auditor.

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Turnaround Expectations Both Ways

GBCI publishes expectations for both sides, and an Expert should manage the client to them:

• Auditor: 5 business days for the Design Audit initial review; 5 for the second review and recommendation; the same pattern for the Site Audit after the site visit.
• Project team: GBCI suggests submitting clarifications to the Auditor as soon as possible after receiving comments — within 20–25 business days is recommended.
• GBCI: approximately 10 business days for the quality-check decision, after fees clear.

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Special Cases in Evidence

Existing buildings. Where documents normally required are unavailable, other evidence of construction details — existing building drawings or photographs — may be submitted. The requirement adapts to what can reasonably exist for an older asset.

Plant outside the project boundary. Where the cooling plant is outside the EDGE boundary or not controlled by the client, a contract with, or letter from, the management company in charge of the plant stating the efficiency of the system must be provided in the post-construction documentation.

Zero Carbon. Project teams shall submit additional documentation about the fuels for Zero Carbon certification. The data and supporting documentation are entered in the Zero Carbon Calculator, located in each subproject's "Operations" tab in the EDGE App; the file is then submitted for review and GBCI is emailed to confirm submission.

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The Pre-Submission Quality Check

GBCI instructs teams to perform a rigorous quality check of the entire application before submitting for review. In practice that means four passes:

1. Model versus drawings — every Design Tab parameter matches the issued drawings (Section 12.4).
2. Measure versus User Guide — every claimed measure meets its stated requirement, in full, not partially.
3. Evidence versus measure — every claimed measure has its required document attached and legible.
4. Headroom check — record the margin above 20% in each category, so you know in advance which measures you can afford to lose.