2.4 Registration, Submittal, Review, and Results Workflow

Do not confuse the two 'registrations'

The word registration appears in two unrelated LEED workflows, and the exam exploits the overlap. Candidate exam registration is when you sign up to sit the Green Associate exam through usgbc.org and schedule with Prometric. Project registration is the first step a building project team takes to begin pursuing certification with GBCI. They are different actors, different fees, and different timelines. Always identify whether a prompt is about a person earning a credential or a building earning certification before you answer.

The four-step project certification workflow

Project certification proceeds through a predictable sequence, administered by GBCI:

Documentation is assembled and submitted through LEED Online, the web platform that hosts credit forms and uploads. Early registration is encouraged because registering signals intent and unlocks the tools, even though it does not commit the project to a certification level.

Note the difference between registered and certified. A registered project has merely begun the process and paid the registration fee; a certified project has passed review and earned a level. Marketing a building as 'LEED registered' therefore says nothing about achievement — only that the team intends to pursue certification. The exam treats 'registered' as a starting line and 'certified' as the finish line, and a distractor sometimes implies registration alone confers a sustainability claim.

Splitting design and construction review

For BD+C and similar systems, the review can be split into a design phase and a construction phase. Credits whose compliance is fixed at design (for example, water-use modeling) can be reviewed early, while construction-related credits (for example, construction waste diversion) are reviewed after the work is built. Within each phase, teams may request an optional preliminary review (feedback to course-correct) followed by a required final review that produces the decision. Splitting lets teams lock in design credits before breaking ground, reducing late surprises.

When GBCI returns its determination, each credit is marked anticipated/awarded, pending, or denied. The team then chooses to accept the determination or appeal specific credits. An appeal triggers a second review of that credit and carries an additional per-credit fee. Appeals are the formal mechanism to contest a denied credit — there is no informal 'ask the reviewer to reconsider' channel.

Fees are workflow-specific

Project certification fees differ from the exam fees in Section 2.1. Certification pricing combines a flat registration fee plus a review fee that scales with the project's square footage (and varies by rating system and USGBC membership status). These are paid by the project, not the individual, and have nothing to do with the $250/$200/$100 exam tiers. A frequent distractor applies an exam retake rule (the 90-day wait after three failures) to a project — that rule belongs only to the candidate exam workflow.

The role of LEED Online and team members

LEED Online is more than an upload portal; it is where the project team's roles play out. The project administrator manages the account and assigns credit responsibility, while team members complete and sign the credit forms for the disciplines they control — a mechanical engineer might own the energy credits and a landscape architect the sustainable-sites credits. Documentation typically includes calculations, drawings, specifications, manufacturer data, and signed declarations attesting that the submitted information is accurate.

Because GBCI reviews documentation rather than visiting most sites, the quality and completeness of the LEED Online submittal directly determines whether a credit is awarded.

Timing, design intent, and what to know

The split-review structure rewards early planning. The following sequence summarizes the candidate-level workflow facts worth memorizing:

• Register early to unlock LEED Online and signal intent; registration does not lock a target level.
• Pursue design-phase credits (modeling, site, water calculations) during design; lock them in with an optional preliminary then final design review.
• Pursue construction-phase credits (waste diversion, commissioning verification, indoor air quality during construction) after the work is built, reviewed in the construction phase.
• Receive the determination, then accept or appeal specific credits; appeals add a per-credit fee.
• A LEED Accredited Professional on the team can earn an Innovation point — a process incentive tying credentialing back to projects.

Sort every workflow question by actor (candidate vs. project), stage (register, document, review, certify, appeal), team role, and the controlling source, and the answer choices that mix the two processes — or place a construction-phase credit in the design phase — become easy to eliminate.

Combined versus split review, and what it costs the schedule

A team can also choose a combined review, submitting all credits at once after construction rather than splitting into two phases. Combined review is simpler and cheaper in fees but offers no early course-correction, so a design flaw discovered at the end cannot be fixed. Split review costs more in review fees but reduces risk on complex projects by confirming design credits before construction commits resources. The trade-off the exam tests is cost and simplicity (combined) versus risk reduction and early feedback (split) — neither is universally 'right'; it depends on project complexity and the team's risk tolerance.

Maintaining the credential versus maintaining the building

Do not conflate professional credential maintenance with project recertification. You maintain the LEED Green Associate credential with 15 continuing-education hours every two years reported to GBCI. A building certified under O+M maintains its status through recertification using ongoing performance data. Both use the word 'maintain,' but one is about a person's knowledge staying current and the other is about a building's performance staying current. A distractor that asks how a building 'renews' its certification and offers '15 CE hours' is mixing the two — the building recertifies on performance, not on classroom hours.