Appeals

If the targeted Green Star Certified Rating is not achieved after the second round of assessment, the following options are available:

1. Accept the outcome

The Project Team can accept and market the result as a Certified Rating as long as the final weighted score of the submission is 45 or above, which equates to 4 Green Star. If the final weighted score of the submission is below 45, the project does not qualify for a Certified Rating. The NZGBC will not disclose the results of the Green Star certification process or the Project Team’s initial intent of achieving a Green Star Certified Rating without the building owner’s previous approval.

2. New certification process

The Project Team has the option of initiating a new Green Star certification process. This is the only option that would allow the Project Team to claim credits that were not previously claimed, or make changes to any aspect of the design, contract or policy. Should this option be chosen, both the building owner and the NZGBC must execute a new Certification Agreement and repeat the entire certification process. Please note that an invoice will be issued for the new certification process. There is no guarantee that the NZGBC will be able to engage the same Assessors to assess the submission and therefore the submission must be re-submitted in its entirety.

3. Appeal

Project Teams have the option of lodging a formal Appeal if the submission does not achieve the number of points targeted at the conclusion of the certification process, as long as the following criteria are met:

• The Project Team believes that the submission(s) meets the requirements of the relevant credit(s) and has been unduly denied the point(s).
• No changes to the design, contract or policy are required in order for the point(s) to be awarded.

Appeals Process

The Appeal submission will be reviewed by different Assessors to those who initially did not award the relevant points. The recommendation of the different Assessors will be presented to the NZGBC Technical Sub Committee (TSC) for final approval in the same manner that all submissions go before the TSC for final approval as a part of the normal certification process. The NZGBC will take four weeks to process the Appeal.

The following rules and conditions apply:

• The Project Team must notify the NZGBC (in writing) of their intention to Appeal within 30 days of receiving the initial certification outcome and clearly nominate the credits that will be Appealed;
• Only credits that were claimed in either the first or second rounds of assessment can be Appealed;
• No change to the design, contract or policy will be reviewed at this time;
• No Design documentation retrospectively generated after the appropriate time in the project timeline/programme will be reviewed at this time (i.e. if Design documentation is amended and reissued as a result of the Assessors’ comments, it will only be accepted if the window for implementing the initiative within the project timeline has not passed prior to the date of document re-issue);
• A flat fee of $1,000.00 plus GST per credit will apply. The processing of the Appeal submission will not begin until the invoice is paid in full;
• There is no limit to the amount of credits that are Appealed;
• The project team has 60 days from the date of the invoice to submit their Appeal;
• To ensure fairness of process, the Appeal assessment process will be conducted solely on the information provided by the Project Team at this stage, with no additional opportunities for clarification or resubmission;
• All credits being Appealed must be submitted simultaneously in one package;
• The outcome of the Appeal automatically supersedes the results of the previous certification process and is final.