Core & Shell Scope

Core and Shell Certification includes the areas of the building controlled by the owner, including common spaces, such as lobbies and elevator banks, as well as any areas of the interior buildout managed by the project owner. Depending on the developer's scope, Core and Shell projects can receive Optimizations for complying with all parts of a WELL feature determined to be not applicable (see the WELL applicability matrix in the Introduction to the WELL Building Standard).

For further clarity, the following document outlines applicability determinations for Core and Shell projects.

• Entire Building: These features are required to be met throughout the entire building, in both tenant and owner-occupied spaces. For features which are intended to impact all occupants, such as amenity and common spaces, Core and Shell projects should use the expected building occupancy or the default occupancy of 250 ft²/person (23 m²/person).
• Extent of Developer Buildout: These features are required to be met in all common areas, spaces under owner control, and all portions of the interior buildout managed by the project owner.
• Extent of Developer Buildout with Capacity for Tenant Achievement: These features are required to be met in all spaces included in the developer buildout and require that the building systems in place have capacity to allow tenants to implement the feature requirements within their leased space.
• Extent of Developer Buildout and Confirmed Tenant Support: These features are required to be met in all spaces included in the developer buildout and require the building owner to provide tenants with full support to meet the feature requirements. This may include providing tenants fiscal allowance to implement the feature. Additional documentation may be required in these cases, depending on the type of support provided. Lease or sales agreements that leave the cost of implementation to the tenant do not qualify.
• Common Areas and Spaces under Owner Control: These features are required to be met in common areas and spaces under building owner control.
• Spaces Under Owner Control: These features are required to be met only in spaces that are used by the staff operating the Core and Shell building.
• Spaces under Owner Control with Tenant Education: These policy-based features are required to be met for the staff employed by the Core and Shell project and require the project owner to provide education to tenants regarding the benefits of the feature and its relationship to the WELL Building Standard.