Existing assessment tools

Ska Rating

The Ska rating is a method for assessing the sustainability of a tenant’s fit-out (Cat B as it is often known). It is available for offices and retail. Developed by the fit-out contractor Skansen and the RICS, the scheme was taken over by RICS once it was up and running and allowed it to be marketed across the industry. It is based upon the ideas of BREEAM but is tailored to those elements that are in the control of the client, design team and contractor during the fit-out. Tenants were finding it difficult to obtain a meaningful BREEAM rating which they could improve upon when they didn’t have any input into a lot of the metrics. It is also simple to use and assess.

Ska comprises 104 good-practice measures across energy and CO2, waste, water, pollution, transport, materials and wellbeing. Each good-practice measure is explained in a datasheet explaining the criteria that need to be achieved, the rationale behind the measure and guidance on how to achieve it.

Ska Rating scores the project only on the basis of those measures that are relevant to the project, to allow for the variance in fit-out projects. These are called 'measures in scope'. Typically, between 30 and 60 measures are likely to apply to most projects. The score is ranked in three thresholds which are reached by achieving a percentage of the measures in scope:

  • bronze (25%)
  • silver (50%)
  • gold (75%)

Some measures are more important from a sustainability perspective, so the measures are ranked from one to 99, (one is the highest and 99 the lowest). The project has to achieve a number of the highest ranked measures in scope in order to score, so that it is not only the easiest measures that are targetted. These are known as gateway measures.

During the design stage, the measures in scope are agreed between the designer/Ska assessor and the client; during the construction the evidence to support those measures is collected, with the option of occupancy-stage assessment one year after completion.

Visit the RICS Ska website for further details.