Design. Build. Benchmark.
Are your new homes meeting changing consumer demands and quality standards?
The Home Quality Mark (HQM) is a national standard of excellence for new homes developed by BRE, the UK’s leading building science centre, and a range of industry partners.
It was launched to give consumers impartial information from independent experts on the quality, performance and attributes of new build homes. From the overall expected running costs and environmental footprint, to health and wellbeing benefits such as access to local greenspace and neighbourhood amenities. Making it easier for homebuyers to choose a high quality new home that’s been designed and built to be more sustainable, more affordable to run, and more enjoyable to live in.
For housebuilders, HQM sets a benchmark for good practice and provides a recognisable mark of excellence, demonstrating the high quality and performance of outstanding new homes and developments.
How does it work?
HQM is an independently assessed certification scheme, giving new homes a star rating for the standard of their design, construction and sustainability. The standards that need to be met for successful HQM certification exceed minimum standards such as Building Regulations, building on both national standards and regulations, and good and best practice in the industry.
New homes are assessed across a wide range of financial, wellbeing, environmental and social criteria including Transport and Movement, Outdoors, Safety and Resilience, Comfort, Energy, Materials, Space, Water, Quality Assurance, Construction Impacts, and Customer Experience.
Ideally, an assessment should be carried out during the design stage of a project to spot any opportunities for improvement, and again during the construction stage to ensure high standards are met and improvements are made.
HQM ratings are awarded by independent assessors who are trained and licensed by BRE to assess the design, specification and construction of new homes, with all assessments quality-checked by BRE.
HQM has been developed by BRE as part of the BREEAM family of schemes to assess sustainability in the built environment.
We’re here to help
Our fully independent, trained and licensed assessors support housebuilders and developers throughout the UK and internationally. As trusted assessors, we carry out HQM assessments and award HQM ratings for all types of new homes, from single properties to large developments. We provide clear guidance through all stages of HQM assessment and help you complete all the requirements for successful certification, including:
- Officially registering your assessment
- Assessing the design, specification and construction of your new home/s
- Undertaking the formal assessment and calculating your score and rating
- Producing the final assessment report needed for certification
We work closely with you throughout the whole assessment process, from making sure everyone involved knows what’s required, to facilitating meetings and regular reporting, to liaising with BRE on your behalf.
Need extra help?
As well as HQM assessments, we also provide consultancy and advice services to improve and maximise the HQM rating of your new home/s.
Our experienced team can help you with all areas, for any size and complexity of development, including additional services such as Energy Performance Certificates, ecologist surveys and low carbon technology feasibility studies.
