BREEAM Security Needs Assessments
The BREEAM security credit should be easy. We make sure that it is.
The credit needs a Security Needs Assessment (SNA) by a Suitably Qualified Security Specialist (SQSS), and it needs to arrive early enough to shape the design. A generic SNA might look cheap, but if the Assessor cannot evidence it, or the design team cannot build it, it costs the credit and more.
What the credit requires
Written for the Assessor's evidence trail
The BREEAM security credit sits at Hea 08 under New Construction V7.1 (criteria 1 to 3) and Rsl 04 under Refurbishment V7 (criteria 5 to 7). Your BREEAM Assessor doesn't mark our advice; they check the evidence that each criterion is met. So we structure every SNA criterion by criterion, with the recommendations and the design responses documented the way the Assessor needs to file them, so they can confirm at completion that each one has been implemented and award the credit, not as a generic risk report they have to interpret.
Our recommendations are also proportionate to the risk and priced within reach of the project, so they get built rather than value-engineered out later. We consult and coordinate with the design team beyond what a minimum SNA requires, so the recommendations end up in the drawings, not just the report.
What handled looks like
Fixed fee, four to six weeks
A standalone SNA runs on a fixed fee with a first draft typically within four to six weeks; an accelerated three-week programme is available when a submission deadline demands it. Common add-ons within the same appointment:
Planning content
Design and Access Statement security content or a full Crime Impact Statement, aligned with the SNA so planning and BREEAM tell one story.
Design mark-ups
Stage 3 equipment mark-ups that turn SNA recommendations into drawings your design team can coordinate against. Full security design can follow in Stage 4.
Ongoing engagement
Continuing involvement through design and construction, so the SNA's recommendations are designed and delivered as intended, not just assumed. This is exactly what Proctor formalises for the exemplary credit.
Credentials
Three of our consultants qualify as SQSS
Mark Tucknutt, Gareth Hulmes and Anthony Goodacre all qualify as SQSS. Gareth authored the original BREEAM security credit, Hea 06, and previously led the SABRE scheme at BRE; when we structure an SNA for assessment, it is with an author's understanding of what the credit is for.
The exemplary credit
Two BREEAM credits from one appointment
Beyond the standard credit, both manuals offer a BREEAM exemplary credit for independent validation of the project's security risk management process against a recognised scheme, which BREEAM awards as an innovation credit. Proctor, created and administered by Toren Consulting Ltd, is recognised by BRE as a route to that exemplary credit under both New Construction V7.1 and Refurbishment V7.
We are currently the only consultancy able to deliver the SNA, the continuing specialist role and the Proctor assessment under a single appointment; the scheme provides for licensing further assessor organisations as it develops. For your Assessor, a Proctor Certificate means both credits are satisfied: they reference the recognised scheme and upload the certificate.
FAQs
Questions we're often asked
Who qualifies as a Suitably Qualified Security Specialist?
The BREEAM criteria themselves define the SQSS, through requirements for security qualifications and relevant experience. We set out the qualifying credentials inside the SNA, so your Assessor can file that evidence without chasing it.
How early does the SNA need to happen?
BREEAM requires it during or before Concept Design (RIBA Stage 2), which is also early enough that the design can still respond to it. A later appointment can still earn the BREEAM security credit where the specialist confirms the delay has ruled nothing out. If the project is also pursuing the exemplary route through Proctor, the SNA must be complete by the end of RIBA Stage 3; and if a submission deadline is already close, the accelerated three-week programme exists for exactly that.
Can you take over an SNA started by another consultant?
Yes. We review what exists first, then either update it or restructure it criterion by criterion for the Assessor's evidence trail, whichever costs the project less.
Does the SNA cover Secured by Design?
They overlap but answer different authorities. The SNA is evidence for your BREEAM Assessor; Secured by Design (SBD) is certification awarded by the police. Where a project carries both, we run them under one appointment with one set of assumptions, so the two never contradict each other.
Getting started is simple
Tell us about your project. We reply quickly with a fixed-fee proposal. Then the BREEAM security credit is handled: an SNA your Assessor can evidence, recommendations your design team can build, and a specialist who stays involved as the design develops.