The Review Period runs between September 1-15 and is designed to strengthen the reliability of the benchmark results. It is intended to be used in cases where the participant believes that they have made a mistake in data input during the reporting period, or a potential error was made in a validation decision.
Making a Review Period Request
The Review Period can only be requested directly in the GRESB Portal, where pricing information is also available. Requests can be made between September 1 and 15.
Review Period requests must be made at the reporting entity level (i.e., by submitting Fund, or Asset in the case of Infrastructure) in the GRESB Portal Assessment Services Shop. If you’re submitting Review Period requests for multiple entities, it is mandatory to make a separate Review Period request in the GRESB Portal and also submit one Review Period form for each entity. This is so the GRESB team can ensure proper processing and invoicing. All requests are reviewed by GRESB and its third-party validation team at SAS.
Important Note: Should you have any questions about why you missed points on an indicator or the reasoning behind specific validation decisions, please reach out to our team first by using our contact form prior to requesting a Review Period in the Portal. Our team can advise on your specific question, or in the case of multiple questions, they can direct you to request a Results Review.
Review Period Request Invoicing
Requesting a Review Period in the GRESB Portal and submitting the Review Period form means GRESB has permission to invoice the entity should one of the following conditions be met:
- Data Input Change – the participant has made an error and would like to amend the submitted response (i.e. indicator checkbox selection, values reported in a table, asset-level data (Real Estate), supporting evidence, documents/hyperlinks).
- Validation Challenge – The participant challenges a validation decision and upon additional review of the existing documentation by SAS, the decision is correct and remains unchanged.
Note that there is a discount provided only when making the exact same edit across multiple entities. For example, if you are providing additional documentation to support an indicator that applies to more than one entity, there is a 75% discount for each Review Period. Changes related to asset-level data are entity-specific and not subject to a discount.
Data Input Changes
As stated in condition 1, requests related to incorrect data input can include editing indicator responses (i.e. checkbox selection), providing additional documentation or amending hyperlinks to support the indicator response, or editing performance data that was inadvertently left out in the original submission. Participants may not use the Review Period to supplement their performance data input with data that was collected after the GRESB submission deadline (i.e. July 1, 2023).
When completing the Review Period form, note that it is the responsibility of the participant to indicate the exact amendments that will be made to the response. GRESB will not be held responsible for validating new information that has not been explicitly indicated to us in the submitted form. In addition, GRESB reserves the right to check that additional edits have not been made beyond what was indicated in the Review Period form.
Once the Review Period form is submitted, GRESB will process the request and subsequently re-open the Assessment. Once the edits are made, the participant must re-submit the Assessment. Data Input Changes related to adding new documentation to support an indicator response are subject to validation by SAS.
Challenging a Validation Decision
The entity will not be invoiced in the following case only:
- The challenge of the validation decision is successful (i.e. the original validation decision is overturned without the need for additional documentation due to a validation error).
Assessments do not need to be reopened if a participant is making a validation decision challenge, but a Review Period must still be requested and a form submitted.
Review Period Request Process
The GRESB Team will evaluate each Review Period request on a rolling basis and get back to the participant within five working days with next steps. We will only take into consideration requests submitted within the official Review Period. Please request the Review Period in the Portal and submit the Review Period form prior to 23:59 CET on September 15. All decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
How to request a Review Period
Participants that want to take part in the Review Period should:
- Log into the Portal
- Click on the name of the entity they would like to review, to “View Assessments”
- Click on “Assessment Services”
- Click on “Request Review Period”
- Proceed with providing Billing Information
- Complete and submit the form