Certification Review Process and Timeline Overview

Modified on Mon, 12 Dec, 2022 at 4:10 PM

After completing and submitting the B Impact Assessment (BIA) for B Corporation Certification, companies undergo a Review process. The Review process takes place in five to six stages, which are outlined below with a brief description, timeline, and links to resources with more details. After your company submits its BIA, it's Team Members can view where the company is within the process below at any time on its Reviews page in the BIA platform (left menu, third option).

Review Process and Timeline Overview for Certifications*

Stage	Description	Timeline**
1. Evaluation Queue***	Begins when the company submits the BIA for certification. Waiting period for the business to be assigned an analyst to evaluate (next stage) its submission due to application rates and available capacity. Normal not to hear much from B Lab during this time because B Lab already has what it needs from the company to conduct the Evaluation. The company may be given tasks to complete or work on while it waits.	Up to 7 months.
2. Evaluation	B Lab determines if the company is eligible to certify and the requirements for its certification as well as prepares the company for Verification. Click here for more details.	Up to 3 months.
3. Verification Queue	B Lab has determined the company is eligible to certify and its requirements to certify. B Lab requests additional documentation needed for the Verification stage. Company completes documentation request and waits for B Lab to assign an analyst for Verification of its B Impact Assessment responses.	Up to 4 months.
4. Verification	B Lab reviews and verifies the company’s BIA responses and verifies its BIA score, with documentation and/or a Review Call, and works with the company to complete any additional requirements for certification. See more information here.	Up to 3 months.
5. Improvement [only if needed]	If a company’s BIA score is verified to be between 75 and 80 points in the Verification Stage, the company has the opportunity to make improvements to increase its verified BIA score to 80 points or more. If the score has fallen below 75 points, the review is closed and the company has the opportunity to improve its score and resubmit the BIA in the future.	Up to 3 months.
6. Post-Verification	B Lab has verified the company’s BIA score to be 80 points or more and wraps up any additional certification requirements with the business. The company pays its first annual certification fee and signs the B Corporation Agreement.	Up to 1 month.

For more details on this process and timeline:

Click here if your company has fewer than 50 full-time equivalent workers.
Click here if your company has between 50 and 249 full time equivalent workers.
Click here if your company has 250 or more full time equivalent workers.
From any of those links, you can also search for more information on other topics within our Knowledge Base.

* This process applies to the vast majority of companies that apply for certification; companies with: fewer than 250 full-time employee equivalents and less than $100 million USD in revenue in the last fiscal year. Companies meeting these criteria that are recertifying will undergo the same process stages and descriptions, but with a shorter timelines unless otherwise noted. Please see more information on recertification timeline here. Other companies applying will undergo a different Review Process that may be more extended. Those companies will receive information from B Lab about their process.

** The timeline is approximate and subject to change based on submission rates and B Lab capacity. It is informed by past data and future projections. Exact times can vary based on the business’ characteristics, responsiveness to B Lab’s communications, and completeness and accuracy of the information provided in the BIA, requested documentation, and Review Call. We recognize that companies spend time learning about, building internal buy-in for, planning for, and completing the BIA and other requirements for certification before this timeline begins.

*** B Lab begins the Evaluation stage for companies' submissions on a first-come, first-served basis. After a business submits its BIA, its Team Members will be able to reference the status of the Review through the Stages (and Tasks within) and receive communications from B Lab regarding the Review process on the Reviews page on the left menu of the BIA platform.