What are Certification Agreements and why do I need to sign them?

Before submitting your B Corp assessment for audit, you will be asked to review and sign the B Lab Agreement. After you have successfully completed your audit with a positive certification decision, you will be asked to accept the B Lab License agreement. 

This article explains what the these agreements contain and why are they necessary, and how you can assign an authorized signer for the B Lab Agreement. 

This article is for informational purposes only. This is not an actual Agreement or a complete description of the certification requirements. 

See the samples of the agreements for English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

The B Lab Agreement 

You will receive the B Lab agreement via Docusign in advance of moving forward to the audit phase of certification. It outlines the terms of the certification and performance commitment of the company proactively. 

Assigning an authorized signer 
You can assign an authorized signer for the B Lab Agreement, as well as select the preferred language for the agreement in B Impact. Your assigned signer will receive the B Lab agreement in their email via Docusign. To assign an authorized signer: 

1. Select the profile icon on the top right corner and select "Manage account" 
2. Select "Signing contacts" from the left hand menu 
3. Enter the first name, last name, and email of the authorized signer from your company. Also select the language you would like to receive the agreement in (offered in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). 
4. You can update the signer details at any time. 

What's in the B Lab Agreement? 

The B Lab Agreement establishes: 

1) The process under which the Company will seek certification as a Certified B Corporation™, and
(2) The rights and obligations of the Company and B Lab during the certification process, as well as after achieving certification.

Requirements for Certification
All submissions for B Corporation Certification will be reviewed by B Lab and independent auditors (“Assurance Providers”). In order to be certified as a Certified B Corporation™, the Company must meet the following requirements:

• The company must provide truthful, complete self-assessment, and other aspects of the Foundation Requirements. They must also submit to audits, background checks, and "Complaints procedures" to verify their claims.

• Certification is contingent upon following all local and national laws. Crucially, the company must adopt specific B Corp stakeholder governance and update their governing documents accordingly.

• If the company's structure, ownership, or legal form changes, they must notify B Lab immediately. If the local jurisdiction does not yet support B Corp legal forms, the company must commit to advocating for those changes and adopting them once available.

• B Lab maintains the right to change certification requirements and scopes at its sole discretion. Companies must meet all deadlines and requirements in a timely manner or risk having their certification denied or withdrawn.

    
Transparency Requirements:

Permit B Lab to make available the Company’s basic Profile information, and any additional disclosures, as required and mutually-agreed upon, on www.bcorporation.net upon certification and recertification.

Legal Requirement:

B Corporations incorporate stakeholder consideration into the legal structure of the company to create long-term value for shareholders and stakeholders. The company’s legal requirement, and the timeline for the process, will be determined by the company structure, and the company’s country and state/province of formation. Please refer to the Legal Requirement Tool to see which of the legal pathways apply to the company. 

Maintaining certification requirements:

In addition to participating in required audits and recertification processes, if the company does not meet the above requirements, an Assurance Provider may revoke the company's certification as provided or decline to recertify the company, or B Lab may revoke the company’s license. In the event of a change in control or change in legal form of the company, the company agrees that it will notify B Lab to learn how to meet the above requirements of certification in light of those changes. 

Declaration of Interdependence:

The company will sign the B Corporation Declaration of Interdependence as a symbol of its commitment to our shared collective purpose.

License Agreement 
Once your company has successfully completed the audit and received a positive certification decision, as well as fulfilled all Foundation Requirements, you will need to review and accept a License Agreement from B Lab in order to use the B Corp logo and claims related to certification on the V2 standards. You may also access the samples of the License Agreement terms you will see upon certification.  To access your License Agreement, navigate to the Certification section on the left side menu of B Impact, and select License & B Corp Profile. On the "License Agreement" card, it will say "Get started" when you are ready to sign your License Agreement. The License Agreement terms will be accepted on the B Impact platform itself – there will be no separate agreement sent through email.