Ska Rating is a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) environmental assessment method, benchmark and standard for non-domestic fit outs. It helps landlords and tenants assess fit out projects against a set of sustainability good practice criteria, known as Good Practice Measures (GPM).

Hanex Solid Surface has been audited and passed the assessment to be compliant with the criteria of M18 Kitchen Fittings in Offices v1.2.

Previously, although there were established tools for assessing the environmental impact of whole buildings (such as BREEAM in the UK and LEED in the US), industry feedback about the certification of fit out, especially on existing buildings, indicated that attempts to use whole building systems were unsatisfactory both in terms of high costs and low relevance.

Ska Rating was developed with designers, contractors, corporate occupiers, managing agents and consultants. The initial research project was started in 2005 by the fit out and refurbishment contractor Skansen (giving Ska it’s name) but was taken over by the RICS in 2009.

It differs from other labelling systems in that it is:

• Project driven: it labels fit out projects irrespective of the base building.
• A free online tool to help organisations achieve more sustainable fit outs (businesses only pay if they want formal certification).
• Flexible scoping: the tool measures only what is within the specific project’s scope.