Building for a Healthy Life self-assessment: a practical workflow
Jonathan Braddick · · 4 min read
A useful Building for a Healthy Life self-assessment explains how your team reached its view of a scheme. The answers matter, but so do the drawings, comments and qualifications behind them. Preparing those together makes the assessment easier to complete and the resulting record easier for someone else to understand.
BHL Assessments provides an online workspace for assessing a residential scheme in England against Building for a Healthy Life, 2026 edition, as updated 7 August 2026. You can draft the assessment and see the full indicative result free. When you choose to finalise, £450 + VAT produces a Self-Assessment Certificate and a Project Pack for one named scheme.
Define the version of the scheme
Start with the project name, site address and planning authority. Agree which drawings and proposals the team is assessing, and check their dates and revision references. An answer based on the latest layout can become confusing if the uploaded evidence shows an earlier version.
The draft can develop as your design develops. Before finalisation, the answers, comments and supporting material should describe the same position. Finalisation freezes the assessment into a dated record, so it deserves a deliberate review.
Have the framework to hand
Use the official Building for a Healthy Life framework alongside the assessment. The tool's questions are written by BHL Assessments with reference to the official framework, and BHL Assessments' own published rating rule is applied to your team's answers. The framework does not prescribe that mechanical rule.
Work through all twelve considerations. Read each point and its heading before choosing Yes, Somewhat or No: the tool distinguishes “What good looks like” from “What to avoid”, so the meaning of a Yes depends on the question being answered.
Where an answer requires discussion between disciplines, bring the relevant people into that discussion. Agree the judgement first, then record the reasoning clearly.
Write comments that help a reader find the evidence
A comment such as “shown on the plan” leaves the reader with work to do. A useful comment identifies the document, explains what it shows and acknowledges anything that remains uncertain.
For example, a fictional working note might say:
“Movement plan MP-03, revision C, shows the proposed pedestrian connection at the eastern boundary. The layout allows for that connection; its delivery across the adjoining land remains to be agreed.”
This is an example of clear referencing, not a model answer or a suggested rating. It distinguishes the design proposal from an unresolved delivery issue. Your comments should make the same distinction wherever a conclusion depends on information or agreement that is not yet in place.
Organise the supporting files
Give files names that identify their contents and revision. Select evidence that helps explain the answers rather than uploading a large bundle without a clear purpose.
In BHL Assessments, supporting PDFs and images can be reproduced in the Project Pack appendices. Word files are listed and remain downloadable separately; their contents are not reproduced in the combined pack. If an important page should appear in that combined document, provide a legible PDF version and check it before upload.
Prepare an Ordnance Survey location plan and identify it as requested in the tool. Complete the site information, including the what3words field, and use the outstanding-items list to check what is still needed. The live assessment will show the requirements before you finalise.
Use the preview as a review point
The full indicative preview is free. Read it with the underlying answers, comments and evidence open, and use it to identify matters that deserve another look while the design can still develop.
Ask whether another person could follow each important judgement. Does the evidence support the answer? Do comments refer to current documents? Are unresolved matters clear? Review the substance of the assessment as well as its headline result.
Finalise when the record is ready
Complete the required information and declaration, including the declarant's name and role. A paid assessment or an available assessment allowance lets you finalise and issue the dated Self-Assessment Certificate and Project Pack.
The pay-as-you-go price is £450 + VAT (£540 including VAT) for one named scheme. Drafting and the full indicative preview are free. View current prices and terms of sale.
Both outputs record your team's own assessment. They are not an independent review or official certification and do not guarantee planning permission. A separate paid Independent Design Review Panel Assessment is available from a finalised assessment. BHL Assessments Ltd and Design Review Ltd, trading as The Design Review Panel, are connected companies under common ownership. Jonathan Braddick takes no part in reviews arising from the tool. Panel feedback is opinion and suggestion given by volunteers, not professional advice.
For help interpreting the result, read How to read a Building for a Healthy Life self-assessment.
Start a free assessment and see the full indicative preview. When you are ready to record the team's position, a standard finalisation costs £450 + VAT. You can also inspect the fictional example output before starting.