Loading...
by B Lab · Est. 2006
$500 - $50,000/year (based on revenue)
Every 3 years
Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA
Companies of any size, All industries
Based on independence of verification, scope of assessment, transparency of criteria, and track record.
B Corp certification is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive sustainability certifications available. It evaluates a company's entire impact on workers, community, environment, and customers through the B Impact Assessment — a detailed questionnaire with a minimum score of 80 out of 200 required to certify.
Official websiteB Corp evaluates five impact areas: Governance (mission, ethics, transparency), Workers (compensation, benefits, training, ownership), Community (diversity, economic impact, civic engagement, supply chain), Environment (environmental management, air and climate, water, land and life), and Customers (stewardship of customer data, product design, pricing). Unlike single-issue certifications, B Corp looks at the whole business.
Companies complete the free B Impact Assessment online, scoring at least 80/200. B Lab then verifies responses through documentation review, site visits, and stakeholder interviews. Companies must also amend their legal governing documents to consider stakeholder impact (not just shareholder profit). The process typically takes 12-18 months.
Some critics argue the 80/200 threshold is too low, meaning companies can score well in one area while performing poorly in others. The self-reported assessment is verified but relies heavily on company-provided data. Large multinationals can certify individual subsidiaries rather than the entire corporation, which can be misleading.
Annual certification fees range from $500 for companies with under $150K revenue to $50,000+ for companies with over $1 billion revenue. The B Impact Assessment itself is free.
The process typically takes 12-18 months, including completing the assessment, verification by B Lab, and legal amendments.
Yes. B Corp is widely regarded as one of the most credible business certifications, requiring third-party verification and legal accountability changes.
Companies must score at least 80 out of 200 on the B Impact Assessment. The median score for ordinary businesses is around 50.
Certifications tell part of the story — use our free calculators with country-specific data to measure your actual carbon footprint.
Learn how to tell genuine sustainability claims from marketing spin with real examples and red flags.