# Show the NGBS project record behind the certification wording.

An NGBS (National Green Building Standard) certification project page should identify the home, program version, verifier record and supported status before using certification wording. Match each sentence to the project documents. Keep registration, product listings and completed certification separate. Publish a level only when the home's verified record supports that exact label.

## What should the NGBS project record identify?

Start with the home your page describes. Give the writer an internal project reference and an approved public label. Connect those references privately. A visitor should understand the subject without seeing an owner's name, exact address or private account link.

The [NGBS Green certification page](https://www.ngbs.com/get-certified) identifies the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard and describes third-party verification. Its registration section says current NGBS Green Verifiers register projects. Its partner section identifies Home Innovation Research Labs as the verifier accreditation organization. Those program facts supply context, not evidence about your home.

Ask the project reviewer to identify the applicable standard version from the project's own records. Copy that reference into the writing brief. Do not replace it with a newer version because the program website highlights one. When the version remains uncertain, hold the version-dependent sentence.

Separate your builder role from the verifier role in the brief. Record who can explain the project documents and who approves public wording. Describe responsibilities without publishing personal names. Do not present a builder's own marketing review as the program's independent verification.

Use the [positioning library](/articles/positioning/) to connect this specific record with your wider project story. This page addresses NGBS wording for an identified project. It does not establish a company-wide certification policy or a technical specification for future homes.

## How do registration, products and home certification differ in copy?

Sort the documents by their subject before judging the headline. A registration document concerns the project it identifies. A product record concerns the listed product. A certification record needs its own project match. Similar program names on different documents do not join those subjects automatically.

| Record in the folder | Question to settle | Writing boundary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Project registration | Which home and program version does this record identify? | Describe the checked registration status without announcing completed certification. |
| Verifier correspondence | Which role, activity and project does the correspondence cover? | Describe only the documented activity and current stage. |
| Supplier product listing | Which product does the listing identify, and is its project use documented? | Keep the product statement separate from the home's certification status. |
| Project certification record | Does the verified record match this home and the proposed certification label? | Use the exact supported project wording after publication review. |
| General program information | Does this explain the program or establish something about this particular home? | Use it for attributed context rather than project proof. |

Keep the product row even when your first draft does not mention a product. It catches an editing shortcut: treating a supplier's approved description as the home's result. If installation is also unverified, leave the product out of the project description.

A gallery image cannot close an empty certification field. Apply the [energy-claim evidence method](/articles/positioning/energy-performance-builder-proof-content/) to any separate performance statement. A verified certification label does not supply an unreviewed savings estimate, health assurance or comparison with another home.

Check the grammatical subject of every sentence. “This home” needs home-specific evidence. “Our homes” reaches across your wider work. If only one project has a verified record, keep the sentence attached to that project throughout the page.

## What belongs in a copyable NGBS worksheet?

Use the fields below as a proposed editorial worksheet. They are not official program requirements. Complete them from retrievable records before asking a writer to prepare a certification paragraph. Preserve the source's status language when a shorter label would change its meaning.

```
NGBS project-page worksheet
Project reference:
Approved public project label:
Program/version:
Verifier record:
Stage:
Supported level if verified:
Document/date:
Date the source was checked:
Permitted public wording:
Separate product record:
Public-use permission:
Reviewer role:
Unresolved question:
Publication locations:
Next review trigger:
```

The project reference joins the website assignment to the private job record. The program/version field preserves the exact applicable reference. The verifier field points to evidence of the role and its project connection. It should not contain an unsupported “verified” stamp added by marketing.

Use the stage field for the status the source establishes. Keep “awaiting clarification” in the private worksheet when documents conflict. Do not invent an intermediate program status to make that uncertainty sound official. Ask the responsible project reviewer to resolve the conflict.

The supported-level field stays blank until the record supports a level. A planned target belongs in a separate intent note. Do not populate the field from a proposal, a previous home or a supplier's example. The public paragraph must preserve that distinction.

Record both the document date and the checking date. One identifies the source issue; the other records when your team reviewed it. Keep the approved paragraph in the [builder proof-point register](/articles/positioning/builder-proof-points/) with every page using it.

## How would an unnamed registered project be described?

Consider an entirely fictional home with a checked project-registration record. Its folder also contains a separate supplier product listing. No completed home-certification record is available to the writer. This scenario illustrates publication decisions. It reports no actual project, product installation or certification outcome.

The first draft reads, “Our certified green homes feature certified products throughout.” It moves from one registration to every home. It also turns a separate product listing into an installation statement. Neither expansion follows from the fictional folder.

A proposed public-page excerpt would read:

This project is registered for NGBS Green certification. Completed home certification has not been verified for this page. The separate supplier product listing does not establish the home's certification status. We will revise this description after reviewing the project's certification record.

That excerpt assumes the fictional registration itself has been checked. On a real page, include the applicable program version only after confirming it. If registration cannot be confirmed, remove that sentence too. Do not use pending language to preserve a claim with no source.

The product listing can stay in the private worksheet while the team checks relevance and permission. It need not appear beside the public excerpt. If you later publish a product statement, identify its limited subject and verify its connection to the project separately.

Use the [project gallery guide](/articles/builder-websites/project-gallery-pages-that-sell/) for the surrounding story. Explain documented plan and selection decisions in their own captions. Keep the status paragraph readable without opening an image or guessing what a badge means.

If completed certification evidence later arrives, compare it with the original project reference before editing. Record the approved replacement sentence and its source. Revisit the page title, summary and downloadable description so the status remains consistent wherever readers encounter it.

## How should the record become a public project page?

Keep certification work and editorial review distinct. The sequence below governs your website wording. It does not replace the program's process, the verifier's work or review of a project's technical documents.

1. **Match the subject.** Confirm that the source identifies the home described on the page.

2. **Preserve the version.** Record the applicable program reference exactly as the checked project source states it.

3. **Confirm the role.** Identify the source supporting the verifier's involvement and documented activity.

4. **Set the status sentence.** Write only the stage and label the checked record supports.

5. **Separate product statements.** Review each product claim without transferring it to the whole home.

6. **Clear the public excerpt.** Check factual wording, permissions and private details before publication.

7. **Read the complete page.** Compare headings, captions and metadata with the approved status paragraph.

8. **Assign the update.** Record which document change requires another wording review.

Keep private drawings out of the public proof package. The [Copyright Office's Circular 41](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ41.pdf) distinguishes architectural works from technical drawings. It does not grant permission to publish a particular plan. Confirm permission separately before sharing any drawing excerpt.

If an approved complex image carries essential information, provide its meaning in text. The [W3C complex-images tutorial](https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/complex/) explains short descriptions and detailed text alternatives. For this page, explain the relevant project relationship in prose rather than exposing uncleared plans.

Place the approved material in the [Owned website stage](/process/owned-website/) with the page's other project records. Keep the original documents in your controlled archive. Public links should lead to approved explanations, not private portal sessions.

For a project using another program, consult the separate [LEED project-page method](/articles/positioning/leed-certification-project-page-content/). Keep each program's identity and record together. Do not combine program names into a general certification badge.

## Which questions should an NGBS project page answer?

### Can registration support a completed-certification headline?

For an NGBS project page, keep registration and completed certification in separate fields. Use a completed-certification headline only after checking the home's certification record. A registration document alone does not provide that completed record.

### Does a listed product establish home certification?

An NGBS product listing should remain a product-specific record in your editorial worksheet. Check installation separately before describing its use. Verify the home's certification record before publishing home-certification wording.

### Which version should the website identify?

An NGBS project page should identify the version supported by its checked project documents. Do not substitute the newest website reference for an older project's record. Hold version-dependent wording when the applicable version remains unresolved.

### What should remain unpublished when records conflict?

Hold the NGBS claim that depends on conflicting records. Ask the responsible project reviewer to resolve the difference. Keep the unresolved question in the private worksheet, and publish only the project information already supported.