IS Design & As-Built Rating (v2.1)

What is the IS Design & As-Built Rating?

The IS Design and As-Built Rating is the Infrastructure Sustainability Council’s IS Rating that applies to an infrastructure project’s design and construction phases. 

IS Design and As-Built is part of our comprehensive, world-leading IS Rating Scheme, which ensures infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand is better for people, the planet, and business, delivering measurable cultural, governance, social, environmental, and economic benefits.

Our IS Rating Scheme covers all project stages, from planning, design, and construction to operation, making it easy and efficient to identify and deliver sustainable outcomes across an asset’s whole life cycle.

When deciding whether to build or invest in an asset, early adoption of an IS Rating is critical to maximising project sustainability outcomes and benefits. 

Why undertake an IS Design & As-Built Rating?

An IS Design and As-Built Rating provides third-party assures assurance to stakeholders, investors, and local communities that a project is sustainable, cost-effective, and has made a positive impact.

It independently verifies and certifies that a project has been designed and built to best-practice industry standards and that it performs sustainably, now and for the future.

The IS Design and As-Built Rating:

Ensures projects deliver benefits across the quadruple bottom line of infrastructure development: Economic, social, environmental, and governance
Identifies project sustainability risks and unlocks opportunities in the design and construction phases
Embeds a sustainability commitment across the entire project delivery team, including contractors, service, and supply chain
Recognises and rewards a project’s sustainability achievements and the inclusion of sustainable design and construction elements
Measures sustainability performance ‘as-built’
Drives sustainable thinking, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement for current and future infrastructure projects

An IS Design and As-Built Rating can be applied to every infrastructure asset class and major works, including roads, pathways, rail, water, aviation, and maritime. Projects are scored through specific IS credits and achieve one of five performance ratings: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, or Platinum.

For small infrastructure projects under $100m, explore our new Rating tool, IS Essentials link below.

IS Essentials

What are the outcomes of an IS Design & As-Built Rating?

The IS Design and As-Built Rating achieves the project outcomes that matter.

It identifies crucial project focus areas at the outset – such as water use, energy use, or stakeholder engagement – and provides the flexible framework to drive performance towards these critical outcomes during the tender, design, and construction phases.

Example outcomes can include:

Social outcomes

A collaborative design process with key user groups and stakeholders – ensuring infrastructure projects are universally accessible, reflect cultural heritage, and meet wider community needs
Supporting jobs and skills across an inclusive and diverse project workforce
Cultural representation and recognition in project design and construction

Governance outcomes

Easy embedding of sustainability options into supplier contracts
Sustainable procurement, supplier, and vendor analysis
Development of consistent, sustainable frameworks for future project design
‘Whole-life’ asset thinking that stretches outcomes and challenges BAU

Environmental outcomes

Reduced environmental impact through considered, innovative design – lower emissions, reduced waste, lower materials, use of existing infrastructure connections and assets
Reduced impact on the community during construction – noise, dust, traffic
Enhanced biodiversity through vegetation rehabilitation and management

Economic outcomes

Reduced capital expenditure
Use of locally available resources and materials through design adaptation and innovation
Improved workforce capability and training upskill
Engagement of local businesses and workforce

Project case studies: IS Design and As-Built in action

From Indigenous design-led infrastructure that protects First Nations history to the use of innovative materials to reduce emissions, IS Design and As-Built is building a more sustainable, inclusive future.

Explore our project case studies to see the positive change it makes to communities and stakeholders across all types of infrastructure projects.

Project Case Studies

IS Design and As-Built training: For beginners & professionals

Want to know how to plan and implement sustainability initiatives? How to manage a Rating and ensure success?

We provide a range of self-paced, online training modules for learners and ISAPs (Infrastructure Sustainability Accredited Professionals).

Courses range from IS Rating Skills basics, assessing and submitting a project for a Rating, and pathways to full ISAP accreditation. Browse our current training calendar below to find the right course.