Yes, routine maintenance is now covered in the scope of this prerequisite. For example, general repair like touching up paint or replacing ceiling times would be covered by the policy.

There doesn’t appear to be any guidance on this question one way or another in the LEED Reference Guide. It seems likely that an audit completed within the five years prior to the performance period end date would be acceptable, as this was the case in LEED 2009. But until we get an official precedent on this, it may make sense to verify with GBCI at the project onset (and tell us what you learned in the forum below).

The policy needs to cover products purchased by the building management, at a minimum. This means you can develop the policy based on the purchases you’re responsible for and have data on. Interiors projects should similarly focus on the products and purchasing activities within their control.

There is no auditing requirement for certified cleaning vendors. Instead, the company must be “in good standing.”

The LEED Reference Guide states that prohibiting smoking on residential balconies is a recommended strategy for protecting non-smoking units and balconies. But, it doesn’t explicitly say that smoking must be prohibited. If you do allow smoking on balconies attached to smoking units, ensure that you’re able to achieve and demonstrate proper air sealing using the strategies in the LEED v4 Reference Guide.

Electronic cigarettes are considered a form of smoking.

Smoking still needs to be prohibited in areas used for business purposes as well as public sidewalks that are within 25 feet of the building. If existing code explicitly prohibits you from extending your no-smoking zone, you should still be able to earn the prerequisite if you provide a copy of the code restriction.

This has been acceptable in previous versions of LEED as long as the emergency exit has an alarm. Emergency exits without alarms qualify as building openings and must have signage.

Yes. The scope of the policy needs to cover only the portion of the building and site under the building management’s control. That said, teams should consider sharing the green cleaning program information with tenants and encourage them to adopt best practices in their spaces.

Compliance for the prerequisite is not based on the ability to meet the policy goals or sustainability criteria 100% of the time. However, teams should make every effort to follow the policy as much as possible and to modify current practices that clearly contradict the intent of the green cleaning policy.