B Corp Certification: B Lab

What It Is

B Corp certification, administered by the nonprofit B Lab, identifies businesses that meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Certified B Corporations balance purpose and profit, using business as a force for good.

Certification is now based on B Lab's new standards, published in April 2025 and used for submissions from 2026. Instead of scoring points, companies must meet Foundation Requirements (eligibility, a commitment to stakeholder governance, and a risk assessment) and requirements in seven Impact Topics: Purpose & Stakeholder Governance; Fair Work; Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; Human Rights; Climate Action; Environmental Stewardship & Circularity; and Government Affairs & Collective Action. Requirements and audit frequency vary with company size. Until then, certification rested on the B Impact Assessment (BIA), version 6, which scored companies across five impact areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers.

Certification requires:

1. Meeting the standards — the Foundation Requirements and the Year 0 requirements in all seven Impact Topics, confirmed by a third-party audit (under the version 6 BIA, the bar was a verified score of 80 out of about 200 points)
2. Legal requirement to consider stakeholder interests in governance decisions (either through benefit corporation status or equivalent charter amendments)
3. Transparency — each B Corp has a public profile on B Lab's website, which under the new standards includes a summary of its risk profile
4. Continuous improvement — a five-year certification cycle with surveillance audits, a Year 3 audit, and added requirements at Years 3 and 5 (B Corps certified under version 6 recertified every three years)

As of June 2026, B Lab counts more than 10,800 certified B Corps across 102 countries and 163 industries, ranging from small service firms to publicly traded multinationals.

Who Uses It

• Mission-driven companies seeking third-party validation of their social and environmental practices
• Consumer-facing brands using B Corp certification as a trust signal (Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's)
• Professional services firms — consulting, law, accounting, design firms demonstrating values alignment
• Companies in B2B markets where procurement teams increasingly value supplier sustainability credentials
• Impact investors using B Corp status as a quality signal for investment targets
• Council Fire — as a certified B Corp, we walk the talk on sustainability in our own operations and governance

Key Requirements

Under the new standards, companies meet a set of Year 0 requirements in each Impact Topic to certify, then additional requirements by Year 3 and Year 5:

Purpose & Stakeholder Governance: Act in line with a defined purpose and embed stakeholder governance in decision-making.

Fair Work: Provide good quality jobs and positive workplace cultures, including fair wage practices (living wage) and worker feedback in decision-making.

Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Foster inclusive and diverse workplaces and contribute to just communities.

Human Rights: Understand how operations and the value chain may involve negative human rights impacts, and act to prevent and mitigate them.

Climate Action: Develop an action plan that supports limiting global warming to 1.5°C; larger companies also report greenhouse gas emissions and set validated science-based targets.

Environmental Stewardship & Circularity: Assess environmental impacts and take meaningful action to reduce them.

Government Affairs & Collective Action: Join collective efforts for systemic change and advocate for policies with positive social and environmental outcomes; the largest companies also publish country-by-country tax reports.

Companies certified under the version 6 BIA were scored across Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers, and move to the new standards when they recertify.

How to Implement

Phase 1: Self-Assessment (1-3 months) Register on B Lab's B Impact platform and complete the self-assessment against the new standards. Identify gaps against the Foundation Requirements and the Year 0 requirements for your company size. The self-assessment is free and provides valuable benchmarking regardless of certification intent.

Phase 2: Improvement Planning (2-6 months) For areas below target, implement improvements — enhanced benefits, environmental management systems, governance reforms, supply chain assessments, community programs. Document all practices for verification.

Phase 3: Submission and Audit (2-6 months) Submit the completed assessment. An approved third-party auditor (To-Cert and SCS Global Services at launch) reviews documents and conducts interviews, remotely or on site. Resolve any nonconformities. B Lab puts the process from submission to certification at two to six months.

Phase 4: Legal Requirement and Certification Amend articles of incorporation or convert to benefit corporation status. Sign the B Corp Agreement and Declaration of Interdependence. Receive certification and a public profile in B Lab's directory.

Phase 5: Continuous Improvement (five-year cycle) Meet the added Year 3 and Year 5 requirements and pass surveillance audits. Micro and small companies are audited at Years 0, 3, and 5; larger companies are likely to be audited every year. Adapt to updated criteria (B Lab issued V2.1 of the standards in August 2025 and V2.2 in February 2026).

Relationship to Other Frameworks

GRI: B Corp's Environment section and its emphasis on comprehensive impact reporting aligns with GRI's approach. B Corps often use GRI Standards for sustainability reporting.

SDGs: B Lab maps the B Impact Assessment to specific SDG targets, enabling B Corps to articulate their contributions to global goals.

SBTi: The new standards' Climate Action topic requires larger companies to set validated science-based targets.

CSRD/ESRS: While B Corp certification is distinct from CSRD compliance, the data and practices required for certification provide a strong foundation for ESRS disclosures.

Why It Matters

B Corp certification matters because it provides a holistic, verified assessment of business impact — not just environmental metrics or financial performance, but the full picture of how a company treats workers, communities, customers, and the environment. In a market where sustainability claims are easy to make and hard to verify, B Corp certification offers meaningful third-party validation.

For Council Fire, B Corp certification reflects our conviction that sustainability consulting starts at home. We ask clients to measure their impacts, set ambitious targets, and be transparent about their performance — and we hold ourselves to the same standard. Our B Corp status isn't a marketing badge; it's a framework for continuous improvement in how we operate, who we hire, how we serve communities, and how we manage our own environmental footprint.

The B Corp movement's vision — an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy — aligns with the work we do every day helping organizations navigate sustainability challenges. When we recommend frameworks, targets, and strategies to our clients, we draw on our own experience implementing the same principles in our business.