BREEAM Assessments for Padel Clubs and Clubhouses

Last updated October 2026

If your council’s local plan names a BREEAM rating for new non-domestic buildings, a padel clubhouse may need one. Our BREEAM assessors start with a pre-assessment that shows which rating is realistic before the design is fixed, then take the scheme through design stage and post-construction certification where the council requires it. The same team delivered the BREEAM pre-assessment for Old Blues RFC in Merton, and has reached Excellent and Outstanding on other building types. We quote from your drawings.

BREEAM on a padel scheme, stage by stage

Stage	When	What you get
Pre-assessment	Before or with the planning application	Target rating, credits to aim for, cost and design implications
Design stage	Before construction	Evidence of design-stage credits; interim certificate where required
Post-construction	At completion	Final evidence and certificate to discharge the condition

Does a padel club need BREEAM?

Only where the council asks for it. In London, BREEAM rating conditions come from the borough’s local plan, not from the London Plan. Outside London it is the same story: some local plans set a rating, usually Very Good or Excellent, for new non-domestic buildings over a size threshold, and others say nothing. A padel clubhouse can fall inside that policy even when the courts themselves are open structures.

Your planning consultant reads the policy at pre-app, and the BREEAM pre-assessment tells you whether the named rating is reachable.

What does a BREEAM pre-assessment tell me?

Which rating your padel scheme can realistically reach, and what it will take. It scores the design against each BREEAM category, such as energy, water, materials, waste, transport, and land use and ecology, and lists the credits that are cheap, the credits that need design changes, and the credits that are out of reach. That stops you promising the council Excellent on a building that can only reach Very Good.

Which BREEAM credits suit a padel scheme?

The ones that follow from good design choices you would make anyway. On a typical padel scheme those are:

• Energy: an all-electric clubhouse with heat pumps and roof-mounted solar, shared with the padel energy statement
• Materials: lower-carbon concrete and recycled-content steel, shared with the padel whole life carbon assessment
• Water: rainwater reuse and efficient fittings in the changing rooms
• Health and wellbeing: daylight and thermal comfort, shared with the overheating study
• Waste: construction waste diversion, shared with any circular economy report

Because the same team writes the energy, carbon and overheating reports, the BREEAM evidence comes from work already done rather than from a separate exercise.

When should BREEAM start?

Before the design is fixed. Several credits depend on early appointments and early studies, so a late start can cap the rating whatever the building ends up like. The ideal point is alongside the first layout drawings, at the stage our how it works page calls design and modelling.

What happens after planning?

If the condition requires certification, we collect the design-stage evidence before construction and the post-construction evidence at completion, then submit for the certificate. Contractors are briefed on what they need to record on site, such as waste diversion and responsible sourcing, so nothing is lost at the end.

What’s included

• BREEAM pre-assessment with target rating and credit plan
• Design-stage and post-construction assessment where your condition requires them
• Coordination of BREEAM evidence with the energy, carbon and overheating reports
• Briefing for the design team and contractor on the evidence they need

What’s not included

• BRE registration and certification fees, which are paid to BRE and shown in your quote
• Specialist studies some credits need, such as an ecology report, unless priced in your quote

Worked example: Old Blues RFC, Merton

A six-court covered padel club with a clubhouse, in Merton. The BREEAM pre-assessment came from the same team that wrote the energy statement, the overheating study and the whole life carbon assessment for the scheme. The project is written up in the Old Blues RFC padel case study.

What ratings has the team achieved?

Excellent and Outstanding across offices, fit-out and new construction, and Excellent at planning stage on a Wandsworth refurbishment (83.52%). The projects are on our wider portfolio page.

Who does the work

Padel Court Build is a SustainPlan Ltd service. Our BREEAM assessors work with SustainPlan’s energy and carbon team and the architects in our team, so the credits are designed in rather than chased at the end.

Often needed alongside

• Padel circular economy: waste diversion evidence
• Padel planning problems we solve: BREEAM and the other padel snags
• Padel court planning permission: the consent the rating supports

FAQs

Which BREEAM scheme applies to a padel clubhouse?

Usually BREEAM UK New Construction for a new clubhouse. A refit of an existing building can fall under BREEAM UK Refurbishment and Fit-out instead. The pre-assessment confirms which.

Can a padel scheme reach Excellent?

Sometimes. It depends on the site, the design and when BREEAM starts. The pre-assessment gives you an honest answer before you commit.

Is BREEAM needed on outdoor courts with no building?

Rarely. Policies usually apply to buildings over a floor area threshold.

Sources

• SustainPlan BREEAM site pack (BREEAM conditions come from borough local plans, not the London Plan)
• Old Blues RFC: BREEAM pre-assessment (SustainPlan)
• BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 categories (management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution, innovation), as scored in a GLA-published pre-assessment: https://data.london.gov.uk/download/206r9/12173824-a4c7-4b1a-ba96-59d70d504038/BREEAM%20pre-assessment.pdf (read 17 Oct 2026)
• SustainPlan BREEAM Project Portfolio (ratings)