In recognition of #BCorpMonth, we are sharing more about our journey, why B Corp is relevant in our industry, and the process to becoming certified.
B Corporations, commonly known as B Corps, are businesses that meet independently verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and governance.
Certification is administered by B Lab, a global not‑for‑profit organisation, which you can read about here.
Have you heard of B Corp? If so, what do you know about it?
B Corp has undertaken brand awareness studies since 2023 to understand how the movement is showing up in the public consciousness. The most recent data from 2025 shows:
- 35% of New Zealanders report awareness (a 13% increase since 2024), and across the ditch;
- 31% of Australians report awareness of B Corp Certification (a 10% increase since 2024).
We’d hazard a guess that B Corp certification here in Aotearoa is most often associated with consumer brands. A casual office poll quickly recalled sustainable clothing labels like Mons Royale and Kowtow, or the terrifically indestructible (even in Wellington winds!) Blunt Umbrellas. Great Kiwi companies doing excellent things.
But the relevance of B Corp extends well beyond retail products and household names. There’s a growing contingent of professional services/B2B/consulting organisations choosing to undergo certification, of which we count ourselves a proud member. You can search the directory to get a sense of the breadth and volume.
For Maynard Marks, as building consultancy, becoming certified has been about accountability, long‑term thinking, and recognising the real influence our work has on people, communities, and the built environment. We know that the building industry shapes how New Zealanders live, work, and interact with their spaces. Decisions made early in a building’s life can affect safety, durability, accessibility, environmental performance, and long‑term operating costs.
In our capacity as consultants, we work alongside building owners, developers, legal professionals, and asset managers. We sit in a position of trust. B Corp certification provides a structured framework to ensure we operate responsibly as a business, in addition to delivering technically sound advice on individual projects.
What is B Corp about?
Rather than a focus on financial performance, B Corps commit to balancing profit with positive outcomes for people and the environment. The “B” stands for “benefit for all”, reflecting a broader view of success that considers employees, clients, communities, and environmental impact alongside commercial results.
Relevance for our industry
For our business, B Corp certification aligns naturally with our vision and our purpose, but also with the way we approach our work. Our services are grounded in independence, evidence‑based advice, and professional integrity. We see B Corp as an extension of those principles into how we run our business day to day.
Of course, our environmental footprint is different from that of construction firms or manufacturers, but we know that our influence matters. The advice we provide can affect repair strategies, maintenance decisions, material use, and the long‑term performance of buildings. Being a B Corp reinforces our responsibility to consider the wider implications of our recommendations, including sustainability, resilience, and whole‑of‑life thinking.
It also reflects our belief that professional services businesses should hold themselves to the same level of scrutiny and continuous improvement that we often encourage in the projects we work on.
What it takes: becoming B Corp
It’s a rigorous process! Businesses complete the B Impact Assessment, which evaluates performance across five key areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. To be certified, a company must achieve a minimum verified score, and demonstrate that its policies, systems, and practices meet B Lab’s standards.
Also noteworthy is that it’s not a one-off exercise. B Corps must amend their governing documents to formally commit to considering social and environmental impact in decision‑making, publicly share their assessment results, and undergo re‑certification every three years. This ensures accountability and ongoing improvement rather than a static tick‑box achievement.
For our business, the accreditation process prompted us to look closely at how we operate as a business. That included how we support and develop our people, how decisions are made, how we engage with clients and communities, and how we measure and improve our environmental practices. It provided a clear, structured way to identify strengths and areas where we can continue to do better.
A focus on stakeholders, not just shareholders
A core principle of B Corp certification is stakeholder accountability. This means recognising that business decisions affect more than just owners or directors. Employees, clients, suppliers, communities, and the environment all have a stake in how a company operates.
In a professional services context, this is particularly relevant. Our people are central to the quality of advice we provide. Supporting fair employment practices, professional development, and wellbeing is not only the right thing to do, but it also directly impacts the service our clients receive. At the same time, it’s important to be transparent, maintain independence and commit to ethical standards. We want our clients to feel they can trust us, and rely on our advice in high‑value and high‑risk situations.
B Corp as a commitment to continuous improvement
Being a Certified B Corp does not mean claiming to have all the answers. Certification is built on the idea that no business is perfect. What matters is a commitment to measuring impact, being transparent about performance, and continually raising the bar. We really don’t see this as a marketing badge or a finish line. It is a framework that supports better decision‑making and encourages long‑term thinking. We are accountable to standards we believe are important for our industry.
Opportunities and a way forward
The building sector is facing increasing pressure around sustainability, resilience, and social responsibility. In fact, this pressure is becoming more widespread, across industries and sectors. Data suggests a fundamental market shift towards greater expectation, preference, and demand for all businesses to be more accountable to stakeholders and more transparent about their social and environmental impact.
- 82% of Kiwis agree that businesses should be required to consider the interests of all stakeholders (i.e. people and planet) in their decision-making.
- 88% of Kiwis believe company directors and CEOs should be accountable for their social and environmental performance.
Being B Corp certified is practical way to ensure our business evolves alongside those expectations.
If you’re interested in understanding how a more accountable, people‑focused approach can support better outcomes in the built environment, we’re always happy to talk.
Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how we apply these principles in practice.
