B Corp certification is awarded by B Lab, a non-profit organisation, to companies that meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. It''s one of the most credible third-party business certifications available — but it''s also frequently misunderstood. Here''s everything you need to know.
What B Corp actually certifies
B Corp certification does not certify a specific product or material. It certifies the entire company — its governance, worker treatment, community impact, environmental practices, and customer practices. A B Corp brand might sell products made from conventional materials while still being a better corporate citizen than a non-certified brand selling "eco-friendly" products.
This is both a strength and a limitation. It means B Corp certification reflects how a business operates, not just what it makes. A company can''t buy a B Corp certification by switching to organic packaging — they have to earn it by improving across five categories.
The B Impact Assessment
Certification requires completing the B Impact Assessment (BIA), a comprehensive questionnaire covering:
- Governance (10%): Mission in governing documents, transparency, ethical decision-making
- Workers (25%): Financial security, health and wellness, career development, engagement
- Community (25%): Diversity, economic impact, civic engagement, supply chain
- Environment (20%): Land, air, water, energy, climate
- Customers (20%): Ethical marketing, data protection, product impact
A minimum score of 80 out of 200 is required for certification. The median score for all businesses completing the BIA is around 50. Scoring 80 is genuinely difficult — only around 6% of companies that begin the assessment achieve certification.
How the certification process works
The process typically takes 6–12 months. After completing the BIA online, a B Lab analyst reviews the submission and may request supporting documentation. B Lab conducts a random verification process including site visits. If certified, companies must recertify every three years and meet increasingly higher standards as B Lab tightens its requirements over time.
What the score tells you
B Corps publish their scores publicly at bcorporation.net. A score of 80 is the minimum; scores above 100 indicate exceptional performance; scores above 150 (like Patagonia''s) represent best-in-class. You can filter by score, industry, and location to compare companies directly.
The "Benefit Corporation" distinction
B Corp certification (from B Lab) is different from "Benefit Corporation" legal status (a corporate structure available in many US states and some other jurisdictions). B Corp is a certification; Benefit Corporation is a legal form. Many certified B Corps have also adopted Benefit Corporation legal status to embed their mission legally — but they''re not the same thing.
Limitations of B Corp
B Corp is not a guarantee of perfection. Some large corporations have achieved certification while retaining practices that environmental advocates find problematic. The threshold of 80 allows for trade-offs — a company could score well on worker welfare and governance while scoring lower on environmental impact and still be certified overall.
B Lab is aware of this and continually updates its standards. The 2025 Standards revision raised requirements significantly, and several companies lost certification as a result. The direction of travel is positive.
Using B Corp as a shopping signal
B Corp certification is most useful as a starting point, not an endpoint. A certified B Corp that scores 120 and publishes detailed impact data is a very different proposition from one that achieved 81 and has made no further improvements. Check the score, read the profile, and look at how the brand talks about areas where they scored lower.
Browse B Corp certified brands on Terrali, where every brand''s B Corp status sits alongside our own sustainability score across materials, circularity, supply chain, and packaging.