This European Standard forms one part of a suite of European Standards and provides the specific principles and requirements for the assessment of social performance of buildings taking into account technical characteristics and functionality of a building. Assessment of social performance is one aspect of sustainability assessment of buildings under the general framework of EN 15643-1.The framework applies to all types of buildings, both new and existing, and it is relevant for the assessment of the social performance of new buildings over all stages of their life cycle, and of existing buildings to their end of life. NOTE 1Although all stages of the life cycle are considered in this European Standard, the choice of what is practical to cover in the implementation of this framework is the subject of prEN 16309, which is under development. The first version of prEN 16309 may limit the application of the framework to fewer than all life-cycle stages, depending on what methods are appropriate for European standardisation at this time. Future revisions of prEN 16309 will include the assessment of social performance for other stages of the building life cycle as appropriate methods for measurement are developed and become suitable for European standardisation.The social dimension of sustainability concentrates on the assessment of aspects and impacts of a building expressed with quantifiable indicators. The social performance measures will be represented through indicators for the following social performance categories:accessibility;adaptability;health and comfort;loadings on the neighbourhood;maintenance;safety / security;sourcing of materials and services;stakeholder involvement.The European Standards developed under this framework do not set the rules for how building assessment schemes may provide valuation methods. Nor do they prescribe levels, classes or benchmarks for measuring performance.NOTE 2Valuation methods, levels, classes or benchmarks may be prescribed in the requirements for environmental, social and economic performance in the client’s brief, building regulations, national standards, national codes of practice, building assessment and certification schemes, etc.The rules for assessment of social aspects of organisations are not included within this framework. However, the consequences of decisions or actions that influence the social performance of the object of assessment are taken into account.