B Lab's New Standards: Foundation Requirements
B Lab’s standards define the performance that a company must meet and continuously improve upon to achieve and maintain B Corp Certification. Since 2006, we have evolved the standards to improve their impactfulness and clarify what it means to be a leading business, incorporating feedback from diverse stakeholders.
To achieve these goals, the new standards require companies to meet specific requirements across seven Impact Topics. While we have developed the new standards with the existing standards in mind, you can expect to see new topics and evolved requirements where topics overlap, designed to improve business impact.
After all, the B Corp community is built on the principle of continuous improvement.
The Foundation Requirements lay the groundwork for what it means to be a Certified B Corp. As the first step in the certification journey, they ensure companies meet key eligibility and accountability criteria before diving into the Impact Topics. As Grace Son, Senior Standards Manager, explains, these requirements serve as a vital checkpoint at the start of every company’s certification journey—ensuring that every prospective B Corp aligns with the movement’s core values of transparency, accountability, and stakeholder governance.
Describe the impact topic in a nutshell:
The Foundation Requirements establish the groundwork for what it means and how to qualify to be a certified B Corp.
What is the purpose of the Foundation Requirements, and why does it matter in today’s world?
In a company’s certification journey, its first step is meeting the Foundation Requirements. This sequencing ensures companies are meeting fundamental eligibility requirements before they progress to the Impact Topic requirements.
Generally, the B Lab's standards are tailored for a company’s context, including size, sector, and operating country. However, all companies are required to meet the Foundation Requirements.
The Foundation Requirements include eligibility requirements, the B Corp legal requirement, and risk assessment.
Eligibility requirements: Companies are incorporated business entities in operation for at least 12 months. They comply with laws and regulations, share complete and accurate information, and demonstrate transparency. Also, they are not materially involved in industries that undermine B Lab’s Theory of Change.
Legal requirement: Companies implement the B Corp legal requirement, which is a stakeholder governance model in which companies are legally accountable to all their stakeholders. Also, companies sign the Declaration of Interdependence.
Risk assessment: Companies create risk profiles and meet any additional Impact Topic sub-requirements that the risk profile activates. This aligns the number of due-diligence sub-requirements with the company’s risk profile.
What Foundation Requirement(s) are you most excited about - and why?
The B Corp legal requirement is an integral and exciting part of what it means to be a B Corp. The legal requirement is a stakeholder governance model in which B Corps are legally accountable to all of their stakeholders, not just their shareholders. A stakeholder governance model is when companies consider the impacts of their decisions on all stakeholders, including workers, communities, customers, suppliers, and the environment.
The legal requirement overturns shareholder primacy by integrating stakeholder governance in a company’s legal documents. This ensures a company is accountable to creating lasting value for all stakeholders and operating as a force for good. Importantly, stakeholder governance is actualized in the Purpose and Stakeholder Governance Impact Topic, which requires companies to consider their impacts on stakeholders in decision-making. For example, large companies must conduct regular stakeholder engagement to assess and identify their material topics.
What similarities are there between the Foundation Requirements and the existing standards?
Overall the Foundation Requirements are similar to previous versions of the standard.
Sub-requirements on entity qualifications, complete and accurate information, transparency, and the legal requirement remain the same. Sub-requirements on compliance with laws and regulations, and no material involvement in industries that undermine B Lab’s Theory of Change, align with B Lab’s previous expectations and are now formalized as requirements. The risk assessment is an adaptation of the previous Disclosure Questionnaire.
What is your biggest tip for companies working towards the new standards / this topic in particular?
Review the B Corp Legal Requirement Tool. This is a helpful resource for companies to understand how to meet the legal requirement based on their operating country and entity type.
The legal requirement often involves an update to the company's Articles of Incorporation or equivalent governing document, reincorporating as a benefit corporation, or making other structural changes. The specific legal requirements for a company differ based on their operating country and entity type (e.g. corporation, limited liability company, partnership, co-operative, etc.).
Do you have more questions on the content of B Lab’s new standards? Join the Q&A session with the Standards Management Team on 29 April 2025. Log in to your regional community hub or reach out to your regional B Lab team to register. Want to learn more about the other Impact Topics in B Lab's new standards?
🪧 Purpose & Stakeholder Governance
🪧 Government Affairs & Collective Action
🪧 Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion [COMING SOON]
🪧 Fair Work [COMING SOON]
🪧 Human Rights [COMING SOON]
🪧 Environmental Stewardship & Circularity
🪧 Climate Action [COMING SOON]