Key takeaways
- Submit to GRESB with incomplete data and assets are rejected for data incompleteness — the building might be excellent, but it cannot be scored.
- A rejection cannot be resubmitted until the next cycle: 12 months lost, and the submission fees are non-refundable.
- For institutional funds this is a material event — LP reporting, fund mandates, refinancing terms and capital raising all depend on the rating.
- The data gaps are almost always fixable and discoverable in 48 hours — but they typically surface only after 12 months of work culminating in a failed submission.
The GRESB submission deadline passes. The data has been compiled, reviewed internally, and uploaded. The team celebrates. Then the results arrive — and assets are rejected for data incompleteness. The consequences cascade quickly: the rejected submission cannot be resubmitted until the next cycle, which means 12 months lost. The submission fees are non-refundable. And the investors who expected a GRESB rating for their quarterly reporting now receive an explanation instead of a score.
A failed cycle is a material event, not an inconvenience
For institutional funds, a failed GRESB cycle isn't just an administrative inconvenience — it's a material event. LP reporting depends on GRESB scores to demonstrate ESG commitment. Investor confidence is directly tied to the fund's ability to deliver on its sustainability promises. In some cases, GRESB ratings are written into fund mandates or side letters. A missing rating can trigger questions from investment committees, affect refinancing terms, and create friction in capital raising conversations.
The data issues that cause rejection are almost always fixable. Coverage below 75%, missing structural fields, incomplete time periods — these are not complex technical problems. They're data collection gaps that accumulate over years of informal processes and fragmented systems. The tragedy is that they're discoverable in 48 hours but typically only surface after 12 months of work culminating in a failed submission.
The cost of not knowing is always higher
The cost of not knowing your data readiness before submission is always higher than finding out. A pre-submission EDRA scan costs a fraction of the GRESB submission fee. It takes 48 hours, not 12 months. And it produces specific, actionable findings: which assets are ready, which have gaps, what those gaps are, and how long they take to fix. The fund manager can then make an informed decision — submit the ready assets, remediate the others, and avoid the reputational damage of a blanket rejection.
The fix isn't better ESG strategy or more expensive platforms. It's a systematic data readiness check that runs before the submission cycle begins — not after it ends.
A Canadian pension fund's real estate arm submitted 40 assets to GRESB. 12 were rejected for data incompleteness — coverage gaps in tenant-metered spaces and structural field issues in property type classifications. EDRA would have flagged all 12 assets in 48 hours, giving the team 8 weeks to remediate before the submission deadline.
Download Case Study (PDF)Frequently asked questions
What happens if you submit to GRESB with incomplete data?
Assets are rejected for data incompleteness. The rejected submission cannot be resubmitted until the next cycle, so roughly 12 months are lost, the submission fees are non-refundable, and investors who expected a GRESB rating for their reporting receive an explanation instead of a score. For institutional funds this is a material event, not an administrative inconvenience.
Are GRESB submission fees refundable if your submission is rejected?
No. GRESB submission fees are non-refundable. A rejection for data incompleteness means the fee is spent with no rating produced, and the same fee must be paid again to resubmit in the next cycle.
How long until you can resubmit to GRESB after a rejection?
A rejected submission cannot be resubmitted until the next annual cycle — roughly 12 months later. That delay is what makes a failed submission so costly: the fund spends a full year without the rating its LP reporting and mandates depend on.
Can you prevent a GRESB rejection before the deadline?
Yes. A pre-submission EDRA scan costs a fraction of the GRESB submission fee and takes 48 hours rather than 12 months. It identifies which assets are ready, which have gaps, what those gaps are, and how long they take to fix — so the team can submit the ready assets and remediate the rest before the deadline.