Consumer FAQ

As a "soft" and intangible concept, it is not easy to define and operationalise. We define it as the perceived quality of buildings through the eyes of the people using them. It is therefore made up of many elements that collectively shape people’s perception of the building – across building design and amenities to operations, occupant management, as well as community building. For the real estate industry, this means considering the human perspective at every stage – from planning and design, through to construction and operations.    

No, we are not a certification. The EXPIScore rating does not guarantee to consumers that the building or development being rated meets prescribed quality standards, or any applicable laws, regulations, industry standards, codes of practice regimes or frameworks. It is simply impossible to set prescribed standards for a concept as 'soft', intangible and ever-evolving as human-centric customer experience, that is premised on human perceptions and sentiments. Rather, the EXPIScore rating solely communicates that the nominated building or property meets EXPIScore's prevailing minimum rating criteria to get rated (from three to six stars), as determined by EXPIScore's qualified assessors, based on their experience and expert judgment of the building or development. Nevertheless, EXPIScore's rating criteria do serve as an industry benchmark or a best practice guideline - but they do not constitute a prescribed quality or industry standard. 

EXPIScore's rating criteria are developed through a rigorous R&D process. They are first informed by detailed consumer surveys in each geographic market, for a given asset class, conducted every two to three years (to capture any shifts in consumer expectations). EXPIScore's proprietary surveys ask about consumers' perspectives on the myriad of elements that shape their perception of a building they occupy (in the given asset class). To ensure high-quality consumer responses, EXPIScore works with a reputable market research firm, who recruit and conduct quality assurance on survey respondents. The sample is also carefully designed to ensure that it is sufficiently large and representative to be statistically significant and also reflective of the target population (with acceptable margin of error ranges). Finally, industry experts with deep expertise in relevant fields are also consulted on the rating criteria. 

EXPIScore is very conscious about protecting the integrity and prestige of its rating logos. Whilst it is impossible to police every single property or development in the world, EXPIScore has mechanisms in place to discourage abuse of EXPIScore's rating logos. Firstly, EXPIScore's rating logos, assessment methodology, and rating criteria, are all EXPIScore's copyright and intellectual property. They are governed by trademark and patent laws, and constitute valuable intellectual property, which are protected by law. Organisations that do not hold a valid Letter of Award issued by EXPIScore Pte. Ltd. are not authorised to use EXPIScore’s rating logos or brand. Secondly, EXPIScore customises awarded rating logos to include the nominated property and the logo's validity (in years). This communicates to consumers which nominated property, and for what validity period (in years), the rating logo is applicable to. Thirdly, EXPIScore maintains a database, where it tracks rated properties using rating IDs and street addresses. If you would like to verify the authenticity of a given property's EXPIScore rating, please do not hesitate to contact the EXPIScore team at our Contact Form (which we monitor closely) at our 'Contact' menu above. 

No, absolutely not. Organisations that do not hold a valid Letter of Award issued by EXPI Score Pte. Ltd. are not authorised to use EXPIScore’s logo or brand. The Letter of Award is the letter issued by EXPIScore Pte. Ltd. setting out the rating logo that the organisation may use only on completion of EXPIScore's assessment through its qualified assessors, as well as the period of award, and nominated property or properties that can be promoted using the rating logo provided. Any unauthorised use of the trademarks constitutes infringement of our rights and may result in legal action.

They are EXPIScore Pte. Ltd.'s representatives, or any other persons authorised by the EXPIScore Pte. Ltd. to carry out the assessment of the building/project, in relation to how they rate against EXPIScore's prevailing rating criteria. EXPIScore's qualified assessors are carefully curated to ensure that they possess depth of expertise relevant to the assessment. They typically bring decades of experience in a related field or specialised skills relevant to EXPIScore's assessment. The qualified assessors may at their discretion, exercise expert judgment, to determine the manner in which the evaluation of the building/project's customer experience performance is carried out. We acknowledge that while every effort is made to ensure that consistent rating criteria are used in carrying out the assessment for different buildings/projects, there is a degree of subjectivity involved in the assessment, which may result in any actual and/or perceived variations in the results for different buildings/projects. This is simply inevitable for a soft, 'intangible' and complex subject matter like human-centric customer experience. However, EXPIScore also has a peer review process, to serve as a check and balance, thereby ensuring to the greatest extent possible that the assessments are balanced. The process includes ensuring that there are always at least two qualified assessors involved in each assessment - one as the main assessor, the other as a peer reviewer. 

Buildings/projects that do not meet EXPIScore's minimum rating criteria to achieve at least a three-star rating will simply not be eligible for an EXPIScore rating (from three to six stars). If the real estate provider is open to investing in improving the building/project's human-centric customer experience, EXPIScore can work with the real estate provider to help it meet EXPIScore's minimum rating criteria, in the near future.

No, absolutely not. Whilst it indicates that there is avenue for improvement - meeting EXPIScore's minimum rating criteria to achieve a three-star is highly commendable. EXPIScore's rating criteria are extremely rigorous (comprising more than 100 criteria). Furthermore, the building/project has been assessed by highly experienced qualified assessors, with extensive exposure to world-leading buildings and developments around the world. A real estate provider who is willing to get rated for any given property or properties is already demonstrating exemplary commitment to human-centric customer experience and enhancing it. Not every building/project needs a six-star rating, in consideration also of the prices or rents being paid to occupy the building.