Bureau Veritas, a global leader in Testing, Inspection, and Certification services (TIC), has signed the first global verifier agreement to expand the reach and impact of the Building Resilience Index (BRI). Under this agreement, Bureau Veritas will serve as a verification partner for BRI across key emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, and East Asia and the Pacific.
An innovation of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, BRI is a web-based framework designed to help developers, investors, and policymakers identify risks to buildings posed by natural hazards and assess, improve, and disclose their resilience. Through this partnership with Bureau Veritas, BRI users will gain greater access to high-quality, third-party verification of climate-resilient construction practices, expanding trust and adoption of the tool in vulnerable regions where business continuity is increasingly threatened by extreme weather and related hazards.
“We are delighted to become a Global Verifier of the Building Resilience Index. As climate phenomena intensify, it has become essential to integrate climate change adaptation into assets strategy. The signing of our global agreement with the International Finance Corporation marks a crucial step,” said Marc Roussel, Executive Vice President, Urbanization and Assurance at Bureau Veritas. “Bureau Veritas has a long history as an independent third party mitigating natural and climate risks. Our network of experts will add a layer of trust so that stakeholders can rely on Building Resilience Index to evaluate vulnerability and effectiveness of adaptation strategies, worldwide.”
In recent years, physical risks such as floods, cyclones, heatwaves, fires, earthquakes and landslides have posed major threats to business operations, disrupting supply chains, displacing workers and jobs, hurting productivity, and impacting insurance and financing terms. The BRI-Bureau Veritas partnership responds to a growing demand from businesses and governments for reliable tools that support risk mitigation, asset protection, and long-term economic stability.
“As businesses face increased risks to assets and infrastructure from natural disasters, the ability to assess and verify resilience is becoming a crucial element of operational and investment strategy,” said Diep Nguyen-van Houtte, Senior Manager of Climate Business at IFC. “This partnership with Bureau Veritas strengthens the Building Resilience Index by ensuring that more clients—particularly in high-risk geographies—can benefit from credible, independently-verified insights into the resilience of their properties, adding a new tool to their climate adaptation arsenal.”
By offering third-party verification through Bureau Veritas, the Building Resilience Index helps stakeholders:
- Protect operational continuity by identifying risks early and designing for resilience
- Safeguard jobs and livelihoods by minimizing disruption in vulnerable communities
- Enhance access to capital through better risk ratings and insurance alignment
- Improve public trust and accountability through independent performance validation
This partnership builds on IFC’s broader commitment to integrating adaptation into private sector development and enabling practical, market-driven solutions for climate resilience.
BRI is funded by the Australian Government and was developed and piloted with seed funding from the Government of the Netherlands and the Rockefeller Foundation, in cooperation with leading organizations including the ARISE Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, Build Change, FM Global, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, Miyamoto International, and Resilience Action Fund.
