In the Good On You methodology there is embedded conditionality that ensures certain brands are assessed only on the issues that are relevant to the products they offer and the practices they engage in. Practically that means an answer establishing a brand's practice on one question, can impact the score weighting of other sections of the methodology, or could mean that other questions or groups of questions become irrelevant and are disabled in the assessment (i.e. score weighting of those questions becomes zero).
This does not impact the scoring potential of any brand because there are routes to score points for positive sustainability practices that are suitable and achievable regardless of business type, product mix, and inputs in production.
In general, there are many instances where questions are disabled where they are first established as irrelevant for the brand. Those disabled questions are not scored, and typically the weighting of the issue remains the same and the brand is assessed on the questions that are relevant for them. For example:
Materials and certifications: When it is established the brand doesn't use a certain material or have a certain certification, further enquiry about the nature and proportions of those practices is not relevant. The brand's score is derived from the answers related to materials and certifications that are applicable to them.
Code of conduct: When it is established that a brand does not have a code of conduct there is no further enquiry required about the nature of the policy. The weighting of the issue stands and the brand scores zero.
Some key cases are summarised below for the fashion methodology, where a brand’s product range and material usage increase or remove the baseline weighting of an issue while calculating the theme score.
Microfibres
The weighting of the Microfibres issue depends on the proportion of products the brand offers that use oil-based synthetics such as polyester and nylon. If the brand does not use any synthetics other questions in the Microfibres issue are disabled the score and weighting is zero (i.e. has no impact on the pillar and overall score).
Applies to: Large
Deforestation
The weighting of the Deforestation issue depends on the proportion of products the brand offers that use materials derived from forests or from deforestation such as leather, rubber, metal, precious stones, and cellulosic fibres. If the brand does not use any materials derived from forests, other questions in the Microfibres issue are disabled the score and weighting is zero (i.e. has no impact on the pillar and overall score).
Applies to: Large
Leather Tanning
The weighting of the Leather Tanning issue depends on whether leather is a dominant material in the brand's production. If the brand does not use any leather, the entire Leather Tanning issue is disabled and the score and weighting is zero (i.e. has no impact on the pillar and overall score).
Applies to: Large and small
Solvent Use
The weighting of the Solvent Use issue depends on whether shoes are a dominant category for the brand. If the brand does not sell shoes, the entire Solvent Use issue is disabled and the score and weighting is zero (i.e. has no impact on the pillar and overall score).
Applies to: Large and small
Sandblasting
###TBD to confirm###
The weighting of the Sandblasting issue depends on whether denim is a dominant category for the brand. If the brand does not use denim, the entire Sandblasting issue is disabled and the score and weighting is zero (i.e. has no impact on the pillar and overall score).
Applies to: Large
Animals Product Range and Materials
###TBD to confirm###
Brands that only produce products where it is rare to use animal-derived materials are not assessed in the Animals pillar. The overall score is derived from only the planet and people score in that case. The rest of the animals issues are disabled and the score and weighting on "Range and Materials" is zero.
Vegan brands are also not assessed on most animal welfare issues, except for "Animal Citizenship". The Animals pillar score and applicability to the overall score still applies, but the score is derived only from answers on "Range and Materials" and "Animal Citizenship". All other animals issues are disabled and the score and weighting is zero.
Other animal material assessments are only relevant to a brand if they are using a particular animal material for example the "Leather Commitments" and "Mulesing Commitments" issues are disabled if a brand does not use leather and wool respectively. The "Conventional Animal Materials" issue is only relevant if animal-derived materials make up more than 1% of a brand's total materials. In these cases those issues are disabled and the score and weighting is zero.