Competence, certificates and the file nobody keeps current
For statutory work, the wrong person doing the inspection correctly is the same as the inspection not happening.
Much specialist maintenance has to be carried out by a person with defined competence — an accreditation, a registration, a scheme membership, a formal appointment. The specifics vary considerably by jurisdiction and by system. For a separate product-side perspective on documenting conduct and performance issues, this article provides additional detail.
The requirement is usually understood at procurement and rarely maintained afterwards. Certificates expire, staff change, scheme memberships lapse, and the organisation discovers it during an insurance review rather than during the work.
What the contractor file needs to contain
- Current insurance — public liability, employers' liability, professional indemnity where relevant — with the expiry dates recorded, not just the certificates filed.
- Trade accreditations and scheme memberships relevant to the work, with expiry dates.
- Individual competence where the requirement attaches to a person rather than a firm.
- Risk assessments and method statements for the work being done.
- Any formal appointment your own systems require, such as an authorised person for a particular service.
A folder of PDFs tells you what was true when they were filed. A list of expiry dates on the admin calendar tells you what is true now, and it is the only version that prevents a lapse. For a wider operational and compliance reference, consult the Better Buildings workforce guidelines.
Put the dates on the calendar
Every expiry in the contractor file needs a reminder against it, ideally two: one at a point where a lapse can still be chased comfortably, and one at the deadline itself.
The alternative is the arrangement most organisations have, which is that the insurance certificate on file expired fourteen months ago and nobody has looked. That is a live exposure and it is entirely a diary problem.
Verify at least once
Accreditations can be checked directly with the issuing scheme, and most schemes provide a public register. Doing this once, at appointment, is a small piece of diligence that occasionally produces an uncomfortable answer.
It matters most for statutory work, where an inspection carried out by someone without the required standing may not satisfy the obligation at all, regardless of the quality of the work. The organisation, not the contractor, generally carries that consequence.
The certificate is the deliverable
For statutory inspections, the documentation is the point. File it against the asset record rather than in an email folder, make its receipt a condition of closing the job, and make it a condition of payment.
Departments that discover a missing certificate two years later almost always find the work was done and only the paper is absent. That distinction does not help during an insurance claim or an inspection, and re-performing the work is the usual remedy.
Reassess when the contractor's staff change
Competence often attaches to individuals. A contractor whose qualified engineer leaves may continue attending with someone who is not qualified for the specific task, and the client has no visibility of that unless they ask.
A short annual confirmation — who will be attending our site, and what are their current qualifications — is a reasonable contractual requirement and is rarely resisted by good contractors, who generally find it easier to answer than poor ones do.