Is he approved for that model?
A partner job needs a particular charger model, and the partner requires the fitter to hold that manufacturer's installer approval. Another job is grant-funded, and your process requires an authorised installer on it. The scheduler assigns whoever is free on Tuesday. After the install, the claim or partner sign-off is questioned because the fitter's approval lapsed a month ago, or never covered that model.
Approvals held in too many places
Each manufacturer runs its own installer training and approval. Schemes keep their own lists. Partners have their own requirements. Your fitters also carry trade qualifications, accreditation and insurance. Certificates arrive as PDFs and photos and are saved wherever someone saved them. None of it is visible at the moment it matters, which is when a job is assigned.
Subcontract fitters make it harder again. Their approvals are held in their own names, renewed on their own schedule, and sent to you only when asked. A fitter can be fully approved for one manufacturer and not another, and the difference only matters on the job where it matters.
- Manufacturer approvals expire or need refresher training.
- Scheme and partner requirements differ by job type.
- Certificates are filed by the person who received them.
- The scheduler has no view of approvals when assigning jobs.
- Nobody plans training ahead of renewals.
What a lapsed approval costs
Claims and partner sign-offs held up or refused, with the cash tied up. Jobs reassigned at short notice. Manufacturer warranty questions when the fitter was not approved for the unit. And a scramble before any accreditation assessment to gather certificates that should have been in one place all along.
Accreditation assessments and partner audits make the problem visible all at once. The assessor asks for evidence for each fitter who worked on a sample of jobs, and the office spends days finding certificates that were current at the time but filed nowhere in particular.
The approvals register we build
- Each fitter, employed or subcontract, gets a record listing their approvals, qualifications, training and documents, each with issue and expiry dates and a copy of the certificate.
- Your team defines requirements per job type: which approvals are needed for each charger model, scheme and partner.
- When a job is assigned, the register checks the fitter against the job's requirements and warns the scheduler if anything is missing or expiring before the install date.
- Renewals raise reminders to the fitter and the manager ahead of expiry, so training is booked in time.
- Fitters upload new certificates from their phone, and a person confirms them before they count.
- A report shows, per requirement, which fitters are covered, which are expiring and where you are thin.
| Question | Answered now by | Answered by the register |
|---|---|---|
| Is this fitter approved for this model? | Asking around | Checked at allocation |
| When does it expire? | Finding the PDF | Held with a reminder |
| Who can do grant jobs next month? | Guesswork | Report by requirement |
| Where is the certificate? | Someone's downloads | On the fitter's record |
The register stores what fitters hold and what you require. Whether a qualification meets a scheme's rules is for your team to decide.
Allocation you can defend
Schedulers assign with confidence because the check is part of assignment. Renewals happen before expiry. Claims and partner jobs are not held up on approvals. When an assessor or partner asks for evidence, it is one export.
Training planning improves too. You can see which approvals are held by only one or two fitters, which manufacturers' courses are due for renewal next quarter, and where adding one more approved fitter would stop jobs waiting.
Warning signs
- Claims or partner jobs have been queried over fitter approvals.
- You found out an approval had lapsed after the job.
- Certificates are stored in several places.
- Schedulers cannot see approvals when assigning.
- Training is booked after expiry rather than before.