A certificate request from a conveyancer
A homeowner is selling. Their conveyancer asks for evidence that the re-roof you did last year was notified. The office searches the scheme portal, the job file and the old inbox. It turns out that job, and possibly a few others from a busy month, was never submitted.
Nobody decided not to do it. It just fell between the gang finishing and the office catching up. And because the scheme portal only shows what was submitted, there is no list anywhere of what should have been.
Why notifications fall through
Which jobs need notifying is a question your business and your scheme answer, and it depends on the scope of work. But the decision is usually made in someone's head at the end of the job, rather than written down when the quote is accepted. By then the details the notification needs have to be pieced together.
- Quotes do not record whether the job is notifiable.
- Completion dates and scope details are not captured in one place.
- Notifications are batched up and done when there is time.
- Submissions are not matched back to the job, so gaps are invisible.
- Customer copies of certificates are sent inconsistently.
What the backlog costs
The immediate cost is office time searching and backfilling. The more serious one is a customer who cannot get the paperwork their sale or remortgage needs, and who blames you. If your scheme reviews your records, a backlog is not what you want them to find. We are not the judge of your obligations, but untracked notifications make it hard for anyone to be sure.
There is also the quiet cost of uncertainty. When nobody can say with confidence which jobs have been notified, every enquiry from a customer, a surveyor or the scheme becomes a small investigation, and the answer is often 'we think so'.
The notification tracker we build
- At quote stage, the estimator answers a short set of questions about the scope. Rules that your business agrees, with advice from your scheme where needed, mark the job as notifiable or not.
- Notifiable jobs carry a checklist of the details the notification needs: address, description of work, completion date and anything else your scheme asks for.
- The supervisor confirms completion on their phone, which sets the date and closes the gang's part.
- The tracker then shows the notification as due, with the deadline your scheme applies, and prepares the details for submission.
- Once submitted, the reference is recorded against the job. Where the scheme portal has an API we connect to it; otherwise the office enters it and records the reference.
- When the certificate is issued, it is filed by address and can be sent to the customer.
- A weekly list shows anything due soon, overdue or waiting for confirmation.
| Status | Meaning | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Flagged | Quote accepted, notifiable | Collect details during job |
| Due | Job complete | Submit by scheme deadline |
| Submitted | Reference recorded | Wait for certificate |
| Certified | Certificate filed | Send copy to customer |
| Overdue | Past deadline | Escalate to manager |
What counts as notifiable is decided by your business and your scheme. We build the tracking around that decision.
After it is in place
Every notifiable job is visible from the day the quote is accepted. The office knows what is due this week. Conveyancer requests take a search by address rather than an afternoon. And if something was missed in the past, the import of old jobs shows it so you can deal with it properly.
Is this your office?
- Notifications are done in batches when someone has time.
- You could not quickly list which recent jobs were notified.
- Conveyancer requests take hours to answer.
- Customers do not always receive their certificate.