Application number sixty-something, somewhere in the inbox
Your association runs an approved contractor scheme, or a registered installer scheme, or a code of practice with a register of approved firms. Firms apply, you check they meet the scheme requirements, an assessor may visit, and approved firms can use the scheme mark.
Applications arrive as an emailed form, with documents following in dribs and drabs: insurance certificate in one email, quality manual in another, a health and safety policy three weeks later, qualification certificates for named staff, maybe references. The scheme administrator saves them into a folder per firm, ticks items off on a checklist, and emails the firm about what is missing. When a firm rings to ask how their application is going, the administrator has to open the folder and read the email thread to find out.
The root of the backlog
The scheme requirements are clear. The process for collecting evidence against them is not, because email was never meant to be a document-tracking system.
- Applicants do not know exactly what to send, in what form, until they are told what is missing.
- Documents arrive with meaningless file names and must be opened to be identified.
- Checks against the scheme rules are done by eye with a checklist that lives outside the file.
- There is no status an applicant can see, so they phone or email to ask.
- Decisions and the reasons for them are recorded inconsistently.
What slow applications cost
Firms waiting for approval cannot use the scheme mark, which may affect the work they can bid for, so delays reflect badly on the association. The scheme team spends much of its time on chasing and status calls. And when a decision is questioned, whether an approval or a refusal, weak records make it harder to show the rules were applied consistently.
Scheme income usually matters to the association too, and a slow application process quietly puts off firms that might otherwise join.
An application portal built on your scheme rules
We build a portal where applying firms supply evidence against your requirements and your team moves each application through defined stages.
- Your scheme requirements become a structured list: each document or answer, what it must show, whether it has an expiry date, and which categories of firm it applies to.
- Applicants create an account, choose their scheme category, and see exactly what they need to supply, with upload slots for each item.
- Uploads are checked for basics on arrival: correct file type, readable, dates present. An AI model can pull expiry dates and names from certificates for a person to confirm.
- Missing or expiring items trigger reminders to the applicant, and the applicant sees their own progress at any time.
- Your team reviews each item, approves it or raises a query with a reason, and the application moves through stages you define, such as evidence review, assessment, decision.
- The decision, its reasons and the reviewer are recorded, and approved firms flow to your register and member records.
| Stage | What the applicant sees | What your team does |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence collection | Checklist with uploads and gaps | Nothing until items arrive |
| Evidence review | Items accepted or queried | Reviews each item against the rule |
| Assessment | Visit or remote assessment date | Assessor completes the report |
| Decision | Outcome and next steps | Scheme manager records the decision and reasons |
| Approved | Certificate, mark guidelines | Firm added to the public register |
We keep the decision itself with your people. The portal makes sure the evidence in front of them is complete and the decision is recorded properly.
The scheme office, week to week
The administrator opens a dashboard showing applications by stage and age. Firms no longer phone to ask where they are, because they can see it. Chasing runs on its own. The team's time goes into reviewing evidence and talking to firms with real questions. When the scheme board asks how long applications take and where they get stuck, the data is there.
Recognise your scheme office?
- Applications arrive by email with documents in several instalments.
- The checklist for each firm lives in a separate spreadsheet.
- Applicants phone to ask for a status update.
- Decision reasons are recorded differently by different staff.
- Approved firms are added to the public register by hand.