A service contractor holds certificates in four places at once: on the jobs and assets it services, on its engineers, on its subcontractors, and on the company itself. Each has its own owner and its own expiry date, and most sit in spreadsheets, inboxes and engineers' phones until somebody asks for one.

This guide sets out what to track for certificate and compliance tracking, how accreditation schemes such as SSIP fit in, what to look for in software, and how to set up expiry alerts in Joblogic. It applies whether you run M&E, gas, HVAC, fire and security or facilities management work. For the wider picture, see our guide to compliance management software.

Key takeaways

• Four groups: contractors hold job and asset certificates, engineer qualifications, subcontractor documents and company accreditations, each with its own owner and expiry date
• Two clocks: expiry and retention run separately, and HSE sets minimum retention periods for gas safety and legionella records
• Current means current: SSIP registered members accept a current, valid approval from each other, so a lapsed accreditation cannot be relied on
• Tie each certificate to a record: an owner, an alert, and the job, asset or person it belongs to

What certificates and documents do service contractors need to track?

Certificates fall into four groups. Splitting them this way shows who owns each one and what happens when it lapses.

Retention is a separate clock from expiry. HSE says to keep gas safety records for at least two years (see the HSE guidance on gas safety records), and records of legionella monitoring checks for at least five years (see the HSE guidance on legionella records). A system that only tracks expiry dates leaves the retention rules to memory. Electrical certificates run on their own clock too, and EICR validity varies by property type, so our guide to how long an EICR lasts is worth a read.

How company accreditations like SSIP work

SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is the mutual recognition scheme for occupational health and safety standards. You do not apply to SSIP itself. You get assessed by one of its registered member schemes, which include CHAS 2013 Ltd and Achilles Information Ltd, and others are listed on the SSIP forum members list.

The mutual recognition works through a "Deem to Satisfy" agreement. All registered members agree to accept a current, valid approval from any other registered member, as long as the details are correctly displayed on the SSIP Portal. The assessments use the SSIP Core Criteria, which are aligned with the government-endorsed PAS 91 and act as a threshold standard approved by the Health and Safety Executive.

For a contractor, the practical point is the word "current". The agreement covers a valid approval, so a lapsed certificate cannot be relied on, and buyers use these certificates to skip the initial health and safety vetting stage. That makes the valid-until date on each accreditation worth tracking as closely as a CP12. Certificates also carry a category, such as SSIP Approved: Contractor or SSIP Approved: Principal Contractor, which relate to roles under CDM 2015, so check the category as well as the date.

Where expiry tracking breaks down

Spreadsheets hold the dates but do nothing with them. Expiry tracking usually fails in three places:

• No single owner: the engineer, the office and the subcontractor each assume someone else is watching the date
• Dates sit away from the work: a certificate is not linked to the job, asset or person it belongs to, so nobody sees the gap when work is allocated
• Alerts reach nobody: a reminder in one person's calendar does not help when that person is off or has left

Software fixes this when it ties each certificate to a record, an owner and an alert, and shows status in one place.

What to look for in certificate tracking software

The questions below apply to any provider. The right-hand column shows how Joblogic answers each one.

Certificates on planned and reactive jobs

Planned and reactive work create certificates in different ways. A planned visit is scheduled, so the certificate is expected and its date is known. A reactive callout is not scheduled, so nothing prompts the right certificate unless the job itself does.

Planned visits

Joblogic lets you set the visit frequency for each customer site, automate the planned maintenance schedule and assign assets, so the certificates attached to each visit recur on that schedule. If you use SFG20, schedules from your own SFG20 account can be synced through the SFG20 app in the Marketplace, and engineers complete SFG20 tasks in the mobile app. The SFG20 support guide covers the setup, and you need your own SFG20 account to connect it. For facilities management teams, inspection schedules and engineer certifications then sit in one place.

Reactive callouts

For unscheduled jobs, the control is the form. Forms can be marked as required for every job or for a single job, and shown at a chosen stage of the visit, so the engineer has to complete the certificate before moving on to the next stage. The support guide to deploying forms explains the settings. Completed forms attach to the job automatically, and engineers can complete them without an internet connection.

The form library is built by trade. For electrical work it includes electrical certificates, with built-in forms tailored to BS 7671 and BS 5266-1, and the gas and F-Gas forms described above cover those trades. The electrician software page lists what is covered for electrical contractors.

How Joblogic tracks certificates and expiry

Joblogic handles certificates at two levels. The first sits in the core platform, and the second is a dedicated compliance product.

Job certificates and expiry notifications in the core platform

Job and asset certificates are completed in the mobile app and stored against the job or asset. The gas certificate app covers CP12 and related forms, mobile forms cover other industry certificates, and F-Gas compliance keeps refrigerant records. Each record links back to the asset register. Maskold Environmental describes the effect on audits: certificates and compliance forms are stored automatically and linked to each job, which makes audits faster and easier to manage.

For people and suppliers, documents can be added against each subcontractor and each member of staff with a document type and expiry date, and notification emails go out before they lapse. The subcontractor portal sits alongside this for managing subcontracted work, and is available on the Premium and Enterprise plans.

FM4U shows what this looks like at volume. It manages around 300 subcontractors and tracks DBS checks, qualification certificates, memberships and insurance documents in the system, with reminders, reports and chasing of missing documents all run from there. As Jayne Parker, Operations Manager at FM4U, puts it: "Joblogic has been a very good tool for managing compliance. With hundreds of contractors, we could not keep doing that manually."

Certificate management in Joblogic Compliance

Joblogic Compliance (powered by Clik) is a separate product for businesses that want a dedicated certificate management platform. It adds a template library, validation rules, expiry alerts, status dashboards for engineers, assets, sites and jobs, and a searchable certificate repository. It is designed to work with job scheduling, asset management and CRM workflows, so each certificate links to the job or asset it belongs to. For contractors across electrical, gas, fire and security, HVAC, plumbing and facilities management work, that means one place to see which engineers hold which certificates and when each one expires.

How to set up expiry notifications for subcontractor and staff documents

The steps below follow the Joblogic document expiry guide. Menu names can change between releases, so check the guide for the current screens.

1. Review the document email templates under Settings > Email. Joblogic provides a default for each, and you can amend them or add your own.
2. For a subcontractor, open Settings > Subcontractors and select the subcontractor. Check that a compliance email contact is set on the details page, because that is who receives the notifications.
3. Open the Documents tab and select Add Document. Enter a description, document type and expiry date, then attach the file or add a document link.
4. Open the notification settings. They fill in automatically as four weeks before, two weeks before and the day of expiry. Change any date or template if you need to, and mark a notification as mandatory if you want to be told when the document expires.
5. For a member of staff, open Settings > Staff, select the person, make sure their email is set, and repeat the same steps on their Documents tab.

Keeping certificates current without chasing

Certificates lapse at the points where ownership is unclear: between the engineer and the office, between you and a subcontractor, and between a job and its paperwork. Start by listing what you hold in each of the four groups, name an owner for each, and set the alert dates before you need them. The earlier alert reaches the person who can act on it, the less chasing is left.

If you want to see how this works across jobs, engineers and subcontractors in one system, book a demo and a specialist will walk you through it.

Frequently asked questions

Can software track engineer certificates, subcontractor documents and job certificates in one place?

Yes. Job and asset certificates are stored against the job or asset, subcontractor and staff documents carry their own expiry notifications, and Joblogic Compliance (powered by Clik) adds certificate management with expiry alerts and status dashboards for engineers, assets, sites and jobs.

How do I make sure engineers complete the right certificate on a reactive job?

Mark the form as required, either for all jobs or for a single job, and choose the stage of the visit where it appears. The engineer has to complete a required form before moving on to the next stage.

What is SSIP and how does it differ from CHAS?

SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is the mutual recognition scheme for occupational health and safety standards. CHAS is one of the registered member schemes that assess suppliers. Registered members agree to accept a current, valid approval from any other registered member, as long as the details are correctly displayed on the SSIP Portal.

How long do I need to keep gas safety records?

HSE says to keep gas safety check records for at least two years. If you use the option to have the check done up to two months early, keep the record until two further checks have been carried out.

How long do I need to keep legionella monitoring records?

HSE says records of monitoring inspections, tests and checks should be kept for at least five years. Other legionella records should be kept while they are current and for at least two years afterwards.

Can Joblogic track subcontractor insurance and accreditation expiry?

Yes. You can add any document against a subcontractor, such as an insurance or accreditation certificate, with a document type and an expiry date. Notifications default to four weeks before, two weeks before and the day of expiry, and you can change the dates and templates. The subcontractor needs a compliance email contact set up to receive them.

Is Joblogic Compliance part of the main Joblogic platform?

Joblogic Compliance is a dedicated compliance product powered by Clik. It is designed to work with job scheduling, asset management and CRM workflows, so certificates link to jobs and assets.

Can certificate expiry alerts go to customers as well as my own team?

Yes. Joblogic Compliance sends automated alerts before certificates expire, and these can go to your own team or to customers.

Does Joblogic Compliance work without a mobile signal?

Yes. Engineers can complete and validate certificates on site without an internet connection, and the system syncs when they are back online.