How to add your team and field engineers in Validate

Validate splits your people into two groups, and they are set up differently. Operatives are the engineers and tradespeople who log work from the phone app on site. Team members are the office side: admins, project managers and office staff who work in the desktop app. This guide covers both, plus keeping cards and qualifications current.

Before you start

• You need a role that can manage people. The add and invite buttons are hidden otherwise.
• Have work email addresses ready. The invite is how each person gets their login, and no email means no invite.

Step 1: Open the People page

Go to HR and open People. Operatives are listed here; office staff have their own tab.

Step 2: Add an operative

Click + Add operative. The form needs a full name and a trade, and the rest strengthens the record: grade, employment type (Employed, Self-Employed, Agency or Subcontractor), contracted hours, phone, emergency contact, NI number and start date.

Enter the Email field if you want them on the phone app, because it is used to send the invite. You can add an operative without one and send the invite later, but the record sits dormant until you do.

Click Add operative to save. If you gave an email, the invitation sends immediately.

Step 3: Get the engineer onto the phone app

The invite email carries a secure link. The engineer opens it on their phone, sets a password, and signs in. From there they can see their assigned work, log progress with photos, and submit it to your validation queue. See How to approve work in the validation queue.

Step 4: Keep cards and qualifications current

Cards can go on a record two ways. Operatives add their own from the phone app under My cards & certs, photographing each CSCS or ECS card. From the office you can also add one directly: open the operative's record and click + Add on the Qualifications panel to record the type, card or certificate number, the issue and expiry dates and a scan. Every card shows its expiry, and Validate flags any that have lapsed, so the training matrix stays honest without a spreadsheet on the side.

A card an operative uploads themselves is marked as awaiting verification. Once you have checked it, click Verify on the record. Use Edit to correct a date or number, for example when a card is renewed.

Step 5: Invite your office staff

Switch to the office staff view and click + Invite team member. Enter their full name and work email, and pick a role:

• Admin for full access including settings and billing.
• Project Manager for running projects day to day.
• Office for office staff who support the projects.

Click Send invite. They get an email with a secure link to set their password, and their status shows as Invited until they do.

Step 6: Manage access over time

When someone leaves, open their entry and click Deactivate. They immediately lose access to Validate, and you can reactivate them later if they come back. Deactivating keeps their history; nothing they logged or approved disappears.

If something looks wrong

• The invite did not send. The operative record still saves. Check the email address is right and resend the invite from their record.
• The email is rejected as not unique. That address is already in use on another record in your company. Every login needs its own email.
• A card shows as expired. The expiry date has passed. Add the renewed card with its new dates, and keep the old one for the record.