> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rapidcert.co.nz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Assessment Workflow
> How to assess contractor/supplier evaluations in RapidCert
# Assessment Workflow
This guide walks through the process of assessing a contractor/supplier evaluation from start to finish.
## Starting an Assessment
Evaluations are assigned to assessors manually (or via bulk assignment from the Evaluations list). Once assigned, open the evaluation to begin reviewing.
The status changes to **In Review** when the assessor makes their **first edit** (score or comment) on a question — not at the point of assignment. You can open the evaluation directly from the Evaluations list or from your dashboard.
## Assessment Process
### Section-by-section review
The assessment page is a single-page view with sections, sidebar navigation, and a score summary. Work through each section in turn:
1. Review contractor/supplier responses
2. Check uploaded documents
3. Score and comment on each question
4. Mark each question as assessed
### Previous response history
Administrators and assessors can view the contractor/supplier's previous responses from earlier submissions. This is useful for understanding how a response has changed between submissions or after a Needs Work cycle.
To view previous responses:
1. Open a question during assessment
2. Click **Previous responses** on the question (the button shows a count when history is available, e.g. "Previous responses (5)")
3. A panel displays all previous captured snapshots for that question, sorted newest first
Each history entry includes:
* The response text at the time of capture
* Any attachments that were uploaded
* Scores and assessment actions taken
* Internal and external comments
* The reason the snapshot was captured (e.g. submitted, needs work, approved)
Use response history to verify that a contractor/supplier has addressed feedback from a previous assessment cycle before approving.
### Question assessment
For each question, you can:
* **Score** — Select Pass or Fail (for pass/fail questions) or enter a numeric score between 0 and the maximum score (for numeric questions), depending on the scoring type configured on the question. An **N/A** option is also available for both pass/fail and numeric questions when enabled on the question.
* **Internal comment** — Add assessor-only notes not visible to the contractor/supplier
* **Assessor comment** — Add feedback that is visible to the contractor/supplier
* **Actions** — Create action items for the contractor/supplier to address
* **Mark as assessed** — Tick the checkbox to mark the question as reviewed. This cannot be ticked until a score is set first.
Progress through the evaluation is tracked per question using the "Mark as assessed" checkboxes.
### Document verification
For uploaded documents:
1. Click to view or download the document
2. Verify the document is the correct type
3. Check dates and details
4. Verify it matches question requirements
## AI-assisted assessment
AI Assist is an **optional feature** that must be enabled for your tenant. It is not automatically available to all users. Contact your administrator to enable it.
AI Assist and Previous Responses are both available to **Administrators and Assessors**.
RapidCert can generate AI-powered assessment guidance for individual questions using AI analysis. The AI analyses the contractor/supplier's response text and all attached documents (including DOCX and XLSX files, which are converted automatically) against NZ health and safety legislation and best practices.
### Requesting AI Assist
1. Open a question during assessment
2. Click **AI Assist** on the question — this opens a form where you can optionally enter custom instructions
3. Click **Generate AI Assist** to start the analysis
4. The status changes to "Pending" while the AI processes the response
5. When complete, click the **View AI Assist** button to open the AI assessment in a modal
AI Assist typically completes in 10–30 seconds. For questions with large or numerous attachments, it may take longer as files are converted and analysed.
### What AI Assist includes
The AI generates a structured markdown assessment with these sections:
* **Summary** — 2–3 sentence overall finding
* **Evidence review** — what was provided, quality assessment, notable gaps
* **Compliance assessment** — evaluation against NZ H\&S requirements (HSWA 2015, regulations, standards)
* **Concerns/gaps** — specific items for the assessor to investigate
* **Strengths** — positive practices identified
* **Suggested score guidance** — pass/fail recommendation or numeric score suggestion
* **Action status review** — evaluation of any existing actions (if applicable)
* **Evidence citations** — references to specific documents and page numbers
### Custom instructions
You can provide custom instructions to focus the AI on specific areas of concern:
1. Click **AI Assist** on the question
2. Enter your instructions in the text field (e.g. "Focus on whether their confined space procedures meet HSWA requirements")
3. The AI prioritises your instructions in its analysis
### Regenerating AI Assist
If you want a fresh assessment (e.g. after the contractor/supplier has updated their response):
1. Click **Regenerate AI Assist** on an existing AI assessment
2. Optionally provide new custom instructions
3. Optionally tick **Include previous AI response for context** if you want the AI to build on its earlier assessment
4. The AI generates a new assessment
AI Assist is guidance only — it assists but does not replace human assessor judgement. Always verify AI findings before making approval decisions.
### Text improvement
When writing comments, actions, or feedback, you can use the **Improve text** feature to refine your writing:
1. Type your text in any comment or action field
2. Click **Improve Text**
3. The AI improves grammar, clarity, and tone while maintaining NZ English spelling and HSE professional language
4. Review the suggestion and accept or discard
Text improvement works for internal comments, external comments, actions, questions, conclusions, rejection reasons, descriptions, and guidance text.
## Assessment tools
### Sidebar
The sidebar contains:
* Company info
* Scoring accordion
* Custom fields
* Question filter controls
* Sections list
Navigate between sections using the sidebar links.
### Internal notes
Internal notes are the **Internal Comment** field on each question. There is no separate notes icon or feature — use the Internal Comment field directly on the question to add assessor-only notes not visible to the contractor/supplier.
## Making Decisions
### Overall decision
After reviewing all sections and marking questions as assessed:
Check the score summary in the sidebar, showing assessed and outstanding questions.
Choose: **Approve Evaluation** or **Require Actions**. The **Require Actions** button is **disabled** when there are no pending actions, with a tooltip "No pending actions to require".
Confirm your decision. This action is logged in the audit trail.
## Decision Options
### Approve
When approving:
* All required questions must be assessed
* All required insurance policies must be **verified or approved** — policies that are still pending verification will block approval
* Certification record is created
* Contractor/supplier is notified
* Status changes to Approved
### Require Actions (Needs Work)
If the contractor/supplier needs to address issues before the evaluation can progress:
1. Set action items on the relevant questions during assessment
2. Select **Require Actions** as your decision
3. Review the modal — it shows a warning, an info alert, a pending actions table, and a confirmation checkbox
4. Confirm
Status changes to **Needs Work**. The contractor/supplier receives a notification, addresses the action items, and resubmits. The evaluation then moves to **Pending Reassessment** for re-review.
### Send Back to Draft
If you need the contractor/supplier to redo the entire evaluation from scratch:
1. Click **Send Back to Draft**
2. Review the modal — it shows a "No Automatic Email" warning and a confirmation prompt
3. Confirm the action
When you send an evaluation back to draft, the contractor/supplier will see any actions you have added. Since actions are only against specific questions, this may cause confusion if you want them to redo the entire evaluation. Consider deleting the actions first if you want a full redo.
Status changes to **Draft**. You must contact the contractor/supplier directly to explain why the evaluation is being sent back.
The REJECTED status exists in the system but is not a direct action available from the assessment page. Contact a system administrator if a rejection is required outside the normal Needs Work flow.
## Score review assessments
When you are assigned a score review, you are performing an independent reassessment of an evaluation that has already been assessed by a different assessor. The assessment process is the same as a standard assessment, with a few key differences.
### What to expect
* The evaluation has already been scored by another assessor — you will see the contractor/supplier's original responses and uploaded documents, but you should form your own independent judgement
* The contractor/supplier has paid a non-refundable fee to request this review
* Your score replaces the original, whether it is higher, lower, or unchanged
### Conducting a score review
1. Open the evaluation from the Evaluations list (it will be in **Review Request** status)
2. Work through each section as you would for a standard assessment — review responses, check documents, and score each question
3. Use the sidebar score summary to track your progress
4. Make your final decision: **Approve Evaluation** or **Require Actions**
You can use AI Assist, internal comments, and all other assessment tools during a score review. The full assessment toolkit is available.
Treat a score review as if you are assessing the evaluation for the first time. The goal is an independent assessment, not a review of the previous assessor's work.
## Quality Assurance
### Consistency
Ensure consistent assessment by:
* Referring to assessment guidelines
* Using standard criteria
* Documenting reasoning in notes and assessor comments
### Score review on request
RapidCert does not have a built-in second review system. Evaluations are only reassessed if a contractor/supplier formally requests a score review. See [Handling score review requests](/guides/admins/managing-evaluations#handling-score-review-requests) for details.
## After Assessment
### Approved evaluations
* Certification record is created
* Certificate PDFs must be generated manually (by an admin, assessor, contractor/supplier, or viewer)
* Report PDFs must be generated manually by an admin or assessor
* Contractor/supplier receives notification
* Evaluation moves to the Finalised tab
* Insurance dates are tracked
During a standard assigned assessment, assessors and administrators can complete custom fields and the conclusion as part of the normal review flow. After approval, only administrators can use the finalised-evaluation edit controls to update custom fields or the conclusion without reopening the evaluation. See [Managing Evaluations](/guides/admins/managing-evaluations#editing-finalised-evaluations) for details.
## Troubleshooting
Contact a system administrator to review and potentially reverse the decision.
Follow up with the contractor/supplier directly, or add a note so colleagues are aware.
Use the notes feature to request input from colleagues, or use AI Assist with custom instructions to get targeted analysis on specific areas of concern.
AI Assist typically completes within 30 seconds. If it remains pending for more than 2 minutes, try refreshing the page. If the status changes to "Error", try regenerating the assessment. Contact a system administrator if the issue persists.
## Next Steps
Learn about managing evaluation templates