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Evaluations

Evaluations are the core of the RapidCert platform. An evaluation is a structured questionnaire that assesses your company’s compliance with specific requirements set by your client.

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Accreditation and certification

The terms “accreditation” and “certification” are used interchangeably in RapidCert. Your dashboard refers to “accreditations”, while the outcome of a successful evaluation is a “certification”. They refer to the same process.

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Accreditation slots

Each accreditation card represents an accreditation slot — a specific instance of an evaluation type assigned to your company. Some client groups assign multiple slots of the same type (for example, two Health & Safety slots for different sites or projects). In these cases, a slot label is shown on the card to help you identify which slot is which. You do not set the label yourself; it is assigned by your client group administrator. Once set, it follows the accreditation everywhere it appears — see Labelled accreditation slots for the full list of places you will see it.

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Starting an evaluation

Evaluations are managed from your Dashboard. Each accreditation card represents an evaluation type available to you. To start an evaluation, click Begin Accreditation on the accreditation card. If payment is required, the payment flow opens first — payment is always taken before the evaluation is created. Once payment is complete (or if no payment is required), the evaluation is created and you can begin answering questions. For renewals, click Renew on the accreditation card. The same payment and setup flow applies. If your certification still has more than 6 months of validity, the Renew button is not shown yet — see Renewing before the normal renewal window if you need to renew earlier.

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Accreditation categories

Some evaluation types ask you to choose an accreditation category and, when the category has subcategories, a subcategory during setup. These selections describe the type of work your company performs and are recorded against the evaluation. When you renew an accreditation, your previous category and subcategory are pre-filled. Review the selections and update them before continuing if your work has changed. The recorded category and subcategory also appear on your dashboard and in your evaluation history.

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Copied answers in renewals

When you start a renewal, RapidCert automatically copies eligible answers from your previous approved evaluation into the new one. Text answers, yes/no responses, and selections are pre-filled as in-progress so you can review and update them before submitting. File uploads are not copied and must be re-uploaded. If answers were copied, a notice appears at the top of the evaluation:

Previous answers copied N previous answers copied into this renewal. Please review the copied answers and upload any required files again.

Review every copied answer before submitting — requirements may have changed since your last evaluation.

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Evaluation details

Open an evaluation to see its key details beside the questions. On smaller screens, these details appear above the questions. Depending on the evaluation, this includes:

• Your company name and NZBN
• The accreditation and any slot label
• The category, subcategory, and employee count selected when the evaluation was created
• Paid evaluation, urgent upgrade, and score review amounts, with receipt links when available
• The current Standard or Urgent processing speed

Refunded payments remain listed and are marked as partially or fully refunded. The category, subcategory, and employee count are the selections saved for this evaluation, so they may differ from selections made for a later evaluation or renewal.

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Completing questions

Each evaluation is divided into sections containing questions. Questions may ask for text responses, yes/no answers, selections from a list, dates, numbers, or file uploads.

• Required questions are marked with an asterisk (*). You must complete all required questions before submitting.
• Optional questions can be skipped but may strengthen your submission.

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Marking questions as answered

After completing a question, tick the Mark as answered checkbox to confirm you have finished it. Questions that are not marked as answered will prevent submission, even if they contain a response. If a question requires a minimum number of file uploads, the Mark as answered checkbox is disabled until you have uploaded the required number of files. An inline hint below the checkbox shows how many more files are needed (e.g., “2 more files required (min. 2)”).

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Uploading files

RapidCert validates each file before uploading it. If a file fails validation, a notification explains why. Common reasons include:

• File type not accepted — the file type is not allowed for that question. The notification names the file and lists the accepted formats.
• File exceeds size limit — the file is larger than the per-file maximum. The notification states the limit in MB.
• Upload limit reached — the question already has the maximum number of files attached. Remove an existing file to free a slot.
• Empty file — the file contains no data. Open the file to confirm it has content, then select it again or choose a different file.

When you add multiple files at once, RapidCert checks the selected files together and reports validation problems in notifications. Files that pass validation are added; files that fail are not. If you add more files than the remaining slots allow, RapidCert adds only the files that fit and tells you how many were skipped. If a temporary network or server issue interrupts an upload, RapidCert automatically retries once. If it still fails, the file remains selected in the upload dialog so you can click Upload again without selecting it again. After a file reaches RapidCert, the server may reject it during malware checks. If malware is detected, the file is removed and the notification asks you to replace it with a clean file. If the file cannot be scanned, select it again to retry the upload. If the evaluation or a specific question is locked when you upload, the notification identifies the locked area. An evaluation lock stops the remaining files in that batch and disables submission. A question lock affects only that question. You cannot upload to the locked area until it is unlocked.

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Improving text responses with AI

The Improve Text button appears below text and long-text responses while the question is editable. It is available in Draft evaluations and for questions that have been unlocked for you in Needs Work.

1. Enter your response, then click Improve Text
2. Review the original and suggested text
3. Click Accept Changes to replace your response, Keep Original to discard the suggestion, or Try Again to request another suggestion

The suggestion is not applied until you accept it. If your response does not need changing, RapidCert tells you and leaves the original text in place.

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Saving progress

Your progress is saved automatically as you work. You can close the browser and return later — look for the Response saved indicator to confirm your work is preserved. The save indicator is specific to the evaluation you have open. It resets when you navigate to another evaluation and only reflects saves made within that evaluation.

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Directives

Some evaluation templates include directives — commitments or expectations that your organisation must acknowledge before you can submit. These are set by the administering body and may cover topics such as health and safety obligations or terms of service. When directives are attached to a template:

1. Review the directive content and any attached files or links
2. Click Accept & Continue to confirm your acknowledgement
3. The Submit Evaluation button becomes available

Your acceptance is timestamped and recorded.

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Upgrading an evaluation to urgent

If urgent processing is available for a paid Standard evaluation, select Upgrade to urgent from the evaluation details. The option also appears in the submission confirmation for an eligible Draft evaluation. You can upgrade an evaluation in any of these statuses:

• Draft
• Needs Work
• Submitted
• Pending Review
• In Review
• Pending Reassessment

The option is not available for score reviews, fixed-price accreditation slots, evaluations already using urgent processing, or evaluations that no longer have an eligible payment. If the option is not shown, the evaluation cannot currently be upgraded. When the urgent turnaround starts depends on the evaluation status: The turnaround is an estimate in business days, not a guaranteed completion time. Upgrading changes the processing priority only; it does not change your answers or submission requirements. After checkout, RapidCert applies the upgrade and updates the payment result page. If the evaluation becomes ineligible before the upgrade can be applied, RapidCert starts an automatic refund instead. Keep the transaction ID shown on the result page and contact support if the refund fails or the upgrade still needs attention.

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Submitting an evaluation

When you are ready to submit:

1. Click Submit Evaluation
2. Tick the confirmation checkbox to confirm you have reviewed all your responses
3. Confirm to submit

The system validates your submission. If any issues are found, you will see an error modal listing:

• Missing Responses — required questions that have not been answered
• Insufficient Attachments — questions that require more document uploads
• Invalid Responses — questions with responses that need correction
• Not Marked as Answered — questions that have a response but have not been ticked as answered

Select an issue to close the list and jump directly to that question. RapidCert scrolls the question into view and briefly highlights it. If required insurance policies are missing or incomplete, a separate insurance validation modal is shown. Each required policy must be at least pending verification before you can submit. Address all issues before submitting again.

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After submission

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Status tracking

Your evaluation status is shown on the accreditation card on your dashboard:

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What you can see and do in each status

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Closed evaluations

If an evaluation is closed after an inactivity review, its status changes to Abandoned. Your answers and assessment history remain available as a read-only record. If no replacement evaluation has been started, you can select Begin Accreditation to start again. This creates a blank questionnaire and requires a new positive payment. If the displayed total is $0, checkout remains unavailable unless you used a discount code settled by invoice; otherwise, contact support for pricing assistance. An existing approved accreditation remains valid until its expiry.

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Email notifications

You receive email notifications when:

• An assessor requests changes (Needs Work)
• Your evaluation is approved

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Addressing feedback (Needs Work)

If your evaluation requires changes, you receive an email notification letting you know that action is required. When you open the evaluation from your dashboard, you will only see the questions that have actions assigned — the assessor has flagged these specific questions with action items explaining what to change.

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Score reviews

If you believe your final score does not accurately reflect the responses or evidence in your submitted evaluation, you can request a score review. The assessment team will consider the completed evaluation again, together with the reason you provide. A score review may result in the same, a higher, or a lower score. When the review is complete, its result replaces the previous score.

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Evaluation history

Click Show History on an accreditation card to view past submissions, download certificates, view assessor feedback, and track certification expiry dates. When recorded, each evaluation’s category and subcategory are shown with a Current, In progress, or Previous prefix.

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Next steps