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Managing Tester Certifications (Authority)

How to review testers, approve or deny them, and manage your organization's copy of their certifications in SwiftComply.

Who this article is for: Authority Users

Overview

When a tester is new to your organization β€” or when one of their certifications is updated or renewed β€” they land in your review queue. As an authority user, your primary job is to review what the tester has on file and decide whether to approve them to submit test reports to your organization or deny them. You can also add, edit, or delete your organization's copy of their certifications when you need to clean up records or correct something on your end. This article walks through both the review workflow and how certification copies work across organizations.


How Certification Copies Work

This is the most important thing to understand about certifications in SwiftComply. Each certification has multiple copies:

  • The tester's master copy lives on their SwiftComply profile under MY CERTIFICATIONS. The tester owns this copy.

  • Your organization's copy lives on the tester's profile in your Service Provider Users list, under the CERTIFICATIONS tab. You own this copy.

  • Every other organization the tester works with has its own copy too, in the same way.

When changes happen, they stay scoped to the copy that was edited:

Who Changes It

What Happens

Tester edits their own MY CERTIFICATIONS

The change automatically pushes out to every organization that accepts that certifying agency and allows updates from service provider users. Your org's copy is updated (unless your org opts out of accepting tester updates).

Authority user (or SC Admin) edits your org's copy

Only your org's copy changes. The tester's master copy and every other organization's copy are unaffected.

πŸ“ This means your org's copy and the tester's master can drift if you've edited your copy locally. That's by design β€” it protects each organization's records from being overwritten by other organizations. If you want the tester's master reflected on your side, ask the tester to save their certification again from MY CERTIFICATIONS; that will push it to your org (overwriting your edited copy).


Where to Start: The Notifications Tab

  1. Click Notifications in the left navigation.

  2. Look for two rows:

    • Service Provider Users To Review β€” testers who are new to your organization and waiting on first-time approval.

    • Service Provider Users To Re-Review β€” testers you previously approved but who have since had a certification updated or whose approval is expiring.

  3. Click the open icon next to the count to jump to a pre-filtered list of testers in that queue.

You can also reach the full list of testers from Service Providers in the left navigation, then switching the selector at the top of the table from Service Providers to Service Provider Users.


Reading the Service Provider Users List

The list shows every tester associated with a service provider that works with your organization. Default columns:

Column

What It Shows

Email

The tester's login email

Name

The tester's first and last name

Certification Status

A green ribbon if the tester has a valid certification on file that satisfies your requirements; a red warning triangle if something is missing or expired

Job Title

Tester's job title (optional)

Phone

Contact phone

Organization Name

Your organization name

Last Login

The tester's most recent login timestamp

When you reach the list from the Notifications tab, it's pre-filtered to the review queue (testers with a "pending" status). From the Reporting view (Service Provider Testers List), additional columns like Status and Approved Until are visible.


Reviewing a Tester

  1. Click the tester's row to open the profile flyout on the right side of the page.

  2. The flyout has two tabs: DETAILS and CERTIFICATIONS.

Details Tab

Shows the tester's profile information: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone #, User Type (Service Provider), Job Title, and an Allow Login Access checkbox.

Below the profile fields is an Auto Accept Settings block that tells you whether this tester's test reports and surveys are set to auto-accept by default in your organization settings.

At the bottom of the Details tab are two action buttons:

  • Approve Until Specific Date (green) β€” approves the tester to submit to your organization until the date you choose

  • Deny User (red) β€” removes the tester's ability to submit to your organization

Certifications Tab

Shows your organization's copy of the tester's certifications and how they match your organization's requirements:

  • Required Certifications panel β€” lists the certifications your organization requires, joined with OR logic (so the tester only needs to satisfy one of each group). An orange warning icon appears next to a requirement that isn't currently satisfied.

  • Certification cards β€” one card per certification on file for this tester at your organization, with a status badge:

- Valid β€” the certification is on file and has not passed its expiration date

- Expired β€” the expiration date has passed

  • Card details include Certification Number, Certifying Agency, Expiration Date, Certification Type, and an image preview of the uploaded certificate.

  • Each card has a pencil (edit) icon and a red trash (delete) icon β€” these act on your organization's copy only.

  • An Add Certification button at the bottom adds a certification to your organization's copy only.

Use this tab to verify the tester's credentials before approving. If a requirement shows the orange warning or a cert is Expired, the tester is not ready to be approved at your organization β€” either ask them to upload a current certification from their profile (which will push to your org), or add a certification to your org's copy yourself.


Approving a Tester

  1. Open the tester from the Service Provider Users list.

  2. Review the Certifications tab and confirm all Required Certifications are satisfied with current (non-expired) certs.

  3. On the Details tab, click Approve Until Specific Date.

  4. A date picker opens (YYYY-MM-DD format).

  5. Choose the date you want the approval to expire. A common convention is to use the earliest certification expiration date on file, so the approval auto-expires when the tester's credentials lapse.

  6. Click Approve.

πŸ’‘ Setting the Approve Until date to the tester's cert expiration date automatically puts them back in your Service Provider Users To Re-Review queue when their cert expires. You don't have to track it separately.

What Happens After Approval

  • The tester's Status changes from pending to approved, with the Approved Until date stored on their record.

  • The tester can now submit test reports to your organization against the assemblies you manage.

  • When their approval date passes, they move back into the Service Provider Users To Re-Review queue on your Notifications tab.


Denying a Tester

Use Deny User when you've reviewed a tester and decided not to let them submit test reports to your organization β€” for example, they're not actually a licensed tester in your service area, or their credentials won't be resolved.

  1. Open the tester from the Service Provider Users list.

  2. On the Details tab, click Deny User.

  3. Confirm in any prompt that appears.

What Happens After a Denial

  • The tester loses the ability to submit test reports to your organization.

  • They remain a visible record in your Service Provider Users list (denial does not delete their profile).

  • If circumstances change later, you can re-approve them using Approve Until Specific Date β€” the button stays available.

πŸ“ The Deny User button is only enabled for testers who are currently approved. For testers still in a pending state, the button appears disabled β€” pending testers should either be approved or left in the queue; they aren't actively submitting yet.


Editing Your Organization's Copy of a Certification

When you need to clean up your records β€” for example, correct a typo, update an expiration date based on a paper certificate the tester mailed you, or remove a duplicate β€” you can edit or delete your organization's copy directly.

Adding a Certification to Your Org's Copy

  1. Open the tester from the Service Provider Users list.

  2. Go to the Certifications tab.

  3. Click Add Certification.

  4. Fill in the form: Certification Number, Certifying Agency (dropdown), Expiration Date, Certification Type (dropdown), and upload the Certificate Image (.jpg, .jpeg, .pdf, .png).

  5. Save.

Editing a Certification on Your Org's Copy

  1. Find the certification card on the Certifications tab.

  2. Click the pencil (edit) icon.

  3. Update the fields.

  4. Save.

Deleting from Your Org's Copy

  1. Find the certification card.

  2. Click the red trash (delete) icon.

  3. Confirm.

⚠️ Any change you make here is to your organization's copy only. The tester's master copy and every other organization's copy are not affected. If the tester subsequently saves their own certification from MY CERTIFICATIONS and your org accepts tester updates, your local edits will be replaced by the tester's version.


The Re-Review Queue

Testers land in the Service Provider Users To Re-Review queue when:

  • Their Approved Until date has passed.

  • Their certification was updated in a way that needs a new review (for example, the tester pushed a renewal).

Work the Re-Review queue the same way you work the initial review queue: open the tester, confirm the Certifications tab looks right, and either approve them for another period or deny them.


When to Let the Tester Update vs. Edit Your Org's Copy

Both you and the tester can change certification data, but each has a different effect:

  • Let the tester update from MY CERTIFICATIONS β€” best when the tester's actual credential has changed (they renewed, got a new number, etc.). Their update pushes to every organization that accepts tester updates, keeping records consistent everywhere.

  • Edit your org's copy yourself β€” best when you need a correction local to your org (a typo on your side, a record you want to clean up for your own compliance reporting) that doesn't reflect a real change in the tester's credential.

When in doubt, ask the tester to update from their side. That keeps everyone in sync.


FAQ

Q: What date should I use for Approve Until?

A: Most authorities use the earliest expiration date across the tester's current required certifications. That way the approval automatically ends when their credentials lapse, and they come back to your Re-Review queue for re-credentialing.

Q: If I delete a certification from my org's copy, does the tester lose it too?

A: No. Deletion is scoped to your organization's copy only. The tester's master copy in MY CERTIFICATIONS and every other organization's copy are unaffected. This is a recent change β€” previously, deletions could affect multiple organizations; now each org's copy is independent.

Q: A tester says they uploaded a new certification but I still see the old one. What do I do?

A: Two likely reasons: (1) your organization may be configured to not accept tester updates automatically, or (2) the tester's save may not have fully completed. Ask them to open Profile β†’ Certifications β†’ MY CERTIFICATIONS on their side and re-save the certification. If your org accepts tester updates, that will push the fresh copy to you. If your org doesn't accept tester updates, you can add or edit your org's copy manually from the Certifications tab.

Q: Can I approve a tester with an Expired certification?

A: The system lets you, but you generally shouldn't β€” an expired certification means the tester isn't currently credentialed. The tester still won't be able to submit test reports dated after the cert's expiration, so approving an expired cert gives them permission they can't fully use.

Q: The tester list shows a red warning icon next to a tester's name. What does that mean?

A: It means the tester does not currently satisfy your organization's Required Certifications β€” either they don't have one of the required certifications on file for your org or the one they have is expired. Open the tester's Certifications tab to see the specific issue (the unsatisfied requirement will show an orange warning icon).


Related Articles

  • Managing Your Certifications (Service Provider)

  • Adding & Updating Tester Certifications

  • Service Provider Users Breakdown

  • Adding & Managing Service Providers & Service Provider Users

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