The verification ladder

No. This is the single most important thing on this page. A verification badge records that we checked a document — an identity, a degree, an entry on a public register. It is not a licence to practise, it is not a registration, and it confers no legal authority to stamp, seal or certify anything in any jurisdiction. The platform is not a licensing body, not a regulator and not an engineering firm. Where local law requires a registered professional to certify work, that certification must come from someone registered in that jurisdiction, acting under their own professional responsibility and insurance. Even 'License verified' means only that we confirmed the registration exists and is current with the issuing authority — the authority licenses the engineer, not us, and the scope of what that licence authorises is defined by the authority and the law, not by our badge.

Eliminating candidates and reducing your own checking burden. 'License verified' tells you that a specific registration number, grade and jurisdiction exists on a live register and was current as of the date shown — which is genuine, checkable information you would otherwise have to look up yourself for every candidate. It tells you nothing about whether that registration authorises the particular work you need certified in the particular place you need it. That question is yours to answer, and it is worth answering before you award, not after.

Because a single badge would be a lie by compression. An engineer with verified identity and education is in a completely different position from one with a verified registration and an independent expert review of their work, and collapsing both into 'Verified' hides exactly the distinction a client needs. Each badge names what was checked, when, and against what source.

Where we have a register integration, the badge is withdrawn on the day the register shows the lapse. Where checks are manual, badges carry an expiry date and stop displaying as current at that date, with a reminder sequence beforehand. Lapsed badges are removed rather than shown greyed out, because a stale badge misleads more than no badge does.

Identity verification is required before an engineer can be paid. Everything beyond that is optional. In practice it is heavily correlated with winning work, because clients filter on it constantly and a project that sets a verified registration as a mandatory requirement is invisible to engineers who do not hold one. Identity, education, company and portfolio verification are free.

An independent engineer registered in the same discipline, with no prior relationship to the candidate, reads a real work sample and assesses method, assumptions, application of the governing standard and documentation quality. Where the sample is inconclusive, a structured technical interview follows. It is the only check on this ladder that says anything about the quality of someone's engineering, and even it is a point-in-time assessment of one sample rather than a warranty of future work.

The checks that matter are performed against authoritative sources rather than against documents the engineer supplies, which is the point. We do not accept an uploaded registration certificate as evidence of registration; we look it up. Paid verification pays for the cost of performing a check, never for its outcome, and no fee anywhere on the platform buys a badge, a higher match score or a better rating.

As a filter, not as an answer. For structural, pressure, electrical protection, medical, nuclear, flight-critical, life-safety, hazardous process or public infrastructure work, set the registration you need as a mandatory requirement so unqualified candidates cannot propose, then confirm the approval route before award — specifically, who will certify the work and whether they are registered in the asset's jurisdiction. The trust and safety page sets out the full high-risk framework.