In most any procurement process there are several documents that are commonly requested. Whether you submit directly to your client or to a verification service like PEC Premier, Avetta or ISNetworld®, these documents are usually required prior to beginning work.

The most popular and most important would be the Certificate of Insurance. This is a simple matter of liability so that in the event of a fender bender or a serious injury, your client wants to know that you’ll be covered for any incident. Coverage limits vary from client to client and could also depend on the services or products you provide.

Another Insurance related document that is typically required would be the EMR letter. EMR stands for Experience Modification Rate and is issued by your insurance provider in the form of a letter. Although the formula is quite complicated, the EMR is best explained as an estimate of the risk your company presents based on past injury claims and the safety performance of all companies within your industry. It may help you to understand that an EMR of 1.0 is considered to be an average within your industry, therefore, a rate below 1.0 means that your company represents a ‘below average’ risk.

The last common documents required would be your OSHA 300 logs. Although OSHA regulations only require a company to record injuries if you have 10 or more employees, most verification service will require you to submit them regardless of the amount of employees you have. You will be required to submit the past 3 years of OSHA logs.

Often there may be other documents to submit related to client specific requirements like MSAs or other specific agreements but that varies from client to client.

When a client chooses to use a verification service to manage and approve their contractors and suppliers, they have typically signed a contractual agreement with that service. That means that anyone performing work, or providing services and products must become a member of that service. It is also important to note that there are usually fees involved with these types of memberships. There are few exceptions but there are exceptions. These exceptions are commonly referred to as Variances. A client may grant a variance in situations where the compliance of strict qualifications may not be necessary.

Absolutely! There are many new companies who join verification services like ISNetworld®, PEC Premier, Avetta and BROWZ. Some are prompted to do so because of a job opportunity and some just because they know that the majority of their potential clients will require it. Typically, a verification service will ask for 3 years of documentation related to OSHA logs and EMR Letters which, of course, as a new company you will not have. Not to worry! Although this may affect your grade a bit, in most cases a passing grade can be still be achieved.