HR software for construction and trades, built around the dates that expire

The problem is dates, not documents

Most trades businesses are not disorganised. The certificates exist. Somebody did the asbestos awareness course, the van did have an MOT, the subcontractor did send their public liability certificate through at some point.

The difficulty is that none of those facts stay true. A ticket expires. An MOT comes round. An insurance policy renews, or quietly does not. And the moment any one of them lapses, you usually find out from a principal contractor at a gate rather than from your own records.

That is the specific gap this page is about. Not storing documents - you can already do that in a folder. Knowing which of them stops being valid next month.

It is also why generic HR software tends to disappoint trades businesses. It models people well and assets not at all, so the van, the ladder inspection and the subcontractor's insurance end up back in a spreadsheet.

Vehicles and vans, with the renewal dates attached

Vehicle records in HR Henry are held as a document type in their own right rather than as a filename. Each one carries the registration, manufacturer, vehicle type, ownership, current mileage, the MOT renewal date, the insurance provider and the insurance expiry date, and the date the fire extinguisher was last serviced along with its expiry.

Those fields exist because a van is a compliance object with several clocks on it, and a scanned PDF called Van_Insurance_Final.pdf tells you nothing about when the next one is due.

Alongside the records sit four audit types you can run and keep: vehicle maintenance and compliance, van audits, equipment audits, and toolbox talks. Each is stored with a date, a result and the person who carried it out.

Toolbox talks in particular tend to live nowhere. They happen on site, somebody signs a sheet, the sheet goes in the van. Recording them against the business with a date and an auditor is the difference between having done them and being able to show you did them.

• Vehicle registration, manufacturer, type, ownership and mileage held as structured fields.
• MOT renewal date, insurance provider and insurance expiry recorded per vehicle.
• Fire extinguisher last-serviced and expiry dates on the same record.
• Vehicle maintenance, van, equipment and toolbox talk audits, each with a date and a result.

Method statements and risk assessments people have actually read

Risk assessments, method statements and policies are held as company documents with a version number, an effective date and a review date.

The version number matters more than it sounds. Method statements get revised, and the failure mode is not that you had no method statement - it is that three different versions were circulating and nobody could say which one was live on the day in question.

The review date matters for the same reason a ticket expiry does. A risk assessment that was correct in 2023 is not automatically correct now, and nothing about a PDF sitting in a folder will tell you it is overdue.

Documents can also require acknowledgement, so you can see which employees have confirmed they have read a given version rather than assuming the email landed.

Subcontractors, without chasing them by text message

If you use subcontractors, a good deal of your exposure sits with people who are not on your payroll and have no reason to keep you updated.

HR Henry holds subcontractor insurance records with the insurance type, provider, policy number, coverage amount, start date and expiry date, with the certificate attached. So the question is not whether you have their certificate somewhere - it is whether the one you have is still in date, which is a question a list can answer.

There is also a portal. Subcontractors get their own login and upload their own documents: DBS certificates, insurance, qualifications and training certificates, each with an expiry date. You can send a document request rather than a reminder text, and they can submit invoices through the same place.

This is the part most trades businesses underestimate. The administrative cost of subcontractor compliance is not the filing. It is the chasing, and the chasing is what gets dropped when you are busy.

Who is on site right now

Sign-In Sally handles arrivals. Staff tap to sign in on a tablet with a photo and a timestamp, and anyone working away from a fixed point clocks in from their phone against a specific site instead.

Managers get a live view of who is clocked in, where, and on which job across multiple sites. Every clock-in feeds through to timesheets for approval, which is also what makes the working time and minimum wage records above possible rather than theoretical.

Sally will also verify a contractor's insurance, RAMS and induction before letting them sign in to site, and will produce a fire register on any device showing exactly who is present, including visitors and contractors.

A fire roll-call you can generate on a phone is worth more than a signing-in book left in a cabin that may itself be on fire.

The training that carries an expiry

The course catalogue holds 182 active courses, of which 57 sit in Health and Safety - the largest category by some distance, and the one most relevant here.

Titles include Asbestos Awareness, CDM Awareness, Working at Height, Working in Confined Spaces, Abrasive Wheels, Ladder Safety, Noise Awareness, Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome, Electrical Safety, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, Slips Trips and Falls, and Introduction to Personal Safety for Lone Workers. Most carry CPD accreditation.

Courses are assigned to people, completed, and recorded against them with certificates and, where a renewal period applies, an expiry date - so a lapsing refresher shows up in the expiring records view rather than in somebody's memory.

To be plain about the limit: this is a catalogue you can assign, complete and evidence. HR Henry does not certify that any of it satisfies a particular scheme, a principal contractor's requirements, or a card scheme's criteria. What your people need is a judgement for you, not a claim we make on a web page.

Frequently asked questions

Can HR Henry track MOT and van insurance dates?

Yes. Vehicle records carry the registration, manufacturer, type, ownership and mileage, along with the MOT renewal date, insurance provider and insurance expiry, and the fire extinguisher service and expiry dates. They are held as structured fields rather than as a filename.

Does it handle subcontractors as well as employees?

Yes, and separately. Subcontractors get a portal login and upload their own DBS certificates, insurance, qualifications and training certificates with expiry dates. You can send document requests rather than chasing by text, and they can submit invoices through the same portal.

Can I record toolbox talks?

Yes. Toolbox talks are one of four built-in audit types, alongside vehicle maintenance and compliance, van audits and equipment audits. Each is stored with a date, a result and the person who carried it out.

How are method statements version-controlled?

Risk assessments, method statements and policies are held as company documents with a version number, an effective date and a review date. Documents can require acknowledgement, so you can see which employees have confirmed they have read a particular version.

Does it prove I am CDM compliant?

No. No software makes you compliant. HR Henry holds your records in a form you can produce - documents with versions and review dates, training with expiry, audits with results, attendance you can evidence. Whether your arrangements are adequate is a judgement about your business.

How long do I need to keep working time records?

Two years from the date the record was made. The Working Time Regulations require records adequate to show compliance with the weekly working time limit and the night work limits.