If you’re reading this, you probably know the feeling: it’s Friday afternoon, and instead of focusing on your next big tender or heading home, you’re chasing engineers for lost job sheets or trying to decipher muddy handwriting on a carbon copy.
For firestopping contractors, the stakes have never been higher. The Building Safety Act 2022 and the requirement for a “Golden Thread” of information mean that “good enough” documentation is no longer acceptable. A missing signature or an undated photo isn’t just an admin headache—it’s a compliance risk that could cost you contracts or fail your FIRAS or BM TRADA audit.
The good news? You don’t need more admin staff; you need better tools. Digitising your documentation is the fastest way to reduce risk, speed up invoicing, and get your evenings back. Here are the 10 documents every UK fire stopping contractor needs to move from the van dashboard to the cloud.
1. Penetration Seal Registers (Installation Records)
This is the heartbeat of your operation. Scribbling “seal installed” on a floor plan is ancient history. To prove compliance under the Golden Thread, you need a digital record for every single aperture.
2. Risk Assessment & Method Statements (RAMS)
- Why digitise? You can mandate before-and-after photos, force GPS location tags, and require installers to select specific products from a drop-down menu. No more guessing which mastic was used three months ago.
Your teams are experts, but are they reading the RAMS? Sending a PDF via email doesn’t prove they’ve understood it.
- The digital advantage: Operatives can view site-specific RAMS directly on their mobile device and digitally sign to acknowledge them before they can even start the job. It’s an instant, time-stamped audit trail that protects your business.
3. Site Instructions & Daywork Sheets
“While you’re here, can you just seal that extra riser?” These verbal requests are where profit leaks happen. If it’s not written down, it’s not billable.
- The digital advantage: Capture extra works instantly. Your engineer snaps a photo, logs the materials, and gets the site manager’s digital signature there and then. It lands in your office inbox instantly, ready for invoicing.
4. Fire Risk Assessments (FRA)
For contractors offering inspection services, the old way—clipboard notes typed up into a Word doc days later—is a massive time sink.
- The digital advantage: Data is entered once. A digital FRA tool can generate a professional, branded PDF report the moment the assessor leaves the site. We’ve seen teams reduce reporting time from 5 days to just 1 day by switching to this method.
5. Timesheets
Paper timesheets are notorious for “rounding up” and illegible scrawls. They also delay your payroll and job costing.
- The digital advantage: Digital timesheets can link to site arrival/departure times (geofencing). You get accurate labour costs allocated to specific projects automatically, giving you a true picture of your profitability.
6. Snagging & Defect Reports
When you’re doing remedial work, clarity is king. You need to show exactly what was wrong and how you fixed it.
- The digital advantage: Create a “snag list” with photos of defects. Once rectified, the system can automatically update the status and notify the client, speeding up the handover process and final payment.
7. Regulation 38 / Handover Information
Passing fire safety information to the “Responsible Person” is a legal requirement. Scrambling to collate binders of paper at the end of a project is stressful and unprofessional.
- The digital advantage: If you’ve digitised the documents above, your handover pack is essentially building itself in the background. You can export a comprehensive digital file containing all seal records, data sheets, and certificates in minutes.
8. Toolbox Talk Records
You’re doing the training, but can you prove it?
- The digital advantage: Deliver the talk, have your team sign on a tablet, and the record is instantly filed against their personnel file. It’s vital evidence for your training matrix and accreditation audits.
9. Vehicle & Plant Checks
Your vans are your mobile workshops. A missed MOT or a broken ladder can stop a job in its tracks.
- The digital advantage: Make a daily vehicle check mandatory in the app before an engineer can view their job list. It ensures your fleet remains roadworthy and compliant without you having to nag.
10. Material Requisitions / Stock Returns
Van stock disappears, and unused materials often don’t make it back to the yard inventory.
- The digital advantage: Allow engineers to request materials or log returns via their phone. This keeps your stock levels accurate and ensures materials are allocated to the correct job costs.
How BORIS Makes This Easy
Moving 10 documents online might sound daunting, but it’s not about changing how you work—it’s about making it faster.
BORIS Software is built specifically for the construction and fire safety sectors. We understand that your guys are “on the tools,” not IT experts. That’s why our app is designed to be:
- Offline Capable: No signal in a basement plant room? No problem. The app works offline and syncs automatically when you’re back in range.
- Fully Customisable: We don’t force you to use generic templates. We digitise your specific forms so they look familiar to your team.
- Accreditation Ready: Our system helps you meet the data requirements for FIRAS, BM TRADA, and IFC certification schemes.
The “Golden Thread” isn’t going away, and neither is the pressure to protect your margins. By digitising these 10 core documents, you aren’t just ticking a compliance box; you are building a more efficient, profitable, and scalable business.
