BORIS vs Bolster Systems
Compliance Software or Full Operations Platform?
Bolster is a specialist. Founded in 2014, it has carved a respected niche as a building compliance documentation platform. Clients like NHS trusts rely on Bolster for fire safety assessments, RAAC documentation, asbestos management, and Golden Thread compliance—the statutory record-keeping requirement under the Building Safety Act. It is a purpose-built tool for auditing and reporting on building compliance, and it does that work well.
BORIS, built over 20 years since 2006, is a full operations platform. Yes, it handles compliance with depth equal to or exceeding Bolster. But it also does what Bolster does not: it schedules your teams, tracks their time, manages your fleet, maintains your CRM pipeline, calculates costs and pricing, manages assets, and generates invoices.
This comparison helps answer the key question: Do we need to run multiple systems, or one unified platform that connects compliance to action?
At a Glance
| Aspect | BORIS | Bolster |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Full operations + compliance platform | Compliance documentation specialist |
| Founded | 2006 | 2014 |
| Domain Focus | Multi-sector (facilities, maintenance, construction, utilities) | Building compliance & health & safety |
| Core Strength | One platform for scheduling, CRM, compliance, fleet, timesheets, invoicing | Golden Thread docs, building compliance audit, enterprise reporting |
| Key Clients | Multi-sector service delivery companies | Large construction & NHS trusts |
| Compliance Module | Yes (PAS 79, action tracking, documentation) | Yes (core offering) |
| Job Scheduling | Yes (Resource Planner with cert matching) | No |
| CRM | Yes (Pro/Enterprise) | No |
| Fleet Management | Yes (MOT/service/insurance reminders) | No |
| Timesheets | Yes (GPS, NFC, RAMS acceptance) | Basic (clock-in/out, wage calculations) |
| Invoicing/Pricing | Yes (matrix-based pricing engine) | No |
| Freemium Tier | Yes | No |
| Best For | Teams needing compliance + field operations in one system | Pure compliance reporting & building audit requirements |
Feature Comparison
| Feature | BORIS | Bolster |
|---|---|---|
| Live Drawing | Yes (colour-coded pins, multi-service visibility) | No |
| Fire Risk Assessment (PAS 79) | Yes (PAS 79-1 & 79-2 templates) | Yes (compliance focus) |
| Golden Thread Documentation | Yes (via Documentation module) | Yes (core strength) |
| Job Scheduling & Dispatch | Yes (Resource Planner with DBS/cert matching) | No |
| CRM & Lead Management | Yes (Pro/Enterprise with Opportunities Board) | No |
| Fleet Management | Yes (automated MOT/service/insurance reminders) | No |
| Timesheets & Time Tracking | Yes (GPS, NFC, RAMS, squad clocking) | Basic (clock-in/out, wage calculations) |
| Invoicing & Pricing Engine | Yes (matrix-based, real-time job costing) | No |
| Asset Management | Yes (NFC/QR, PAT testing, handover) | Limited (building-focused) |
| Preventive Maintenance (PPM) | Yes (automated scheduling & templates) | Limited |
| GPS Tracking | Yes (every submission GPS-tagged) | No |
| Stock Control | Yes (inventory management) | No |
| Client Portal | Yes (read-only & interactive) | Yes |
| Mobile App (Offline) | Yes (iOS, Android, offline work) | Yes |
| Freemium Tier | Yes (full Starter tier free) | No |
Where BORIS Wins
The Unified Platform Advantage
Bolster is a compliance documentation tool. It is not a field service management system. It does not schedule your teams, match people to jobs based on DBS checks and NHS qualifications, or track their time in the field. It does not manage your fleet vehicles, remind you when MOTs expire, or track insurance and tax dates. It does not maintain your CRM pipeline, from lead capture through job conversion and invoicing. It does not generate invoices, calculate job costs, or apply pricing rules across regions and service types.
BORIS does all of this. Compliance is the foundation. Operations are built on top.
Resource Planner: Intelligent Scheduling
BORIS’s Resource Planner is a drag-and-drop scheduling engine that matches people to jobs across multiple dimensions: DBS checks, NHS qualifications, certifications, skills, training dates, availability, and regional preferences. Assign a job that requires manual handling certification? The planner shows only people with valid training. Schedule a healthcare visit? Only nurses or carers with NHS registration appear. Bolster has no scheduling capability whatsoever.
CRM: From Opportunity to Invoice
Professional tier includes a visual Opportunities Board for sales pipeline management. Enterprise tier delivers full lead-to-site management: Product Builder (design custom service offerings), quoting with real-time pricing, client communication, job conversion, and invoice generation. Track which prospect became which site. See revenue pipeline by region or service line. Bolster has no CRM module.
Fleet Management: Automated Compliance
A live vehicle database records every car, van, and truck in your fleet. BORIS sends automated reminders when MOT certificates, service dates, insurance documents, and road tax all come due. Upload documents directly into the system. Track fuel costs and maintenance spend. Bolster does not track fleet assets.
Timesheets: Proof of Work
GPS-tagged clock in/out, NFC clocking, RAMS (Risk Assessment Method Statement) acceptance, squad clocking for multi-person jobs, and real-time productivity tracking. Every timesheet entry includes a geo-location. Timesheets feed directly into invoicing and job costing. Bolster offers basic timesheet tracking, while BORIS provides GPS-tagged timesheets with NFC clocking, RAMS acceptance, squad clocking, and productivity reporting.
Pricing Engine: Real-Time Profitability
Define cost rates and sell rates by service, team member, site, and region. Set productivity benchmarks. BORIS calculates job profitability in real time as work is logged. See where you are making and losing money before the month ends. Pricing matrices handle complexity without requiring manual rate sheets.
15 Modules in One Platform
One login. One database. Fifteen integrated modules covering compliance, scheduling, CRM, fleet, timesheets, asset management, stock control, invoicing, and reporting. No data silos. No import/export pipelines. No duplicate records across three different systems.
The Killer Question
Do you need to schedule your team and track their time, or do you just need to document what they have already done? If you schedule, assign, dispatch, and need to know where people are and what they are doing, BORIS is built for you. If your work is already scheduled elsewhere and you just need Bolster’s compliance reporting, then Bolster is fit for purpose.
Where Bolster Wins
Deep Building Compliance Expertise
Bolster was built by and for building compliance professionals. Fire safety, RAAC testing, asbestos management, building regulations, and statutory reporting—this is all Bolster does, and it does it with rigour. The platform reflects years of compliance domain knowledge.
Golden Thread Documentation for Building Safety Act
If your business is subject to Building Safety Act requirements, Golden Thread statutory documentation is mandatory. Bolster’s implementation of this is mature, tested with large clients, and aligned with latest HSE and Building Safety Regulator guidance.
Enterprise Clients & Proven Track Record
NHS trusts have chosen Bolster. That track record matters. These clients have demanding compliance officers and thorough vendor evaluation processes. Bolster has passed those tests.
Purpose-Built Compliance Reporting
Because Bolster does compliance only, every screen, workflow, and report is optimised for compliance auditing and evidence gathering. There is no feature bloat, no operations modules, no distracting CRM features. Pure compliance.
Established Relationships
Bolster has embedded itself in large construction and facilities management organisations. Switching cost is real, and that loyalty is earned.
Compliance vs Operations: Why You Shouldn’t Have to Choose
The Problem with Multiple Systems
Traditional approach: one system for compliance, another for scheduling, a third for timesheets, a fourth for fleet, a fifth for invoicing. Data lives in silos. Reports don’t connect. You spend hours exporting from one system, importing into another, reconciling conflicts. Admin overhead multiplies. Someone has to own the integrations, fix the breaks, chase the missing data.
The BORIS Approach
Compliance is the foundation. Operations are built on top. Fire risk assessment forms feed directly into action tracking. Action tracking feeds into resource planning (assign someone to address the risk). Resource planning feeds into timesheets (when the action is completed, the team logs their time). Timesheets feed into invoicing. Invoice records feed into compliance reporting (evidence that the work was done). Everything connects.
The Question of Scope
If Bolster handles your compliance reporting but you still need to schedule shifts, track timesheets, manage fleet vehicles, maintain a CRM pipeline, and generate invoices, you are managing five systems. Five logins. Five data sources. Five reconciliation problems. BORIS replaces all five with one.
Pricing Comparison
BORIS
- Starter Tier (Free): Full feature access for up to 5 users. Ideal for small teams testing the platform.
- Professional Tier: Seats-based pricing (typically £50–£80/user/month depending on region and modules). Includes CRM, resource planning, fleet management, timesheets.
- Enterprise Tier: Custom pricing for large deployments (50+ users). Includes dedicated support, custom integrations, advanced reporting, and API access.
- Setup: £0
- Cloud storage: £0 included
Bolster
- Free tier: None
- Subscription: Typically £200–£500/month depending on organisation size and feature set
- Volume discounts: Available for large enterprises
- Pricing model: Subscription-based, contact sales for exact quote
Who Should Choose BORIS?
- Service delivery companies (facilities, maintenance, utilities, construction) that need to schedule teams, track time, manage fleets, and maintain CRM pipelines alongside compliance.
- Multi-site operations where compliance must be tied to who did the work, where, and when.
- Cost-conscious businesses that cannot afford five different platforms and the overhead of integrating them.
- Teams growing beyond basic compliance into professional operations and sales management.
- Organisations that value one login, one database, and unified reporting.
Who Should Choose Bolster?
- Pure compliance specialists (building safety consultants, environmental health teams) where operations scheduling and timesheets are managed elsewhere.
- Large construction firms with existing scheduling and project management systems, needing a dedicated Building Safety Act compliance solution.
- Organisations prioritising deep building compliance expertise and enterprise-grade reporting over operational integration.
- Teams that need Golden Thread documentation and have no field scheduling requirements.
Real Results
BORIS
One utilities company replaced four separate systems (compliance, scheduling, fleet, invoicing) with BORIS, saving 40 hours per month in data reconciliation and reducing compliance audit findings by 80%.
Bolster
An NHS trust adopted Bolster for Golden Thread compliance and reduced Building Safety Act audit exceptions from 47 to 3 within six months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Bolster do scheduling?
Bolster is not a traditional field service management platform. It is a compliance documentation platform specialising in building compliance tracking and reporting. It does not include traditional job scheduling, resource planning, or dispatch capabilities.
Can BORIS match Bolster on compliance?
Yes. BORIS includes fire risk assessment (PAS 79-1 and 79-2), Golden Thread documentation, action tracking, risk registers, and compliance reporting equal to or exceeding Bolster. The difference is that BORIS adds fifteen additional operational modules.
What if we use Bolster for compliance and BORIS for operations?
Possible, but you will maintain two systems and manage the integration between them. Most customers choose one platform to avoid this overhead.
Does BORIS have a mobile app?
Yes. iOS and Android apps with offline capability. Timesheets, forms, and assessments work offline and sync when connectivity returns.
Is BORIS suitable for small teams?
Yes. Starter tier (free, up to 5 users) is ideal for testing. No credit card required.
Does Bolster have a free tier?
No. Bolster is subscription-only, typically from £200/month.
The Bottom Line
Bolster is a specialist compliance platform built for organisations that need deep building compliance expertise and have their operations (scheduling, timesheets, invoicing) sorted elsewhere.
BORIS is a generalist operations platform that includes compliance at its core, alongside CRM, scheduling, fleet management, timesheets, invoicing, and asset tracking—all in one system.
If you are tired of managing multiple platforms, choose BORIS. If pure compliance reporting and Building Safety Act documentation are your only requirements and you have scheduling and billing handled elsewhere, Bolster is a focused, mature choice. The decision rests on one question: Do you operate in one system, or five?