The Certificate That Expired Mid-Contract
A supplier’s insurance lapses in month seven of a two-year contract. Nobody notices until an incident on site, when the first question anyone asks is whether they were covered. How a supplier’s documents become a register with dates, how that register feeds the supplier’s score, and why a contract should refuse a call-off while a document it requires is missing.
The security contractor was approved in January with a full file: registration, tax compliance, public liability insurance, a letter from the bank. The contract ran two years. In August a guard was injured on a client site, the client asked for the contractor’s insurance certificate, and the one on file had expired in June. The contractor had renewed it, as it happened, but nobody had asked for the new one, and for two months every call-off against that contract had been placed without anyone able to say the supplier was covered.
A file is a photograph; compliance is a film
Supplier onboarding tends to treat documents as an entry exam. The supplier sends them, someone checks them, the supplier is approved, and the documents go into a folder. That is the right process for the first day and the wrong one for every day after, because most of the documents that matter have dates on them. A tax compliance certificate lasts a year. Insurance runs for a policy period. A trade licence is renewed annually. The folder says the supplier was compliant when they joined; it says nothing about today.
The fix is not more checking. It is turning the folder into a register: one row per document the buyer requires, with who asked for it, when it was supplied, who approved it, and when it lapses. Once the dates are on rows, everything else — warnings, scores and refusals — can read them.
The approval file says the supplier was compliant when they joined. The question an incident asks is whether they were compliant that morning.
The register, from both sides
On the buyer’s side, a document is requested: a type, a due date, whether it is required, and optionally the contract it belongs to. The supplier sees the request in their portal, on the web or in the app, and uploads against it. The upload waits as awaiting review until someone approves it with its expiry date, or sends it back with a note saying what is wrong. A buyer who already holds a copy can file it directly. Every file is kept in the document vault, and a supplier approved from a prequalification application starts with the documents it applied with, rather than being asked for them twice.
| State of a required document | Counts towards compliance as | Hard gap |
|---|---|---|
| Approved and in date | Held — full credit | No |
| Uploaded, awaiting review | Half credit | No |
| Requested, not yet due | Nothing | No |
| Requested and overdue | Nothing | Yes |
| Sent back and not replaced | Nothing | Yes |
| Expired | Nothing | Yes |
Thirty days before an approved document expires, the supplier is told once, and told again on the day it lapses; the buyer’s side gets its own reminder. The supplier’s email follows the document-request switch in their notification preferences, so a supplier who wants the portal to be the only place they hear about documents can have that. The portal also shows the supplier their own scorecard, with the same figures the buyer sees.
Compliance in the supplier’s score
A supplier’s score is mostly about performance: delivery, quality, price. Once a buyer requires any documents from a supplier, compliance becomes a tenth of that score — held documents over required documents, with an upload awaiting review counting half. A supplier with nothing required is not scored on compliance at all, because having been asked for nothing is not a failing.
The tenth is deliberately small. Compliance is not a sliding scale on which a strong delivery record can make up for an expired insurance policy. So, separately from the weighting, any hard gap — an expired document, one sent back and never replaced, or a request past its due date — puts the supplier into Under Review, whatever the rest of the score says.
The security contractor in July, scored
On the number alone the contractor would still be Preferred. The expired certificate is a hard gap, and a hard gap decides the status by itself.
The contract that refuses a call-off
A score changes what a buyer sees. A contract can change what a buyer can do. Documents can be attached to a supplier contract as required, and while any required document is not held today, a call-off against that contract is refused, with the missing documents named in the message. The refusal clears itself the moment a current copy is approved: a renewal filed beside the lapsed row counts as held, so nobody has to tidy up the old one first. Contract documents only count while their contract is in force, so a document required by an expired contract does not haunt the supplier’s score.
The same contract now carries its service terms. A lead time can be agreed on the contract and on individual catalogue lines, with the line winning where it is set. On-time and fill-rate targets are measured against the contract’s own orders, alongside the average lead time actually achieved, and the late orders are listed by number and days late. A renewal conversation can start from the contract’s record rather than from impressions.
Document register per supplier
Requested by type with a due date and a required flag, optionally against a contract; uploaded by the supplier on the portal or in the app, or filed by the buyer.
Review with an expiry
Approved with an expiry date, or sent back with a note; only approved and in-date counts as held, and every file is kept in the document vault.
Warnings on both sides
The supplier told thirty days before expiry and again at lapse, respecting their notification preferences; the buyer reminded on their own schedule.
Compliance in the score
A tenth of the supplier score once anything is required, and any hard gap forcing Under Review.
Call-offs refused on a gap
A required contract document not held today blocks call-offs, naming what is missing, and clears when a current copy is approved.
Service terms on the contract
Lead times per contract and per catalogue line; on-time and fill-rate targets measured against the contract’s orders, with late orders listed.
The supplier’s own view
Their documents and their scorecard in the portal and the app, showing the figures the buyer sees.
Positions we hold
- The buyer decides what counts. A supplier’s upload is a claim until somebody approves it. The software reads dates and states; it does not judge whether a certificate is genuine.
- No requirement is not a failure. A supplier who has been asked for nothing scores nothing on compliance rather than zero.
- A gap is not averaged away. Compliance carries a small weight in the score so it cannot be traded against performance, and a hard gap sets the status on its own.
- A refusal names its reason. A blocked call-off lists the documents that are missing, so the person blocked knows exactly what to ask the supplier for.
Four questions to ask of your supplier files
Which of our active suppliers has an expired document today?
What you will probably hear
We would have to go through the folders.
How to read it
If the answer takes a day, the answer is wrong by the time it arrives. The dates need to be on rows, not in file names.
Who tells the supplier their certificate is about to lapse?
What you will probably hear
They know their own renewals.
How to read it
They know when to renew. They do not know you need the new copy. A warning to the supplier, from the system that needs the document, is what closes that gap.
Can we still order from a supplier whose insurance has lapsed?
What you will probably hear
Yes, until someone notices.
How to read it
For contracts where cover is the point, the order should be refused, with the reason, until a current copy is on file.
Does a missing document change the supplier’s rating?
What you will probably hear
No, ratings are about delivery.
How to read it
A supplier can deliver beautifully and be uninsured. The rating should say Under Review until the gap is closed.
Verdict
Supplier compliance is a register with dates, not a folder from onboarding. Ask for documents as rows, let the supplier upload against them, approve each with its expiry, warn both sides before a lapse, let a gap put the supplier under review regardless of performance, and let a contract that depends on a document refuse to be called off without it. The question an incident asks — were they covered that morning — then has an answer that takes seconds.
See supplier contracts
Contract pricing and call-offs, agreed lead times and service targets, and the compliance documents a contract requires.
Explore supplier contractsFrequently asked questions
Does an uploaded document count before the buyer approves it?
It counts for half towards the compliance score while it waits for review. Only an approved document that has not expired counts as held, both in the score and on a contract.
How much does compliance affect a supplier’s score?
Once any document is required from the supplier, compliance is a tenth of the score. Separately, any hard gap such as an expired document, a document sent back and not replaced, or an overdue request puts the supplier into Under Review whatever the score is.
When is a call-off against a contract refused?
When a document marked as required on that contract is not held today, for example because it has expired or has not been supplied. The message names the missing documents, and the block clears as soon as a current copy is approved.
Who is warned when a supplier document is about to expire?
The supplier is told once thirty days before expiry and again when it lapses, subject to their own notification preferences, and the buyer’s side gets its own reminder.
Can suppliers see their own scorecard?
Yes. The supplier portal and the app show the supplier their own scorecard and documents, with the same figures the buyer sees.
