Glossary

The words, defined the way we mean them.

Two kinds: industry terms as the trade uses them, and Veristep terms as the product means them.

Acceptance (independent)veristep: On some kinds of check, someone who didn't do the work has to accept it before the check can close. It's built into the system, not left to someone remembering.See: Check, Hold point
Active projectveristep: A project that has at least one open check in a calendar month. It is billed $495 for that month; a project with nothing open costs nothing. On hold is free; closed is archived free.See: Check, Platform fee
AI assistantveristep: One of ten AI assistants, each with a first name and a job title. Everything they do is logged the same way a person's work is.See: Approval step, Assisted
APIindustry: Application programming interface: the door another program uses to read or write your data. Veristep's is scoped to your organization by a key you issue and can revoke; it reads projects, assets, deficiencies and documents and creates deficiencies. Customers only — a trial cannot use it.
Append-onlyveristep: The history can only grow, never be rewritten. A correction is a new entry, not a change to the old one.See: Audit trail, Hash chain
Approval stepveristep: Where an AI assistant's risky action waits until a named person approves, refuses or edits it. Nobody can switch this off.See: AI assistant
Assetindustry: A machine, piece of equipment or installation with its own identity — a chiller, a UPS, a transfer switch. In Veristep every asset has a QR code, a lifecycle phase, a commissioning level and one record from delivery to retirement.See: Lifecycle phase, Commissioning level
Assistedveristep: The tag on anything an AI assistant drafted, naming the assistant and the person who decided. It is there so nobody mistakes a draft for a decision, or a machine for a person.
ATSindustry: Automatic transfer switch: the switchgear that moves a load from utility power to the generator and back. On a data-center job it owes torque readings on every termination, relay settings and a witnessed transfer test.
Audit trailveristep: The full record of every action, by a person or an AI assistant. Nothing on it can be deleted or rewritten, and any tampering is detectable.See: Append-only, Hash chain
BMSindustry: Building management system (also BAS, building automation system): the controls that run the mechanical and electrical plant. Commissioning it means point-to-point verification per point, trend confirmation and a sequence-of-operations test.
CAPAindustry: Corrective and preventive action: what is done about a non-conformance so it is fixed and does not recur. In Veristep an NCR moves to its corrective action and closes only with the closure evidence attached and a name on it.See: NCR (non-conformance report)
Chain of custodyindustry: The documented, unbroken record of who had a thing, what was done to it and when, such that any link can be checked. Veristep applies the term to physical assets: every phase change, test and sign-off is an attributed, dated, tamper-evident entry.
Checkveristep: A piece of work opened on an asset from a template — receiving, installation, testing, commissioning, maintenance, removal or your own — made up of steps. A check can't close while a required step is still missing its proof.See: Step, Template
Closeoutindustry: The end-of-project phase where the deliverables — the turnover package, the outstanding items, the acceptance — are finished and handed to the owner. In Veristep there is no assembly phase, because the package builds as the work happens.See: Turnover package
CMMSindustry: Computerized maintenance management system: the software a facilities team runs work orders and preventive maintenance in. Veristep keeps the asset record, warranty windows and maintenance routines and hands the asset list over as COBie; it is not a CMMS and does not claim to be.See: COBie
COBieindustry: Construction-Operations Building information exchange: a standard spreadsheet shape for handing asset data (components, spaces, types, warranties, maintenance) to an owner's maintenance system. Veristep exports a COBie-flavoured flat sheet, not the full multi-tab workbook.
Commissioning (Cx)industry: The process of verifying that systems and equipment are installed, started, tested and perform as the design intended, with the evidence to prove it. Distinct from installing or testing: the commissioning agent witnesses and documents.
Commissioning agent (CxA)industry: The firm — often a QA firm — engaged to plan and witness commissioning and to produce the record. They observe, document, report and consult; they do not install or perform the tests.
Commissioning levelindustry: The L0–L5 progression a data-center or industrial asset passes through: factory witness, delivery and installation checks, start-up, functional performance testing, integrated systems testing. In Veristep each level has to be earned with its proof, and passing it earns a physical colour tag.
Correctionveristep: The only way to fix a wrong entry: a new entry, with a name and a time on it, on an open check, saying what it fixes. Closed evidence is never edited.See: Append-only
CRAH / CRACindustry: Computer-room air handler / computer-room air conditioner: the cooling units on a data-hall floor. They owe refrigerant and alignment readings, controls point-to-point and a functional performance test.
CSI 01 91 00industry: The MasterFormat section for general commissioning requirements — the specification most owners reference for the L0–L5 progression. Veristep's commissioning levels follow it rather than a home-grown status field.See: Commissioning level
CSVindustry: Comma-separated values: the plain spreadsheet file every tool can open. Everything in Veristep exports as CSV plus the files, on demand, for customers; locations, people and assets import from it.
Deficiencyindustry: Something found wrong on inspection. In Veristep a deficiency has a severity (critical, major, minor), who's responsible, a due date and a days-open clock, and cannot close without a fix photograph and a named verifier.See: Punch list, NCR (non-conformance report)
Document registerveristep: The list of every document each asset owes — from its equipment type — with each in one state: required, requested, received, reviewed, approved, rejected. The closeout package's completeness is this register.See: Equipment type, Turnover package
DPAindustry: Data processing agreement: the contract clause set that governs how a vendor handles a customer's personal data. Signed as part of a program or customer agreement.
Equipment typeveristep: The kind of machine (UPS, CRAH, generator…) with the document requirements and default templates that every asset of that type inherits. Platform defaults plus your own.See: Document register, Template
Evidenceveristep: The exact proof a step asks for: a photograph, a measurement inside a range, a checklist pass, a seal number, a signature, or an uploaded document. It's kept on the step and locked when the check closes.See: Step, Hold point
FATindustry: Factory acceptance test: the vendor's test of a machine before it ships, witnessed and its report on the record. It is commissioning level L1 — the red tag.See: Commissioning level
General contractor (GC)industry: The firm that runs the build and holds the trade contracts. Veristep runs alongside the GC's project platform — it keeps the quality record, not the schedule or the RFIs.
Geofence / location proofveristep: A boundary drawn around the site. Where a project turns it on, a clock-in or a piece of evidence carries the phone's location and Veristep works out the distance itself — a phone can't just claim it was there.
GPS presenceveristep: Clock-ins and evidence for restricted equipment are checked against the job-site boundary, and Veristep works out the distance itself. The record can prove the technician was there; a phone can't just claim it.See: Geofence / location proof
Handoververistep: The firm offers a finished site inside the platform; the owner accepts under named terms; the site's record — assets, checks, evidence, warranties, maintenance — moves to the owner's own workspace, and the firm keeps its sealed history. The owner then pays for it like any customer.
Hash chainveristep: Every entry is linked to the one before it. Change or remove anything and the link breaks, so tampering is detectable.See: Audit trail, Append-only
Hold pointindustry: A point in the work where it stops until something is proven — a witness, a test, an inspection. In Veristep a hold point is a required step that names the exact proof it needs, set once on the template.See: Step, Evidence
HVACindustry: Heating, ventilation and air conditioning — the mechanical discipline. Its equipment owes the same kind of record as the electrical plant: delivery, install, start-up, functional and integrated tests.
ITPindustry: Inspection and test plan: the document that lists every inspection and test a scope of work owes, with its hold and witness points. In Veristep an ITP becomes hold-point templates per discipline, written once and reused.See: Hold point, Template
Lifecycle phaseveristep: Where an asset is in its life: ordered, received, stored, installed, tested, commissioned, operational, maintained, warranty expiring, removed, transferred, retired. Each change is logged; some changes wait until a check has closed.
MDFindustry: Main distribution frame: the room where the site's network and telecom cabling lands. Typically no signal — which is why the field app queues what it captures and sends it later.
MFAindustry: Multi-factor authentication, also called two-factor: a code from an app on your phone, asked for after your password. Anyone can turn it on for themselves, and a firm's administrator can require it for the firm's administrators and managers, or for everyone on its staff.
MSAindustry: Master services agreement: the written contract an owner program or a negotiated customer deal is priced under. It replaces the published numbers and is recorded against your workspace.
NCR (non-conformance report)industry: A formal record that work or material does not meet the specification, with a root cause and a corrective action. In Veristep an NCR cannot close without a documented corrective action and a named person.See: Deficiency
NDAindustry: Non-disclosure agreement. Signed as part of a program or customer agreement when a buyer asks.
O&Mindustry: Operations and maintenance documentation — the manuals, schedules and parts lists the owner's team needs after turnover. Stored and indexed as files on the asset's record.
Ownerindustry: Whoever the building is for, and who pays for verification they can't personally witness. In Veristep the owner has its own workspace, just like the firm — a portal during construction, the steward of the record after handover.See: Handover, Portal
Platform feeveristep: $495 a month per organization ($4,950 a year, two months free): unlimited people, every module, closed projects archived and readable. Projects are billed on top, only in months they are active.See: Active project
Portalveristep: What someone outside the firm sees: an owner, subcontractor or vendor signs in and gets only the projects and records their role allows — the package, the deficiencies, the documents they owe — enforced underneath the app, not just hidden from the screen.
Pre-functional / functional / integratedindustry: The three test stages of commissioning: pre-functional checks that equipment is installed and ready; functional performance tests that it works as specified; integrated systems tests that everything works together, including failure modes.
Punch listindustry: The list of items still wrong at the end of a walk. In Veristep punch items are deficiencies, with the same severity, clock and closure-with-proof rules, on the asset's record rather than a separate list.See: Deficiency
QA / QCindustry: Quality assurance is the system that makes quality likely — the plan, the hold points, the records. Quality control is the checking itself. A QA firm builds and runs the first and witnesses the second.
QR gatewayveristep: The QR code on every asset, room and document that opens its full, live record when scanned. Every scan is logged. RFID tags can stand in for, or alongside, the sticker.See: Asset
Read-only windowveristep: The ninety days after a paid plan ends (or a trial expires) in which the workspace can be read but not written. A cancelled customer can export everything during it; an expired trial can upgrade and carry on in place. After two notices the workspace is archived.
RFIindustry: Request for information — a formal question to the designer or owner when the drawings or specification are unclear, with a dated answer.
RLS (row-level security)veristep: The database rule that keeps every firm's data separate, enforced underneath the app, so even a bug or a stolen login can't see another firm's records.
ROIindustry: Return on investment. Veristep's calculator shows the arithmetic on the reader's own numbers — hours chasing, reporting and assembling closeout, times projects a year — with the Veristep cost subtracted. It is not a claim about any firm.
Sandbox / tourveristep: The public tour is a read-only walk through a real demo project, no account needed. The sandbox is the same demo workspace, reset when you leave. Neither is the trial: the trial is your own workspace and is never reset.
SLAindustry: Service level agreement: a promised uptime or response time. Veristep does not publish an SLA percentage; one can be part of a program agreement, and the readiness register says what is and is not yet in place.
SOC 2industry: An independent audit of a vendor's security controls. Veristep doesn't hold one. The controls an auditor looks at are built, most are checked by automated tests, and the readiness list on the security page shows where each one stands.
Stepveristep: One line of a check: what has to be proven, whether it's required, and who proved it with what. Steps are done in order, nobody can slip in a step that's already ticked, and once a check closes its steps are locked.See: Check, Evidence
Submittalindustry: The contractor's formal submission — product data, shop drawings, samples — for review and approval before material is bought or installed. In Veristep a submittal has an approval state on the asset's document register.
Templateveristep: A named, ordered list of steps for one kind of work, written once in your own procedures' language. Every check opened from it inherits its steps. Ours plus your own.See: Check, Hold point
Tenantveristep: Your firm's own private workspace, kept separate from every other firm's. A trial is a real, separate workspace from day one.
Turnover packageindustry: The organised proof handed to the owner at closeout: per asset, the submittal, receiving, installation, test records, deficiencies and closures, warranty and O&M; per project, the register, levels reached, outstanding items and the acceptance. In Veristep it is the live register itself.See: Closeout, Document register
UPSindustry: Uninterruptible power supply: the battery system that carries the load between utility loss and generator start. On a data-center job it owes the factory test report, delivery inspection, battery install record, functional test at L4 and integrated test at L5.
Warranty windowveristep: The countdown from a warranty's start date, with notices at 90, 60 and 30 days before it ends. Starts at turnover and follows the asset to the owner.

Missing a word? Tell us and it goes in. If you want the detail behind the Veristep terms, it’s on the technical pages.