Employee certification audit checklist
This is the packet office managers run before an OSHA visit, a GC prequal, an insurance renewal, or a Monday you found out someone's card died on Saturday. It is not a seven-line teaser. Use it on this page or email it to yourself below.
Last reviewed 2026-09-19. US trades only — construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, trucking. Not a HIPAA or clinical compliance product.
Why audits fail
Most shops do not fail because they have zero certificates. They fail because the roster is stale, two credentials share one date, or the “license” field is a guess. Texas electrician cards are annual at TDLR; Texas plumber cards are annual at TSBPE; Texas GCs have no statewide license. California electricians hold DIR cards and maybe a C-10. OSHA 10 does not expire federally but NYC SST does. If your spreadsheet cannot say those sentences, the audit is already thin.
The other failure is proof. An inspector wants the card, the CE certificate, and a name that matches payroll — in minutes, not after a superintendent drives back to the shop.
The 7 steps (short list)
- Export a current employee roster with hire dates and job roles.
- List every required cert by role (OSHA, CPR, license, forklift, etc.).
- Capture certificate number, issuer, issue date, and expiry date.
- Flag anything expired or expiring within 30 days.
- Assign an owner for each renewal and a reminder cadence.
- Store proof documents where an auditor can retrieve them in under 5 minutes.
- Re-run the packet monthly — not only when someone asks.
The same 7 steps, expanded
1. Export a current roster
Pull legal names, job titles, hire dates, work locations, and whether the person is W-2, 1099, or a borrowed sub. Expired-cert problems hide in the people you did not think were “employees.”
If payroll, HR, and the superintendent keep different lists, the audit list is the union of all three. Superintendents know who is actually on the deck.
2. Map credentials to roles — not to vibes
Write the required set per role before you open a single certificate. A Texas electrician helper needs an apprentice card. A NYC deckhand on an SST site needs SST, not “OSHA if we have it.” A dump-truck driver needs CDL class + medical, not a CILB contractor license.
Use published guides when the board is easy to get wrong: TDLR vs TSBPE in Texas, DIR vs CSLB in California, CILB vs ECLB in Florida, no statewide GC in Texas, no statewide electrician license in New York.
3. Capture the identifiers that an inspector will ask for
Number, class, issuing board, issue date, expiration, and a PDF or photo. For CDL medical, also note whether the state DMV/DPS record was updated. For OSHA 10/30, record the completion date even though the federal card does not expire — owners still ask “when did they take it?”
One row per credential. Do not smash SST, OSHA 30, and a Master Electrician license into a single “safety” date.
4. Flag expired and 30-day risk
Sort by expiration. Anything already expired is a stop-work item, not a reminder. Anything inside 30 days is this week’s office work. Shorter medical cards (3–6 months) should live in a hot list, not the annual license pile.
Watch state-specific cliffs: Florida CILB/ECLB August 31 even-year piles, Texas TDLR annual electrician/HVAC, Texas DPS medical downgrade at day 60, Arizona ROC next-business-day suspend.
5. Assign an owner and a cadence
Every credential needs a human who will book the course or the physical — usually the employee plus one office owner. 90 / 60 / 30 / 7 day reminders beat a single calendar pop on the expiration morning.
Board mailers fail. TDLR’s 60-day postcard, CSLB’s 60-day form, and DPS courtesy letters are backups, not systems.
6. Store proof where someone can find it in five minutes
Inspectors, GCs, and insurance auditors do not wait for a hunt through text messages. Keep a folder (or Fendro records) named by person, then credential. Include CE certificates, not just the pocket card.
If you email the packet, export a current / expiring / expired PDF. That is the artifact most carriers actually want.
7. Re-run monthly
Hires, layoffs, and borrowed operators change the roster faster than annual HR reviews. A monthly 20-minute pass catches the apprentice card you forgot to start and the medical card that came back at 6 months.
After a failed audit, the fix is cadence, not another spreadsheet tab.
Role cheat sheet
- Electrician: state or city license class + CE + (if NYC) SST. See Texas TDLR, California DIR/CSLB, Washington L&I.
- Plumber: TSBPE in Texas; CSLB C-36 plus city cards in California. Do not file plumbing in the electrician portal.
- HVAC: TDLR ACR contractor + tech cards in Texas; EPA 608 (no federal expiry) on every refrigerant tech.
- GC / builder: CSLB B, Florida CILB, or Arizona ROC where those boards exist. Texas has no statewide GC license — track cities and trade subs instead.
- CDL driver: license + medical as two dates. Read the medical card timeline.
- NYC laborer / supervisor: SST, not “OSHA only.” See SST vs OSHA.
What to ask for in five minutes
Name, photo ID if required, license or card image, CE or refresher certificate, and the board lookup screenshot when the plastic and the database disagree. For drivers: medical certificate plus proof the state record updated. For OSHA: completion card and date — plus SST if the site is NYC.
Self-serve only. Start a free Fendro account (5 employees) when you want reminders instead of another spreadsheet.