Trust and feedback
TestConnect is a resource to make testing easier, not a scheme or a regulator. We don't audit, certify or police anyone. These are the few ground rules that keep it fair for testers and the people who book them: a failed test never means a bad review, and everyone's data stays private.
Honest results
A tester who fails a plot honestly is doing the job right, and TestConnect is built to back them up. Research by UCL with ATTMA on air test results from over 100,000 new homes found a disproportionate number of results just inside the targets, suggesting that some homes were temporarily sealed to pass rather than built airtight. We don't want anything in TestConnect to push in that direction. Competence and lodgement stay with your scheme and building control, as now.
- Every result is kept, including failures. Results can't be deleted, and the database itself blocks it.
- A correction is a new version with a reason. The original stays alongside it, and a recorded failure can't become a pass once the tester has left site.
- Retests are new attempts linked to the first, so a site's real first-time pass rate is visible.
- Testers are never ranked or promoted by pass rate.
Feedback on the service, never the result
Job feedback has one rule above all: feedback is about the service, never about the result. If ratings followed pass or fail, testers would be rewarded for passing borderline homes. So the forms never ask how the test went, and a comment that complains about a fail is flagged for review.
Only people on a real, completed job can leave feedback:
| From | About | What they rate |
|---|---|---|
| Assessor or developer who posted the job | The tester | Punctuality, communication, professionalism on site, report quality and speed, and whether they'd book again |
| Site manager, from the site link | The tester | Arrived when agreed, followed site rules and PPE, left the plot as found, polite and clear |
| Homeowner (private jobs, only if the tester sends a link) | The tester | Arrived when agreed, explained what was happening, tidy, polite |
| Tester | The site and the poster | Plot ready as confirmed, access and parking, site contact reachable, information accurate |
Feedback goes both ways. A site that keeps saying "ready" when it isn't costs everyone a wasted trip, so developers see their own readiness score and can fix the cause.
Fair by design
- Blind: nobody sees the other side's feedback until both have submitted, or 14 days have passed, so nobody can retaliate.
- One entry per job per person, editable for 48 hours and then locked.
- Shown only once there are five or more, as an average with the count and a 12-month window (for example, 4.8 from 37 jobs). Each category is shown separately, and "would book again" as a percentage.
- Where it shows: to job posters when choosing testers, and to testers about sites and posters. Not on the public website, and never used to rank the open marketplace, which stays route-fit first.
- Checked against the record: "arrived late" is compared with the recorded arrival time and the agreed window, and shown with it. "Didn't turn up" is checked against the visit status.
- No incentives for leaving feedback, and no hiding negative feedback.
What's fair and what isn't
| Feedback | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| "Didn't turn up and didn't call", and the visit record agrees | Yes |
| "Arrived 2 hours late, no message" | Yes, shown with the recorded arrival time |
| "Wouldn't explain where the leaks were" | Yes, it's about helpfulness |
| "Failed plot 4, useless" | No: it's about the result |
| "Should have passed it, other testers would" | No: it's about the result |
| A low rating on a failed job with no comment | Only through the service categories. There is no overall "how did the test go" score. |
Replying and contesting
- Anyone rated can reply publicly underneath a comment, and can report it as untrue, abusive, about the result, or off-topic.
- Our staff review reports within 48 hours against the job evidence: the timeline, arrival times, photos and messages.
- The outcome is one of: kept; kept with a note; removed, with the reason sent to both sides; or the star score excluded, where the comment goes but the job still counts.
- Every decision is recorded in the audit log. We never remove feedback just because it's negative. We do remove feedback that is fake, abusive, defamatory, about the result, or about the wrong job.
The full rules are in our feedback policy.
Code of conduct
The code of conduct is a short set of ground rules that applies to everyone who uses TestConnect, not just testers. It's about how people treat each other, not about checking anyone's work. When it changes, we'll ask you to accept the new version.
- Testers: honest results (no temporary sealing, no tampering, no lodging untrue results), turning up or giving notice, only taking work you're qualified, insured and calibrated for, following site safety rules, and respect.
- Posters and site teams: accurate job information, honest readiness, safe access, paying for completed work, and respect.
- Everyone: no abuse, no fake feedback, and no sharing other people's private data.
If something goes wrong, we talk to you first, and most things are sorted with a conversation. Only if a problem keeps happening does it move on to a warning, then a pause on new work (existing jobs can be finished or handed on), and as a last resort removal. Low ratings alone never lead to a ban. We only pause an account straight away for safety or integrity: evidence of falsified results, a scheme membership that isn't valid being used on a job, or threats and abuse. You can always appeal, and a different member of staff looks at it.
Private by design
- Each organisation's data is kept apart inside the database itself (row-level security), not just hidden in the app.
- Site managers never see prices. A tester's private customers and jobs are visible only to their own organisation.
- Wilgenry Software Ltd staff can see an organisation's data only through support access the organisation grants, for a limited time and a stated reason. Every access is recorded in a tamper-evident audit log.
- Location is shared only while a tester is on their way to a job, and only if they switch it on.
Read the privacy notice.