These are the features the three people around a certificate audit typically want. Each is classified with the same honesty as the original list. Being in demand doesn't mean you should build it.
Demand signals here are analyst judgment from how the category's products are marketed and how the audit works. No customer interviews have been done yet. The first 20 calls in 08 should confirm or kill each P0.
Legend: TS = Table stakes, D = Differentiator, X = Distraction, L = Liability. Priority: P0 = v1, P1 = next, P2 = later, — = don't build.
4.1 The three users
| User | What they want | What they'll pay for |
|---|
| Owner or site supervisor (the employer) | Fewer forms, less chasing, pass the audit, keep the refund and the bids | The audit passed on time, with less of their own evening time |
| Safety consultant | Every client's evidence in one place, gaps visible early, less driving to collect binders | Hours saved per client in Oct–Jan, and more clients per consultant |
| Auditor | A clean, indexed pack that's easy to verify | Nothing directly, but a good pack makes them recommend the tool |
4.2 Demanded features, classified
A. Audit evidence (the core, so lean in)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Evidence index by audit element (each record tagged to the element it proves) | D | P0 | The product. Use element numbers and your own wording, not copied audit text, until permission is confirmed (10.4). |
| Gap view by element and month ("inspections: 8 of 12 months done") | D | P0 | The painkiller. It must be correct, so the auditor advisor signs off on the rules. |
| Monthly gap report email to the owner and consultant | D | P0 | Turns an annual tool into a monthly one. |
| Indexed evidence pack export (PDF + zip, with a table of contents by element) | D | P0 | What the auditor actually receives. Add a small "organized with SafeLog" footer. |
| Audit calendar with the certifying partner's published deadlines | TS | P0 | Cheap, and it also works as a free SEO page. |
| Interview-prep sheets (questions workers may be asked, by element) | D / L | P1 | Useful, but be careful not to reproduce the audit tool's questions. |
| "Audit-ready" score or pass prediction | L | — | The auditor decides. A wrong score is a refund and a lost reference. |
B. Field capture
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Offline forms with photos and signatures | TS | P0 | No signal on many sites. |
| Hazard assessment, inspection, toolbox talk, incident templates | TS | P0 | Fixed templates, editable by the consultant. |
| QR code per site to open the right form | TS | P1 | Cheap and loved on sites. |
| Drag-and-drop form builder | X | — | Incumbents do it. Template editing is enough. |
| AI "fill this hazard assessment for me" | L | — | Liability if a hazard is missed. AI may tag records to elements, never author safety content. |
| Voice-to-text notes on forms | TS | P2 | Nice on gloves-on sites. Phone keyboards already do it. |
C. People and certificates
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Worker list with certificates and expiry dates | TS | P0 | Asked about in every audit. |
| Expiry alerts (30 / 7 days) to the worker and supervisor | D | P0 | The weekly reason to open the app. |
| Certificate photo reading (AI extracts name, course, expiry) | D | P1 | Saves data entry. Cap the AI cost. |
| Orientation sign-off for new workers | TS | P1 | Common audit evidence. |
| Training course delivery (LMS) | X | — | A different business. Link to existing course providers. |
D. Incidents and corrective actions
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Incident and near-miss report with investigation fields | TS | P0 | Keep it close to what the audit asks. |
| Corrective-action tracker with owners and due dates | D | P1 | Auditors look for closed actions. |
| WCB claim filing | X / L | — | Regulated process with its own forms and portal. Link out. |
| US OSHA 300 / 300A / 301 and ITA filing | X | — | Only if the product ever enters the US, after its own assessment. |
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Multi-client console (all clients' gaps on one screen) | D | P0 | The reason a consultant brings 20 clients. |
| Consultant's own template library pushed to all clients | D | P1 | Consultants' templates are their product. Respect that. |
| White-label evidence packs (consultant's logo) | D | P1 | Makes the consultant look good to the auditor. |
| Client billing on the consultant's behalf | X | — | Not your job. |
F. Integrations and the rest
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Export everything (CSV + PDF) on demand | TS | P0 | Trust. Customers must never feel locked in. |
| Subcontractor pre-qualification (collect their certificate and insurance) | D | P2 | Real demand from prime contractors, but a different buyer. |
| Integration with Procore or accounting tools | X | P2 | Your buyer mostly doesn't use them. |
| Analytics dashboards, leading indicators | X | P2 | Looks good in demos, rarely used by a 12-worker firm. |
| Wearables, telematics, GPS worker tracking | X / L | — | Privacy exposure and hardware support. |
| Second province (BC or Manitoba) | D later | Month 18+ | Only after Alberta renewal holds. See 11. |
4.3 Net effect
Of about 35 demanded features, about 13 are real differentiators for an audit-evidence product, and 12 are marked P0. Most P0 items are small (a template, an alert, an export). The only hard one is the evidence index and gap rules, which is where the auditor advisor's time goes. Everything else is table stakes you'll add slowly, or other companies' products you should link to.