SIRE Inspector - New Inspectors - Overview of the audit process

During the process of becoming an accredited SIRE inspector there are a number of steps that need to be completed leading to your final accreditation.

This brief article is intended to be an overview of the later stages of the process when you are reaching the point of making an audited inspection and finally becoming an inspector. For the purposes of this article we make the assumption that you have completed the registration process and any classroom based training courses that are required and also that you have received your Inspector account credentials to allow you to login to SIRE.

1. Inspector account status when credentials are received

When you receive your inspector login bear in mind that as you are not yet fully accredited as an inspector, your account does have very limited functionality and will be in what is known as "Test" status. This means that you are able to login to SIRE to carry out the most basic functions. Primarily you need this to ensure that your login credentials supplied allow you to login to SIRE and that you can access the resources area to download the Editor Software that you will need to download and install to your computer to allow you to create and eventually submit inspections. At this stage your main aim is to ensure that you have the software in place which will allow you to practice the process of creating an inspection report. 

Your account status remains as "Test" until your audit has been passed. 

2. Carry out your audited inspection

Once you have your login and the editor software installed on your computer this will allow you to complete your first report. You should also have received details of the location and also know who will be attending your audit. Once you have physically attended the audited inspection you can start creating the report. There is a separate article that gives some pointers on ensuring the report is correctly marked as an audited inspection which can be found here. This also explains how to export the report to a file which can then be sent to the auditor to be reviewed and marked.

3. Auditor marking and submission of report

If an inspection is deemed to be a "Pass" the auditor will have marked the report as appropriate and will return this marked file to you. As well as marking the report file that is sent to you, the auditor is also required to complete a separate report on your audit which is submitted directly to OCIMF. This is then reviewed by the OCIMF Compliance Manager and once verified as a pass your account status is then changed from "Test" to "Live" status which will provide normal functionality within SIRE and your editor software. 

When you receive the marked inspection you will need to import the file to your editor. Once this has been completed the report will be ready to be submitted when appropriate.

Please note that you will not be able to submit the inspection until the auditors report that has been sent to OCIMF is verified and your account status is updated. You will then receive an automated e-mail notification from OCIMF that confirms you have passed your audit. Only attempt to submit your report once you have received this confirmation. Prior to this your account will still be in "Test" status and any attempt to submit the inspection will fail with an error code. 

Once you have received notification that your audit is a pass ensure you enter the booking code supplied to you by the submitting company who commissioned the report into the completed inspection, then validate and finally submit the report using the editor software.