Building an app for on-site ZZS and PFAS registration
Companies holding a permit must report to the competent authority once every five years on which substances of very high concern they emit and what they do to avoid and reduce those emissions. That report is built from five years of observations. If you only start gathering them as the deadline approaches, you end up reconstructing it from emails and reminders.
What needs to be recorded about SVHCs
Substances of very high concern are substances that are hazardous to people and the environment, with PFAS and asbestos as well-known examples. For activities requiring a permit, there is a duty to inform: the company reports once every five years to the competent authority which SVHCs it emits to air and to water or sewers, and which measures it takes to prevent and reduce those emissions.
That report does not stand alone. It comes with an avoidance and reduction programme, and substantive requirements apply to it. The programme describes the options for avoiding emissions at source, for example by phasing out the substance or adapting the process, and the options for reducing use and emissions within the current process.
Those reduction options come with information on the effectiveness of the measure, its validation, and the operational reliability and costs of the technology. This is not text you write in an afternoon; it is a body of observations, measurements and considerations that builds up over years.
Emissions data is also recorded in an emissions database. What ends up in it originates on site: at an emission point, during a measurement, during a malfunction or when the process changes. An app does not produce the report for you, but it ensures that the observation is recorded at the moment someone makes it.
How we build this
The core is the emission point. A measurement without a point is just a number, and a point without a history is just a spot on a drawing. Everything observed is tied to the point where it was observed.
Each point gets its own place, with the substances that may be released there, the route to air or water, and the relevant conditions.
Measurements, malfunctions and visual findings are recorded at the point itself, with time, location and photo.
A measure taken comes with its expected effect, its validation and the observations made afterwards. That way the evidence grows alongside it.
What has been recorded over the years forms the basis for the five-yearly report and the programme, rather than a reconstruction after the fact.
What the app does in practice
Recording at the emission point underpins the whole. The rest depends on your processes and on whether you work with an in-house environmental coordinator or an advisory firm.
Opening an emission point
A code on the point opens the right record with its history attached, so an observation does not end up under a vague description.
Recording a measurement
Value, unit, method and conditions. What a measurement is worth depends on how it was taken, so that belongs with it.
Photographing the finding
A leak, a discolouration or a damaged seal is captured faster with a photo than with a written description.
Works without signal
Plant rooms, basements and outdoor sites rarely have good coverage. The app works offline and synchronises later.
Passing on a deviation
An exceedance or a malfunction goes straight to the environmental coordinator, with the details needed to assess it.
Building towards the report
Observations are recorded per substance and per point, so the five-yearly report comes straight from the register rather than from a hunt through old files.
Who we build for
Who makes the observation varies from company to company. Four situations.
Process operators
They are the first to notice when something is off. If logging takes more than a couple of steps, it either gets done at the end of the shift or not at all.
Environmental coordinators
They compile the report and the programme, and do not want to rebuild everything from scattered files every five years.
Consultancies
If you report for several sites, you want one method and observations recorded the same way at every location.
Maintenance and technical services
A replaced seal or an adjusted installation is a measure. It should land in the same track as the measurements.
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Substance lists get revised, measurement methods change and requirements differ from one permit to another. Substances, points and input fields should be configurable rather than locked into the app.
Why Appfront
A measurement without conditions is just a number
How a measurement was taken determines what the value is worth. We record the method and conditions alongside the result.
The observation belongs to the point
Not to the person, and not to the date alone. We build the register around the emission point, because the reporting does too.
Five years is too long to remember
The programme requires justification over a long period. You either build that up as you go, or you invent it afterwards.
We do not assess your emissions
Whether a measure is sufficient is a question for your adviser and the competent authority. We make sure the observations are there.
Security and privacy
Emissions data is sensitive: it touches permit conditions and your relationship with the competent authority. We set access by role and by location, give a contractor only the points where they work, and log every inspection. What is stored locally on the device is encrypted and can be remotely wiped if a phone is lost.
For this subject, the reliability of the moment is what matters. A measurement that is revised after the fact because the value disappointed is no longer a measurement. We record observations as unalterable entries with time, place and person, even when synchronisation happens later, and any correction appears as a visible amendment alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about VOC register keeping
For permit-requiring activities, a report to the competent authority is due once every five years, covering the VOCs emitted to air and to water or sewer, and the measures taken.
At minimum, the options for avoiding emissions at source, and the options for reducing use and emissions within the current process, with information on the efficiency, validation, operational reliability and cost of the technique.
Yes. PFAS is cited as an example of a substance of very high concern, alongside asbestos. Which substances are relevant to your site follows from your processes and your permit.
Because the observation happens at an installation, often with poor coverage and gloves on. What cannot be done in a few steps there gets filled in later and becomes an estimate.
No. The report and the programme remain the property of your company and your advisor. We ensure that the observations on which they are based are recorded reliably.
Yes. Measurements and notifications can be passed on to your maintenance system or environmental file. See our approach to building an app and to custom software.
Where is the measurement from three years ago?
Pick a single emission point and ask for the readings from the past few years, together with the method and conditions. If that means searching through mailboxes, your next report becomes a reconstruction. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader app development project.