SCIOS inspection reporting, scopes 1-6
The SCIOS sub-scheme for boiler installations covers scopes 1 to 7 and 14, with work areas for initial special inspection, periodic inspection and periodic maintenance for each scope. Appfront builds the software in which your inspector records the on-site report and in which the installation history per scope and per work area is kept together.
What the SCIOS scheme requires of your reporting
SCIOS manages a certification scheme with three sub-schemes: boiler installations, electrical equipment and explosion-protected installations. The first covers scopes 1 to 7 and 14. Scope 1 concerns atmospheric heating boilers and indirect air heaters, scope 2 covers hot water boilers and air heaters with fan burners, scope 3 covers steam and hot water boilers above one hundred and five degrees, scope 4 covers combustion engines and turbines, scope 5 covers special industrial installations and 5a covers installations using solid fuels, and scope 6 covers emission measurements.
In addition, the scheme has work areas that are just as decisive for your reporting: EBI for the initial special inspection, PI for the periodic inspection and PO for periodic maintenance. An installation goes through these in sequence, and the report looks different for each work area. For a number of scopes, including 6NOx and 14, the scheme has no additional work areas.
The consequence for software is that a generic inspection app will not suffice. The required fields differ by scope and by work area, and the installation data from the EBI must still be available years later at the periodic inspection. In practice we see inspectors working from a template in a word processor, with the back office then retyping everything. That is where the errors arise that come to light during an audit by your certifying body.
How we build your SCIOS software
We start with the report format for each scope and work area. Skip that step and you end up with an app that asks too much for half of the inspections and too little for the other half.
We establish which scopes you are certified for and which work areas you carry out. For each combination we determine which data is mandatory, which depends on the installation type, and which is needed only in the event of a failure. This is the core of the design.
The installation is the anchor point, not the inspection. Capacity, fuel, year of construction, burner configuration and the scope it falls under, along with where it is located and the client it belongs to. Everything you need again later hangs off that.
We work in sprints and start with the periodic inspection, because that is where the volume lies. Your inspectors take part and carry out a real inspection early with an interim version; only then does it become clear whether a form works in a boiler room.
We align the report format with what your certifying body checks and what your client expects to receive. Then comes handover to your back office, with a trial run in which we review a completed inspection as if we were the auditor.
What the software actually does
Six components that feature in almost every project. Which ones you need depends on your scopes and on whether you also carry out maintenance.
Forms per scope and work area
An inspection under scope 2 requires different data from an emissions measurement under scope 6, and an EBI requires more than a periodic inspection. For each combination the app shows only the fields that apply, so the inspector does not have to scroll past questions that are not relevant.
Recognising the installation on site
A code on the installation opens the correct history: which scope, when the EBI took place, what failed last time and whether that has been rectified. In a boiler house with five boilers, that removes the confusion over which installation is in front of you.
Measured values with limits
Flue gas analysis, temperatures, pressures and, for scope 6, emission values, each with the limit that applies to that installation. A value outside the limit is immediately visible, rather than only being noticed when the report is written up in the office.
Defects and rectification
Every defect receives a classification and a status, and remains open until it has been rectified and verified. At the next inspection the inspector sees what was found last time, which saves them from reporting again something that has already been resolved.
Deadlines per installation
The inspection deadline follows from the installation type and its use, so it differs for each installation. The system plans ahead, groups what is located at the same site and alerts your planner well before the due date.
Report in your own format
The report is generated from the recorded data, signed by the inspector and kept with the installation. Your client receives it by post or retrieves it from a portal, and the back office does not need to retype anything.
Who we build for
Four situations where this pays for itself. The difference lies mainly in whether you inspect for third parties or for your own installations.
Inspection and maintenance companies
This is the core. You inspect for clients, your margin lies in turnaround time per installation, and your certification is at stake during the annual audit. Often combined with a work order app your engineers already use.
Industry with in-house installations
Steam boilers, ovens and dryers under scopes 3 and 5, where you are certified yourself or hire in a partner. When this ties into your maintenance planning, inspection and maintenance fall in the same round.
Healthcare, education and government
Large building-related installations with an in-house technical department and a tendered maintenance contractor. Here, being able to demonstrate compliance to the owner matters at least as much as the inspection itself.
Operators of multiple sites
Property managers and facility service providers who manage on behalf of third parties, often alongside their facility processes. Their key need is central oversight across locations.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
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Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
What we deploy depends on your situation. In a boiler room or technical space there is rarely coverage, so offline working is not a nice-to-have but a requirement; an app that does nothing there gets filled in from memory back at the office.
If you manage evacuation alarm systems and want the file for each building in order, see our page on an OAI inspection file.
If you need to show for each inspection that the inspector was qualified for the scope, see our software for scopes and inspector qualification management.
Why Appfront
We start by reading your certification scheme
The required fields per scope and work area are fixed. We take these over rather than delivering a generic inspection app that you have to configure yourself.
Accompanying an inspection
Before we design anything, we spend a day in the field. The difference between a form that works and one that gets skipped lies in details nobody mentions in a meeting room.
Connecting to what is already running
Your scheduling, invoicing and measuring equipment stay in place. We build the layer in between through integrations, so an inspection doesn't have to be entered in two places.
Honest about our role
We are not a certifying body and we do not assess inspections. We build the system in which your inspector records their work; the professional judgement remains theirs.
Security and privacy
An inspection file contains little personal data, but it does record which inspector prepared which report and under which professional competence. That can be traced back to an individual and touches on their certification. We use that record for what it is intended for, namely demonstrating that a competent person carried out the inspection, and we base reporting on the installation rather than on the inspector.
More weighty is that you work with data from your clients: their installations, their defects and sometimes their production processes. Access is therefore arranged per client, with a portal in which a client sees only their own installations. A finalised report cannot be changed silently: a correction is visible as a correction and does not overwrite the original, because a report that can be altered unnoticed after the fact has no value in an audit. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside reach us via our vulnerability disclosure policy.
Frequently asked questions about SCIOS reporting
Scopes 1 to 7, plus scope 14. Scope 1 covers atmospheric boilers and indirect air heaters, scope 2 covers hot water boilers and air heaters with fan burners, scope 3 covers steam and hot water boilers, scope 4 covers internal combustion engines and turbines, scope 5 covers special industrial installations, with 5a for solid fuels, scope 6 covers emissions measurements and scope 7 covers fuel pipework. Scopes 8 to 12 fall under the sub-scheme for electrical equipment, and scope 11 under explosion-protected installations.
These are the work areas within the scheme. EBI stands for initial special inspection: the inspection in which an installation is first assessed and its baseline condition recorded. PI is the periodic inspection that recurs after that. PO stands for periodic maintenance. For your software, this distinction is decisive, as the report and the data required differ by work area. For some scopes, the scheme has no additional work areas.
Yes, and that is advisable if you are certified for several scopes. The inspector selects the scope and work area, and then sees only the fields that apply to them. What you should avoid is a single form for everything, with fields that may or may not apply to each scope; this leads to blank fields, and later no one knows whether they were not applicable or simply forgotten.
Yes, and for this work that is a requirement. Boiler rooms, technical spaces and cellars rarely have coverage. The app stores data locally and synchronises once there is a connection, with a clear view of which reports have not yet been sent. What we design explicitly is what happens when two inspectors have worked offline on the same installation.
To a degree. Flue gas analysers and some measuring instruments produce data that can flow straight into the report, so nobody has to type it in. What is possible depends on your equipment and on what the manufacturer offers in terms of interfaces; we establish that during the discovery phase rather than promising it upfront. Where it isn't possible, we keep manual entry as brief as we can.
Your certifying body checks whether you work in accordance with the scheme; our software provides the evidence that you do. We design the report format so that it contains what the scheme requires, and before handover we run through a completed inspection as though we were the auditor. The assessment itself remains with your body, and we do not get involved in it.
That depends mainly on the number of scopes and work areas you carry out, since each has its own form. One scope with periodic inspection is a manageable project; five scopes with EBI, PI and PO is considerably more. Integrations with measuring equipment and invoicing come on top. We give a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase, not before.
Ready to get SCIOS software built?
Tell us which scopes you are certified for and how your reports are currently produced, and we will help you think through the forms per work area, the installation register and the integration with your scheduling. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software or app project.