Custom VERA integration development
Appfront builds integrations according to VERA, the data standard for the housing association sector, maintained by Aedes Datastandaarden. VERA describes the data and messages that housing associations and their suppliers exchange, with interfaces specified in OpenAPI. We make sure your own system or app speaks those messages: repair requests to maintenance companies and the status back, tenant and property data to your customer portal, and integrations between the housing association's systems.
What is a VERA integration?
VERA is the data standard for the housing association sector. It contains a logical data model, reference data, process messages and interface specifications in OpenAPI, and works on an event basis: when something happens in one process, another process is notified. Since 2023, VERA has been maintained by Aedes Datastandaarden. Housing associations and suppliers use the standard to describe and exchange data in the same way.
Without a shared standard, every housing association builds its own integration with every supplier. A tenant's repair request goes by email to the maintenance company, and the status comes back by phone. The customer portal shows data that does not match the primary system. And a maintenance company working for ten housing associations has ten different ways of working.
We build custom solutions because every situation is different: whether you are a housing association, a supplier or a software builder, which processes you want to integrate, which systems you already have, and which version of the standard your partners use. We follow what the standard prescribes from the Aedes Datastandaarden specifications; we make sure your system works with it.
According to the standard
Messages and interfaces according to the VERA specifications, so partners understand them without translation.
Repairs without email
Repair requests and work orders sent to the maintenance company, with the status returned automatically.
Customer portal in sync
Data on homes, tenants and contracts kept in sync across the primary system, portal and apps.
How we build your VERA integration
We start with your role and your processes: which data must move between which systems, and how things work today. It often begins with one manual-heavy process, such as repairs, and one partner who already works with the standard. That way the first result is visible quickly.
Your role, processes, systems, partners and the version of the standard.
The VERA messages and interfaces your processes require.
Your system connected to the standard, with message validation.
Testing with real partners, go-live, and management of new versions.
What a VERA integration concretely does
The components below come up in almost every VERA integration. Which ones you need depends on your processes.
Repairs
Repair requests and work orders with status returned.
Homes
Data on homes and units according to the standard.
Tenants and contracts
Tenants and contracts to the portal and apps.
Reference data
Codes and value lists according to the standard.
Validation
Messages validated against the specifications.
Audit log
Status and result for each message.
Who we build VERA integrations for
The integration is intended for parties in the housing association sector who exchange data.
Housing associations
Your own systems and apps. Connecting according to the standard is the core.
Maintenance
Work for multiple housing associations. One way of working matters most.
Contractors
Planned maintenance and renovation. The status returned is what is needed.
Software suppliers
Software for the sector. The standard is the core.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations according to VERA. For housing associations in general, see our page on software for housing associations; for points scoring, our page on a calculation tool for the housing valuation system; and for allocation, our page on tenant selection with income testing. You can read about our approach on software development.
Why choose Appfront for your VERA integration?
A repair request sent by email can sit unnoticed, and then the tenant phones. That is where we come in: messages according to the standard, status that comes back automatically, and data that is consistent everywhere.
One language
Partners understand the messages without translation.
Status automatically
A repair can be tracked without making a phone call.
Less custom work per partner
A new partner on the same standard is connected more quickly.
Security and privacy in a VERA integration
The integration processes data on tenants and homes, which is personal data that must be handled with care. Partners only receive the data they need for their assignment, access credentials are stored encrypted, and every message is logged.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about a VERA integration
Questions housing associations and suppliers ask before getting started.
VERA is the data standard of the housing association sector, with a logical data model, reference data, process messages and interface specifications in OpenAPI. Since 2023, the standard has been managed by Aedes Datastandaarden.
For processes that the standard describes messages for, such as repair requests and maintenance, and for exchanging data on homes, tenants and contracts. In the first step we review which messages are available for your processes. Where the standard does not yet describe a process, we build an integration that stays as close to it as possible.
With a dedicated integration, every housing association speaks its own language with every supplier. With the standard, a new partner is connected faster because both sides use the same messages. This saves time with every new connection, and reduces the risk of errors in translation.
Largely, yes, provided those associations use the same standard. Differences between associations, such as their own codes or versions, are recorded per partner in the integration.
The standard continues to evolve. In ongoing management, we adapt the integration and take into account partners who still use an older version, so that not everyone has to switch over at once.
Yes. Every message is checked against the specifications before it is sent or processed, with clear notifications about anything that is not right.
For housing corporations with their own systems or apps, for maintenance companies and contractors working for several corporations, and for software suppliers who want to support VERA in their product.
Exchanging data in the language of the sector?
Tell us which processes you want to integrate, with which partners, and which systems you use. We will show you what the integration would look like.