A document at the end of every step
One shared shape, seven divisions, and a named document you keep from each step of the work.
Every ITF division works to one shared shape: enquiry, survey, scope, plan, execute, evidence, review and next cycle. Each working step ends in a document you keep. The divisions name the steps in their own words and some split or merge them. The rule does not change: nothing is done without a record behind it.
- Shared steps
- Eight, named by each division in its own words
- What ends a working step
- A named document you keep
- First step
- A call about what prompted this
- Divisions
- Seven, one records standard
- What differs by division
- The vocabulary and the count, not the rule
Why we publish the chain
Every competitor in this market sells nouns.
Hard services. Soft services. ISO 9001 consultancy. Read ten supplier sites in this market and you get ten lists of nouns and no answer to the question a buyer actually has before signing: what happens, in what order, and what do I hold at the end of each part.
We publish the chain because it is the part you can check before you commit to anything. Ask any supplier what you receive at step six. If they have to think about it, there is no step six.
It is also the answer to the proof problem. Another company's records are not ours to show, and a number you cannot check proves nothing. The method is always true, so the method is what goes on the site.
The eight shared steps
Seven divisions, one operating standard. This is the shape underneath all of them, with the document each step produces.
- 01
Enquiry
You describe the site, the system or the problem.
You receiveA scoping call.
- 02
Survey
We look at the real thing before quoting on it.
You receiveA written picture of the current state.
- 03
Scope
What is in, what is out, and what it depends on.
You receiveA scope of works and a quotation.
- 04
Plan
The work sequenced against dates and owners on both sides.
You receiveA plan with dates.
- 05
Execute
The work runs to a checklist rather than to memory.
You receiveClosed tasks with evidence attached.
- 06
Evidence
The period assembled into one document you can hand to an auditor.
You receiveThe report.
- 07
Review
We sit with you on what the records are telling you.
You receiveAn action list with owners and dates.
- 08
Next cycle
The scope adjusts to what the last cycle proved.
You receiveThe revised plan.
The same shape, seven vocabularies
Nothing gets renamed to sound consistent. A gap analysis and a site survey are different jobs that sit in the same place in the chain. Some divisions split a step in two or merge two into one, so the count runs from six to nine. Pick a division for its own wording.
How an engagement runs
Six steps. Your documents are read before anyone is interviewed, and the work ends in an action plan with owners and dates.
- 01 Call. What prompted this, who asked, and by when.
- 02 Scope. You receive the scope statement.
- 03 Read. You receive a document index.
- 04 Register. You receive the register.
- 05 Documents. You receive the document set.
- 06 Plan. You receive the action plan.
The delivery cycle
Eight steps. It ends in the competence pack your own auditor will ask to see.
- 01 Enquiry. You receive a scoping call.
- 02 Needs analysis. You receive a training needs matrix.
- 03 Programme design. You receive a proposed programme and schedule.
- 04 Scheduling. You receive confirmed dates and joining instructions.
- 05 Delivery. You receive course materials and an attendance record.
- 06 Assessment. You receive assessment results per delegate.
- 07 Certification. You receive certificates and a training register for your records.
- 08 Records. You receive a competence evidence pack.
The FM operating cycle
Nine steps. The asset register written at the survey is what everything after it is measured against.
- 01 Enquiry. You receive a scoping call and a site visit date.
- 02 Site survey. You receive an asset register with every critical item tagged.
- 03 Scope and quote. You receive a scope of works and a quotation.
- 04 Mobilisation. You receive a mobilisation plan with dates.
- 05 Planned schedule. You receive the annual planned maintenance schedule.
- 06 Execution. You receive closed work orders with photo evidence.
- 07 Monthly report. You receive the monthly evidence report.
- 08 Management review. You receive an action list with owners and dates.
- 09 Next cycle. You receive the revised schedule.
From survey to supply
Seven steps. The specification step names the chemical, the tool, the instrument and the dosing unit for each zone together.
- 01 Enquiry. You receive a scoping call and a survey date.
- 02 Zone survey. You receive the survey record and a zone map.
- 03 Zone plan. You receive the written zone plan.
- 04 Supply. You receive a bill of materials and a reorder quantity per position.
- 05 At the position. You receive the poster set and routine cards.
- 06 Verify. You receive verification records kept to the plan.
- 07 Review. You receive the revised zone plan.
The build cycle
Eight steps. The build arrives in increments you can use, rather than a black box for three months.
- 01 Enquiry. You receive a scoping call.
- 02 Systems audit. You receive a current-state process map.
- 03 Specification. You receive a written specification and scope.
- 04 Build. You receive a working increment you can use.
- 05 Pilot. You receive a pilot report with fixes applied.
- 06 Deploy. You receive the live system and a cutover record.
- 07 Handover. You receive an operations manual and admin training.
- 08 Support. You receive a support agreement and a change log.
The same eight steps, with Health's names
Eight steps. The shared names, with the plan worked backwards from the survey date, the submission or the go-live.
- 01 Enquiry. Your survey date, your device list or your claims volume.
- 02 Survey. You receive a survey record.
- 03 Scope. You receive a written scope.
- 04 Plan. You receive a dated plan with owners on both sides.
- 05 Execute. You receive completed task records.
- 06 Evidence. You receive the evidence index, or the monthly revenue cycle report.
- 07 Review. You receive an action list with owners and dates.
- 08 Next cycle. You receive the updated plan.
The readiness cycle
Nine steps. It ends with a readiness pack for the assessor you appoint.
- 01 Enquiry. You receive a scoping call.
- 02 Gap analysis. You receive a gap report against every clause.
- 03 Plan. You receive an implementation plan with dates.
- 04 Build. You receive the documented management system.
- 05 Embed. You receive awareness training and live records.
- 06 Internal audit. You receive an internal audit report with findings.
- 07 Close out. You receive a closed corrective action log.
- 08 Management review. You receive management review minutes.
- 09 Handover. You receive a readiness pack for your assessor.
Where the chain usually breaks
These are the five joints that fail, in our experience and in the audit findings we have read. Each one is a handoff, which is why the chain is the thing we publish.
| The joint | What we do about it |
|---|---|
| Between the survey and the scope | The survey finds things the quotation does not cover, so month one turns into an argument. The scope is written against the register from the survey, line by line. Anything found later is quoted as a variation with its own number. |
| At the handoff between two people | Work gets done and never recorded. This is the most common audit failure we see, and it is a records failure rather than a competence failure. Evidence is captured at the point of work, not written up afterwards from memory. |
| At the report | Most monthly reports are written the week they are due, from whatever can be remembered. Ours assembles from records that already exist, which is why it arrives. If it is late, the work is late, and that is information rather than an excuse. |
| At the review | A review with no action list is a meeting. Every review ends with owners and dates against each item, and the next schedule reflects what the review decided. |
| At the renewal | Most suppliers restart the sales cycle here. We adjust the scope to what the last cycle actually proved, which includes telling you what to stop paying for. |
Where the steps are firm and where they bend
The survey, the scope and the evidence stay in every engagement, whatever the division calls them.
The plan can move with your operations. A shutdown, a Ramadan schedule or an audit date brought forward changes the plan, and the plan is reissued with the new dates rather than quietly slipping.
The review can be monthly, quarterly or tied to your own management review. We say at scoping which cadence we propose and why, and you choose.
Questions about the method
Can we buy one step instead of the whole cycle?
Yes, and most people do. A gap analysis, a single internal audit, one course or one site survey are all normal starting points, and each ends in the document listed against that step. What you cannot buy is the document without the step behind it.
Who owns the records you produce?
You do. Registers, reports, maps, logs and evidence packs are handed over in formats you can open without us, and they stay with you if the contract ends.
What happens when a step slips?
You are told which step, why, and the new date, before the date you were given passes. Most of the damage from a late programme comes from finding out late rather than from the delay itself.
Do you work alongside our current supplier or replace them?
Both happen. Taking over a running programme mid-contract is ordinary work, and the first thing we do is rebuild the register, because a handover pack is almost never complete. Where the incumbent is doing the job well, we will say so.
How long before we see the first document?
The first written document is the survey record, the gap report or the document index, depending on the division. How fast it lands depends on access and on how many sites or systems are in scope, and that is agreed before the work starts.
The same chain in every division
Whichever division you start in, the chain is the one above, and the others run to the same standard.
Tell us which step you are stuck at
Most conversations here start in the middle of somebody else's cycle: a finding that will not close, a report that never arrives, a system nobody uses. That is a good place to start.