Overview
When a Certification Process has Require Validation turned on, completing the assessment Checklist isn't enough to award the Competency — a reviewer must approve the completed work first. This article is for the reviewer: how to find Certifications awaiting your validation and approve or reject them. For the setup side, see How to create a Certification Process.
To validate, you must be listed as a Reviewer on the Certification Process. Approving the completed assessment also requires the relevant Results validation permission on your Role.
Why this matters: Validation is the second pair of eyes that makes a Certification trustworthy. Until you approve, the candidate hasn't been awarded the Competency — so they can't yet take the RideOps positions or complete the Checklists it gates. Timely review keeps qualified staff cleared to work without unnecessary delay.
How validation fits the flow
With Require Validation ON, a Certification Process runs like this:
The assignee completes the assessment Checklist.
The completed Checklist becomes a Result awaiting validation — the Competency is not yet awarded.
A reviewer reviews the Result and approves or rejects it.
On approval, the Competency is awarded with its configured expiration. On rejection, no Competency is granted and the assignee can re-run the Process.
Find Certifications awaiting validation
Pending validations surface in two places — use whichever fits your workflow:
Surface | Use it for |
Certification Process progress | Open the Process from |
Results awaiting validation | On the Results page, filter to results awaiting validation to review the completed assessment Checklist directly. |
Note: If your notification settings include result requires validation, you'll also be alerted when a completion is waiting — so you don't have to check manually.
Review and decide
Open the completed assessment
Open the Result behind the pending Certification and review the assignee's answers, attachments, and any signatures against your assessment criteria.
Approve or reject
Approve — the Competency is awarded to the assignee immediately, with the expiration configured on the Process.
Reject — no Competency is granted. The assignee returns to Awaiting Completion and can re-run the Process after addressing your feedback.
Best practice: When rejecting, leave a clear comment on what needs to improve. The assignee re-runs the same Process, so specific feedback turns a rejection into a fast, focused retake rather than a guess.
Heads up: Avoid being both the assignee and the reviewer on the same Certification — it defeats the purpose of validation. Keep the roles separate so review is a genuine second check.
Frequently asked questions
Q: I'm a reviewer but don't see anything to validate. Why?
A: Either nothing is awaiting validation, or you're not listed as a Reviewer on that Process, or your Role lacks the Results validation permission. Confirm all three.
Q: What happens to the candidate when I reject?
A: No Competency is awarded and their status returns to Awaiting Completion. They can re-run the Process — ideally after reading your feedback.
Q: Does approving award the Competency right away?
A: Yes. On approval the Competency is granted immediately with the Process's configured expiration, and the assignee can act on anything it gates.
Q: Can peer assessment replace reviewer validation?
A: They're related but distinct. Peer assessment is about who completes the assessment on the candidate's behalf; validation is an extra approval step after completion. You can use either, both, or neither. See Allow peer assessments in certification processes.