Eu.bac CERT
A 2006 certification platform, hundreds of live licenses, and one non-negotiable rule: don't break a single certificate that's already out in the world. We rebuilt the whole thing from the engine up — while every old reference number kept resolving like nothing happened.
The Client
Rebuilding a certification platform without breaking the certificates it had already issued
- Industry association / non-profit
- European Building Automation Controls Association (eu.bac)
- Certification scheme platform + public register
- Room controllers, heat cost allocators, thermostatic radiator valves
- Live since June 2024. Secretariat self-manages the platform
A certification scheme the market relies on
eu.bac certifies the components that decide whether a modern building meets its energy targets: room temperature controllers, heat cost allocators, thermostatic radiator valves. Manufacturers apply, accredited labs run the tests, certification bodies issue the licenses, and a public register tells the market what is certified.
The platform behind all of this had been in service since 2006. It still worked, but it could no longer be safely extended, and the team that built it was no longer available. eu.bac asked us to rebuild it end to end.
Strategy
Our approach
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The one rule
The brief came with one rule that shaped every decision afterwards: every existing license, certificate, holder and reference number had to remain valid and citable after the cutover. A certification body cannot break its own history.
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Modelled around the scheme
Rather than carry the quirks of the legacy database forward, we designed the new system around the certification scheme itself. Holders are linked to their companies and factories, applications flow through submission, testing and approval, and licenses are issued with versioned reference numbers.
The platform supports the full multi-party flow, with permissions modelled per organisation rather than per individual user. Inspections are recorded against factories and test values are stored alongside the applications they belong to.
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Migration with preserved references
The legacy data was migrated with reference numbers preserved. Hundreds of active licenses and the holder, factory and historical records behind them carried over to the new platform on day one, so a certificate referenced in a building specification from a decade ago still resolves to the same record.
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Live and self-managed
The new system has been live since June 2024. The version log since then reads like a healthy product: small enhancements, real bug fixes, no large incidents. eu.bac’s secretariat manages the day-to-day themselves, including issuing new licenses, onboarding new test laboratories and updating the public register, without a developer on call.
A rebuilt platform that keeps a decade of certificates citable.
Public register
It exposes the public register and the applicant-facing flows, built around the certification scheme rather than the legacy database.
Multi-party workflow
Manufacturers, accredited test laboratories and certification bodies each have their own role and view, with permissions modelled per organisation.
Certificates as PDF
Project letters and certificates are generated on top of approved layouts.
A reconstructable history
An event log records every state change, so any license history can be reconstructed, alongside an email log that keeps applicant communication traceable.
