Learn the platform

Read what HCDI is, reach the Trust Center and the legal pages, and get to sign-in.

/ → /methodology → /partners → /contact; footer → /trust-center, /privacy, /terms. (/subprocessors is linked from the DPA, no longer from the footer, since 17 Oct 2026.)

1. On /, click READ THE METHODOLOGY.
2. On /methodology, click AR for Arabic, then EN to return.
3. Click Partner With Us, then Contact Us.
4. In the footer, click Trust Center, then Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
5. Click Home in the site header, then Sign In in the top strip.

Each page opens with its own tab title. Sign In opens /login with "Sign in to HCDI".

Treating "Begin an Assessment" in the top strip as a registration link. It only moves down the page. Quoting the Trust Center as a certification is also wrong: it says the opposite.

Open the account an HCDI platform administrator created for you. There is no sign-up (D-22-22).

/login → Activating a new account? → /activate

1. If you have no account, ask HCDI for one (the Contact page). A platform administrator creates it, a second person approves it, and you receive a temporary credential in person or by telephone.
2. On /activate, type your Email and the Temporary credential, then click Continue.
3. Type the eight-digit Activation code emailed to you, then click Verify.
4. Type a New password in both boxes. If a Terms of Service version is shown, tick it. Click Save password.
5. Set up two-factor authentication on your own device (1.2). Store the backup codes, then click Go to the platform.

"Your account is active." and the platform opens. Saving the password records your acceptance of the current Privacy Policy and, when one is published, the Terms of Service.

Waiting more than 24 hours: the temporary credential stops working, and the administrator issues a new one. Waiting more than 15 minutes for the code: click Start again. Expecting the credential by email: it never travels with the code.

Turn on two-factor sign-in. Firm Admin acts, HCDI standings and outside Executive Viewers all need it.

the gate link Settings → Security (enable two-factor authentication), or side navigation Security → /settings/security

1. Click Set up MFA.
2. Scan the QR code with your authenticator app, or use the Manual entry key.
3. Type the app's current code in "Enter the 6-digit code from your app to confirm".
4. Click Confirm and enable.
5. Store the backup codes safely, then click I've saved these codes.

"MFA is enabled on your account." and badge Enabled. A wrong code shows "Incorrect code" and the view stays.

Pressing Cancel after a wrong code and starting again. That creates a new key, and your app entry stops matching. Correct the code instead. The backup codes are shown only once.

Pass the gates that stand in front of the Deal Workspaces list.

side navigation Deals → /deals (the gates show there)

1. Click Deals.
2. Tick the MSA checkbox. Type your own name in Your full name, as signer.
3. Click Accept this agreement for the MSA.
4. Tick the NDA checkbox, then click its Accept this agreement.
5. On "Data Processing Agreement", tick the checkbox and click Accept.
6. If the Privacy Policy changed since you activated: on "Privacy Policy", tick "I have read and accept the Privacy Policy." and click Accept.

Each agreement shows Accepted and the date. After the DPA, /deals shows the Deal Workspaces page. A new Firm sees "No deals yet. Use “New deal” to create the first one."

Typing the Firm's name as signer instead of the person's name. Ticking the DPA when you have no authority to bind your firm.

Sign in.

/login

1. Type your email, then click Continue.
2. Type your Password, then click Sign in.
3. Type the current code in Authenticator code, then click Sign in.

A Firm user lands on /deals with the Firm's engagements. HCDI standings land on their own queue: the HCDI reviewer on /hcdi and The Guard on /hcdi/compliance.

Retrying many times quickly after a failure. Typing a backup code into Authenticator code without switching.

Use the notification bell, the language switch and sign-out.

/deals, top bar and side navigation

1. Click the bell to open Notifications. Click a row to open its link.
2. Press Escape to close the panel.
3. Click AR for Arabic or EN for English. The choice is saved to your account.
4. When you leave, click Sign out in the top bar.

The panel lists your notices and the interface changes language. Signing out returns you to /login.

Looking for "My account" under your name. There is no account menu, and security settings are under Security. Expecting client-entered text to be translated: it is shown as typed.

Get a colleague an account in your Firm.

side navigation Security → tab Team (/settings/team)

1. Read the card "Add a team member": accounts are created by HCDI platform administrators.
2. Send HCDI the person's name, their email address and the onboarding record that names them.
3. When HCDI has created and approved the account, the person activates it (1.1).

Once the account exists, the Members table gains a row for the person.

Looking for an add form or a temporary password on this page: there is none. Trying to make someone a Deal Lead here: engagement roles are given on the engagement's People tab (M06).

Turn the email copy of a notice on or off.

Security → tab Notifications

1. On a row, for example "Submitted for your review", tick or untick Email me.

The box changes. No message appears and there is no Save button.

Believing the notice is switched off entirely. Only the email copy is.

Set the colours the platform uses for your Firm.

tab Branding

1. Click Primary color and pick a colour. Do the same for Secondary color if needed.
2. Click Save details. It is enabled once something has changed.
3. To return to the defaults, click Reset to HCDI navy, then save.

"Saved."

Expecting a re-brand to change reports already issued. Thinking Reset to HCDI navy saved the colours on its own.

Record whether your Firm contributes to benchmarking.

tab Data

1. Tick or untick the checkbox.
2. Click Save.

"Saved." and badge CONTRIBUTING or NOT CONTRIBUTING. The badge changes only after Save.

Ticking the box and leaving without Save.

Connect your Firm's own identity provider.

tab SSO

1. Click Redirect URI to register with your identity provider to select it. Give it to your IT team.
2. Type Issuer URL, Client ID, Client secret and Email domain.
3. Click Test connection.
4. Once IT has registered the redirect address, tick Enable SSO for this Firm.
5. Click Save configuration.

Only the refusals were shown in training. With no issuer, Test connection shows "Discovery failed: Enter an issuer URL first". Save configuration then names the required fields, and the badge reads NOT CONFIGURED. A working configuration was not shown.

Enabling SSO before IT registers the redirect address. Sign-ins then fail with "Single sign-on failed. Please try again or contact your Firm Admin." Typing "@acme.com" or a full address as the domain. A blank Client secret keeps the saved one.

Give a system access to the Firm's API, and end that access.

tab API Keys

1. Type Key name.
2. Click Create key.
3. Copy the key at once.
4. To end access, click Revoke on the key's row.

Created key "{name}". with "This is shown once: copy it now, it cannot be retrieved again:". After Revoke, the row shows badge REVOKED.

Leaving the page before copying. The key is gone and you must create a new one. Sharing a key by email.

Reach an engagement's Overview.

side navigation Deals (/deals)

1. Click a stage pill to filter, for example Pre-Signing, or click All.
2. Click Open on the row.
3. If you are a Firm Admin and not a member, click Join as Deal Lead or Join as Reviewer, but only if you will work on it.

The engagement Overview opens at /deals/:id. A Firm Admin who is not a member sees "You can read this engagement, but not act on it yet". Joining adds you to People with that role.

Expecting every engagement to appear for every user. A Member sees only the engagements they belong to. A Firm Admin should not join every engagement "to help".

Open a new Deal Workspace.

/deals → New deal

1. Click New deal.
2. In section 1 Deal basics, type Deal name and choose Transaction type.
3. In section 2 Requesting applicant, fill Applicant name, Applicant age, Applicant job title and Applicant department.
4. In section 3 Parties, fill Company name and Company Type on both Your Company and Target Company.
5. In section 5 Founding Engagements Programme, choose an answer, for example No: this engagement is not in the programme.
6. Click Create deal workspace.

/deals/{id} opens with badges for the company, the type and the first stage, for example PRE-SIGNING, and "People 1".

Leaving section 5 unanswered. That gives "Say whether this engagement is a Founding engagement before creating it (section 5)." Leaving a hidden tab incomplete gives "Complete the Target Company tab: a required field there is still empty." Your Company is the client side, not your advisory Firm. Choosing Domestic M&A for a foreign target: use Cross-border M&A.

Start an assessment at a stage. A later one is the reassessment.

engagement Overview → card Assessments

1. Click New Assessment in the header. The page scrolls to the card and focuses the stage select.
2. Choose the stage in the card's select.
3. Click New Assessment in the card.

"Creating…", then a row "{Stage} · v1.0 · DRAFT".

Pressing more than once and creating several drafts. Expecting the header button alone to add a row. Expecting a reassessment to carry the earlier scores over.

Keep the engagement's stage and its transaction details correct.

Overview → side column "Move the engagement to another stage"; card "Transaction & parties"

1. Choose the stage in "Move the engagement to another stage", then click Move.
2. If you move backwards, confirm with Yes, move back, or click Cancel.
3. To correct details, click Edit on "Transaction & parties", change the fields, and click Save.

The new stage shows in Deal facts and in the header. An edit shows "Saved."

Confusing the engagement's stage with an assessment's stage. Moving back out of habit.

Sign the engagement's terms. This lifts the Order Form lock on scoring.

engagement → tab Commercial (/deals/:id/commercial)

1. Check the proposed terms and the parties.
2. Type your name in Your full name (signature).
3. Click Accept the Order Form.

Badge Accepted and "Accepted by {name} on {date}. Scoring is unlocked."

Reading "Scoring is unlocked" as "scoring can start now". The materiality criteria are a separate lock (5.2). A Reviewer cannot accept.

Decide whether the engagement is in the Founding Engagements Programme. You must do this before any evidence is uploaded.

engagement → tab Scoping → card "Founding Engagements Programme"

1. Decide before uploading anything.
2. Click Flag as a Founding engagement, or leave it unflagged.

Badge IN THE PROGRAMME and a note that the engagement may issue scored reports while the methodology values in force are provisional. The button becomes Remove the flag.

Uploading a document "to get started" first. Once evidence exists, the flag cannot change. Flagging every engagement: places are limited.

Fix, before any scoring, what will count as material and which party is assessed.

Scoping → cards "Materiality criteria" and "Assessed parties"

1. Type Decision informed, Declared exposures and Quantitative trigger, as agreed with the client.
2. Click Record criteria.
3. On a two-party type, choose This engagement assesses, for example Target.
4. Click Record assessed parties.

"Recorded by {name} on {date}." For the parties you also see "Assessed: {party}". Each record is in force once recorded.

Writing the criteria after looking at the evidence. Inventing numeric thresholds nobody agreed with the client. Typing a space to fill a field. Choosing "Acquirer + Target" to be safe.

Record the client's real titles, which name action owners in the report. Also record whether your Firm offers remediation services.

Scoping → cards "Recorded at scoping" and "Do we offer remediation services to this client?"

1. Tick only the titles the client actually has, for example CEO, CHRO and Board.
2. Click Save structure.
3. Answer the remediation question truthfully, for example No, none.

"Saved." for each. The line "Not yet disclosed. Report issuance is refused until it is." disappears.

Ticking every box. The report would then name titles the client does not have. Answering "No, none" when your Firm does offer such services: the answer is printed in the report.

Name who is told if an Integrity Event is raised.

engagement → tab Governance → card "Integrity Event contacts"

1. Click Edit.
2. Fill HCDI Compliance contact, Data Protection Officer, Client governance contact and, if there is one, Partner compliance officer. Use one address per field.
3. Click Save.

"Saved." The read view shows the contacts. An empty contact reads "Not specified".

Naming the deal sponsor as client governance contact. Typing two addresses in one field. Expecting HCDI to be emailed at the HCDI Compliance contact; it is not.

Give a colleague a role on this engagement, for example Reviewer.

engagement → tab People → the add-member form

1. Choose Role, for example Reviewer.
2. Choose the Firm member.
3. Keep Party on Delivery side (no party) for your own team.
4. Click Add member.

"Added {name} to this engagement as {role}." and the new row.

Expecting the person to be emailed. A Firm member added this way is not, so tell them. Adding people on the Firm's Team page gives no engagement role.

Bring in people from the assessed company.

People → the add-member form

1. Choose Role: Respondent or Client HR.
2. Type Respondent name and Respondent email. For Client HR and an outside executive the same fields read Name and Email address.
3. On a two-party engagement, choose the Party, for example Target.
4. Click Add member.

For a new respondent: "Account created for {name} ({email}) as Respondent." with a temporary password shown once. For Client HR: their account must already exist, created by an HCDI platform administrator; the screen then reads "Added {name} to this engagement as Client HR." and they are told by email.

Adding Client HR before HCDI has created their account: the add is refused. Adding the same person twice ("This person is already a member of this Deal Workspace"). Inviting a Firm colleague as a respondent to test the portal.

Let an executive read reports without working on the engagement.

People → the add-member form

1. For someone outside the Firm, choose Executive viewer from outside the firm (by email). Their account must already exist, created by an HCDI platform administrator.
2. Type their name and the email address their account was created with.
3. Choose their side in Party. It is required.
4. Click Add member.
5. For a Firm colleague, choose Executive Viewer, pick the Firm member, choose the Party, and click Add member.
6. Tick Holds the Full-view recipient role only for the person in the confirmed recipient role.

"Added {name} to this engagement as Executive Viewer." An outside viewer's row shows "OUTSIDE THE FIRM" and no Full-view recipient box.

Adding an outside viewer before HCDI has created their account: the add is refused. Using the inside option for a client executive; it needs a Firm member. Leaving Party empty for an outside viewer: the browser says "Please select an item in the list." Ticking the recipient box for every senior viewer.

Invite many respondents at once.

People → card "Invite people from a file"

1. Keep Invite as on Respondents. Choose Email language where a row names none.
2. Choose the file in CSV file. Its columns are name, email, party and language.
3. Read the preview, "{n} ready to invite, {m} lines not usable.", and the lines it lists.
4. Correct the file if needed and choose it again.
5. Click Send {n} invitations.

An "Invitations sent" progress bar and tiles for new accounts, existing accounts added, skipped, and emails sent or not sent. Then "All batches sent."

Sending the file again to "resend". People already invited are skipped and nothing is resent; they can use Forgot password instead. Removing the party column to get a batch through. Uploading the roster here: the roster is Client HR's (M07).

Supply the assessed company's workforce roster. Only Client HR may do this.

/client-roster → Open roster → /client-roster/:dealId

1. Click Open roster on the right company's row.
2. Type Documented eligible headcount, as a number only.
3. Paste the rows into Roster rows in the format the hint shows.
4. Correct any line the alert names.
5. Click Upload roster.

"Roster uploaded." The card shows the rows uploaded, the headcount and badge RECEIVED: NOT YET COUNTED.

Using your own HR level names as entry classes ("“manager” is not an entry class: use general, leadership, board, or leave it empty."). Uploading again "to make sure": the older upload becomes Superseded.

Corroborate Leadership and Board roster entries against a company document.

People → card "Leaders and board members checked against documents"

1. Click Check on the entry.
2. Choose the Governance document.
3. Type Where in the document.
4. Choose Found or Not found.
5. Click Record.

Found gives status VERIFIED and a Check again button. Not found gives "NOT FOUND IN THE DOCUMENT" and "AWAITING HCDI'S REVIEWER". That is an evidence conflict, and finalize stays blocked until HCDI's reviewer resolves it (17.3).

Choosing Found to avoid the conflict; that misrecords evidence. Checking against the roster itself. Writing only "checked".

Send the HCDI question sets to the right respondents.

engagement → tab Instruments → tab Structured Inquiries

1. On the consent gate, tick "I consent and agree to the above." and click Continue.
2. Under "Respondent roles", click a role pill for each respondent, for example Leadership.
3. Click Create on the matching instrument card.
4. Click the tab Structured Inquiries and open the set, for example "C-level Structured Inquiry".
5. Click Distribute structured inquiry.

Badge Distributed and "This structured inquiry has been distributed and can no longer be edited." The "Sent to" card lists each respondent as PENDING.

Giving everyone every role. Reading "0 respondents were notified by email." as "nobody received it". Editing an HCDI instrument to fit the client.

Give your consent, then answer.

/respondent

1. Click Read and accept. Tick "I consent and agree to the above." and click Continue.
2. Click ← Back, then Open on the set.
3. Read "Before you begin" and click Continue.
4. Choose one answer for every statement.
5. Click Submit responses.
6. Optionally, click Show my answers.

First "Your consent is recorded". After submitting: "You've already sent your responses to this set of questions. Thank you." with the cards "Your report" and "Your own answers".

Submitting with questions unanswered ("Please answer every question before submitting. {n} of {m} answered"). Trying to submit a second time.

See what respondents said without exposing any one person.

Structured Inquiries → open a distributed set

1. Open the set.
2. Read each statement's line and the "Sent to" table.

If too few people answered, each statement reads "Withheld: {n} response(s), below the HCDI minimum reporting threshold of {value}." With enough responses, each statement shows an average out of 5.

Asking HCDI to "unhide" one person's answers. Withheld responses are not evidence.

Record a respondent's answers to the authored questions for one indicator.

scoring page → header link Adaptive Digital Inquiry (…/inquiry)

1. Choose the Indicator.
2. Choose the Respondent. They must already have given consent.
3. Click Start inquiry.
4. Type the answer to each question shown, then click Save answer.
5. Click Submit inquiry.

The row shows "ESCALATED TO REVIEWER", "OPENED UNDER CONSENT", "CLAIMED", "AWAITS A PERSON'S SCORE" and "No score".

Recording the interview now and asking for consent later. Without consent you get "Waiting for the respondent's consent" and no session starts. Waiting for HCDI to score it: "Reviewer" here means the scoring practitioner.

Make an indicator scorable and record how far its evidence stands up.

engagement → tab Data requests (/deals/:id/evidence-requests) → card "Evidence documents"

1. Choose the file in Document.
2. Choose the indicator in Evidence for indicator.
3. Set Date the document speaks from and type a factual Description.
4. On a two-party engagement, choose the Party.
5. Click Upload.
6. On the new row, click Tag, choose the status (for example Claimed), and click Save.

"{file} uploaded." The row shows the indicator and UNTAGGED until you tag it. After tagging it shows the status and a Re-tag button, and the untagged banner disappears.

Uploading with No indicator: that makes no indicator scorable. Leaving documents untagged until submission day. Writing notes to colleagues in the description ("score this high"). Instruction-like text is detected and disclosed.

Record whether the company supplied what was asked for.

Data requests → "Company data requests"

1. On the request's card, choose an uploaded document in the select.
2. Click Mark provided.
3. If the company never supplied it, click Record as missing instead.

The card shows badge PROVIDED with the file and an Unlink button, or badge MISSING. The tiles update.

Thinking Provided means verified. The document's own status says how far it stands up. Scoring an indicator low because its request is missing.

Make sure each party sees only its own documents and the joint ones.

Data requests → documents table

1. Click Set party on the row.
2. Choose Unattributed, Acquirer, Target or Joint.
3. Click Save, or Cancel.

The PARTY column shows the value.

Leaving documents unattributed. A party-side reader then cannot see them.

Record the practitioner's score for one indicator.

Overview → Assessments → Open → Score assessment; left navigation pillar, for example P1

1. Go to the indicator card.
2. Click a score from 1 to 5.
3. Under Select all that apply, tick at least one option.
4. Optionally, type Additional context (optional).
5. Click Save score.

Badge saved. The counters move, for example "1 / 29" and "1 of 6 indicators scored".

Changing the score after ticking: the ticks clear. Saving without an option; submission is then refused and names the indicator. Copying level-description or option text into the context field or a report.

Record which party a 1–4 finding belongs to, before submission.

scoring page → indicator card → "Party this action belongs to"

1. Choose the Party.
2. Type the Reason.
3. Click Record party.

"Party recorded." The submit hint counts one fewer.

Saving the score again afterwards ("Saving this score again clears it."). Typing only spaces as the reason.

Find out what is locking scoring and who can clear it.

scoring page → notices at the top and the indicator cards

1. Read the lock notice at the top.
2. Follow its link (Order Form or Materiality criteria), or ask the person named.
3. For an indicator with no linked evidence, link evidence (9.1). There is no "Record not evidenced" button.

Each lock and who clears it: - "Scoring is locked until this engagement’s Order Form is accepted by its Deal Lead." The Deal Lead accepts it (4.2). - "Scoring is locked until materiality criteria are recorded on the deal page." The Deal Lead records them (5.2). - An open integrity matter suspends the engagement. The Guard closes it (17.2). The wording on this page is. - No linked evidence: the card's controls are disabled. At Submit for Review the platform records the indicator not evidenced. - "This assessment is finalized and can no longer be edited". Use a later assessment (3.3).

Giving an indicator a 1 because nothing was supplied. Absence is never a low score. Reloading again and again on a lock that needs another person.

End scoring and start corrective-action drafting and HCDI review.

scoring page → Submit for Review

1. Check that every applicable indicator is scored with an option ticked and every document is tagged. On a two-party engagement, also check that every 1–4 score has a Party.
2. Click Submit for Review.

Badge IN REVIEW and "{n}/{n} English drafts written. Each Arabic text is drafted as a translation once its English is approved." The button becomes Review corrective actions →.

Reading "English drafts written" as approval. Assuming the red text still applies after you fixed the cause. Changing a score during review: that reverts the assessment to draft and clears that indicator's draft.

Classify each corrective action and name its owner.

Review corrective actions → (…/review) → action card → "Action attributes"

1. Choose Materiality, unless a rule has set it.
2. Choose Response type. For Structural response, tick "This action is neither a workshop nor a cadence."
3. Choose Timing.
4. Choose Accountable function. Leave Accountable role blank unless the function cannot be resolved.
5. Type Reasoning (logged).
6. Click Record judgment.

"Recorded", badge All three set, and judgment beside each attribute. Implementation instrument shows an instrument. When every card is done and HCDI has approved, the page shows "(n/n indicators fully reviewed)" and Finalize assessment becomes enabled.

Leaving without Record judgment. Recording a workshop or a cadence as Structural ("Confirm the MR-04 test to record a Structural response."). Typing a person's name in Accountable role. Naming your own Firm's service line.

Give every not-evidenced indicator an action to establish what could not be evidenced.

…/review → "Indicators that could not be evidenced"

1. Type The action, in English.
2. Click Save and send for approval.
3. Record its attributes on the same card (11.2).
4. The HCDI reviewer approves the English, then the Arabic (11.3).
5. To change it later, click Write it again, then Save the new text and send it for approval.

The English shows "Awaiting approval" and the Arabic "Awaiting the English". After approval the card looks like 11.3.

Leaving it unwritten. Finalize counts it as unreviewed.

See, before you press Finalize, which of the six conditions are met.

…/review → card Release conditions

1. Read each row: Met or Missing, with the reason under it.
2. After someone else has acted, click Check again.

"{met} of 6 met". The six conditions are Credential valid, Authorisation valid, Conflict check complete, Independent Reviewer assigned, Review completed and Methodology version locked. The card records nothing.

Pressing Finalize again and again instead of reading this card.

Close the assessment so that reports can issue.

…/review → Finalize assessment

1. Click Finalize assessment.
2. Read "Finalizing cannot be undone. Press Confirm finalize to proceed, or Cancel."
3. Click Confirm finalize, or Cancel.

The status moves from In review to Finalized and you land on the scoring page. If anything is missing, a red refusal names it and the status stays IN REVIEW, for example "Finalization is refused: {n} of the six release conditions are not met, …".

Asking an administrator to "push it through". There is no manual gate closure. Looking for an "unfinalize": there is none.

Record the Full-view recipient and your attestation before issuing.

…/review → Open the report (…/report)

1. In the card "Full-view recipient", type the Recipient role: a role, never a person's name.
2. Click Record the recipient role.
3. In the card "Before issuing", tick both statements.
4. Click Attest and continue.

"Recorded." with badge CONFIRMED and "Recorded recipient role: …". Then "Attested. The report can now be issued."

Typing a person's name. Ticking because the button needs it: each tick is your personal recorded statement.

Issue the reports of record on a finalized assessment.

…/report → card "Generate a report"

1. Choose Format (PDF or Word (.docx)), Language (English or العربية (Arabic)) and Edition (Full view or a party edition, for example Target edition).
2. Set Type to Findings report and click Generate report.
3. Set Type to Full report and click Generate report.
4. Repeat for other languages, formats and editions. For the summary, choose Executive summary.
5. In "Generated reports", click Download on a row.

Each issue adds a row "{Type} · {Edition} · {Language} · {Format}" with status VALID. Downloaded files keep their names, for example …-ALLPARTIES-FULL-EN-v1.pdf.

Issuing the Full report first. It is refused: "A Full Report for this assessment and edition does not issue before its Findings Report …". Generating the same report twice, which leaves two version 1 documents. Sending an edited Word file as the report of record. Renaming the files.

Get to a decision without misreading the report.

Full view PDF → contents links on page 3

1. On the cover, read the score and the coverage together, and who reviewed the report.
2. On page 5, read the three dimensions, the gates chip and the Integrity Events chip.
3. Read the material findings, party by party.
4. Read the dashboard's conclusion statement and the sufficiency label.
5. Read the materiality criteria fixed at scoping.
6. Read the action plan: the milestone first, then what not acting means.
7. On page 100, read the independence and integrity sections. Then read the disclaimer.
8. Ask the delivering team two things the report cannot tell you: its current status, and which gate is open.

You reach your own decision. The report gives a conclusion, never a verdict.

Stopping at the cover's score. Reading the band as a pass or a fail. Reading a not-evidenced indicator as a score of 1.

Understand what an action asks, who owns it and what closes it.

section 1 "MATERIAL FINDINGS"; section 9 "Executive Action Summary"

1. Read INDICATOR, SCORE, RESPONSE TYPE and ACCOUNTABLE ROLE.
2. Read CORRECTIVE ACTION (FINDINGS / GAPS) and FROM FINDING TO ACTION.
3. Read IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUMENT, IMPLEMENTATION LIFECYCLE and EXPECTED OUTCOMES.
4. Read SYSTEM OF RECORD and EVIDENCE OF CLOSURE.
5. In section 9, read MATERIALITY, MILESTONE, WHAT NOT ACTING MEANS and PARTY.

You can say what the client must do, who owns it, by when, and what evidence closes it.

Ranking actions by response type or by ID. Equating material with urgent. Submitting "the outcomes happened" as completion evidence. Expecting a completed action to change the score; only reassessment does.

Know which document you hold before you quote it.

the issued files

1. Findings Report: the findings, with no action content.
2. Full Report and Action Plan: the findings and the action plan.
3. Party edition: that party's actions and the joint ones only. The other party's actions are withheld.
4. Arabic edition: its own page numbers. Cite those.
5. Word file: the same content. An edited copy is not the report.
6. Executive Summary report: a separate document from the Executive Summary section.

You quote the right document, with the right page numbers.

Calling the two-party Full view the "Fit Report". Telling a Findings Report reader that "the actions are in an annex".

Rely only on a report that still stands, and use it correctly.

the report's cover and page 100

1. Read the Report ID on the cover.
2. Ask the delivering team or HCDI for the current status, quoting the Report ID. The document prints no status because it is frozen at issuance.
3. Before using the report, check the ten don'ts in M14-084.

You know the report's current status before relying on it.

Relying on an old copy without checking its status. Editing the Word file and circulating it. Sending the Full view to one party. Copying band boundaries, rationale statements or methodology wording. Forwarding the report beyond its intended recipients without HCDI's written consent.

Record what the client says happened to an action after issuance.

report page top bar Action Tracker, or Open the Action Tracker on the review page → action card → "New status"

1. Click the new status: In progress, Deferred or Risk accepted.
2. Type What this records.
3. Choose The client's instruction: the client's own message, minute or signed note.
4. Click Record transition.

The badge and its definition, for example IN PROGRESS "The accountable role has recorded work under way." The History gains an entry with your name, the note and the instruction.

Recording a move from a phone call. Choosing any file because the list offers it. Recording Risk accepted on the team's own view of the risk: it must be the client's documented decision.

Pass the client's completion evidence to HCDI for verification.

Tracker → action card → "New status"

1. Click Submitted as complete.
2. Type What this records.
3. Choose The client's instruction and the Completion evidence.
4. If someone did the work, type Who did the work (optional) truthfully.
5. Click Record transition.
6. Click Open in the History entry to check the evidence file.

Badge SUBMITTED AS COMPLETE. Only Deferred and Risk accepted remain for you, and HCDI's verification role decides next.

Reporting the action to the board as complete. It is the client's statement, not a verification. Attaching the expected outcomes as proof. Leaving the implementer blank when your Firm did the work. Naming a firm that assessed this engagement limits who may deliver the reassessment.

See scores across the engagement's finalized assessments.

Overview → Trend & Benchmark (/deals/:id/trend)

1. Read the tiles and "Score Trend".
2. Click Show as table to see a table.

The trend of finalized assessments. Without one the page reads "No finalized assessments yet: finalize at least one to see a trend."

Expecting a verified Tracker action to move these numbers. Telling a client how they compare with peers: benchmark reads are restricted.

End an engagement that ends without a report, or bring it back.

engagement → tab Governance → card "Deal Workspace status"

1. Type Why it is being closed.
2. Click Close Deal Workspace, then Confirm close, or Cancel.
3. To reopen, type Why it is being reopened and click Reopen Deal Workspace.

Badge CLOSED: the records stay readable and every change is refused. After reopening the badge reads ACTIVE. If a report has been issued you get "A report has been issued on this Deal Workspace, so it is not closed: …" and the badge stays ACTIVE.

Closing to "pause" work. Asking an administrator to force closure after a report has issued.

Report a suspected integrity problem to HCDI Compliance.

engagement → tab Governance → card "Integrity events"

1. Choose the Category that matches what you actually suspect.
2. Type the Description.
3. Click Record suspected integrity matter.

The event shows OPEN and "SUSPECTED: COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION PENDING". At once you see "Engagement suspended: … Nothing can be scored, submitted, finalized or issued until “The Guard” closes it."

Choosing a category to avoid a suspension. Naming more people than needed. Raising a concern as a finding or a score. Thinking the suspension waits for The Guard: it starts at recording.

Record whether flagged instruction-like text was placed deliberately.

Governance → card "Instruction-shaped text in evidence"

1. Read the flagged row.
2. Choose your decision, for example No, not deliberate.
3. Type the Reasoning.
4. Click Record decision.

The row reads "Determined not deliberate" and the button becomes Record a new decision.

Deleting the evidence item; the flag and the item stay on record. Expecting a flag from a file's own content. Only the description typed at upload and Adaptive Digital Inquiry answers are read. Treating an escalation as an Integrity Event.

Read your side's issued reports and see where your side's actions stand.

/viewer

1. Click Turn on two-factor sign-in and enrol (1.2). Then sign out and sign in again.
2. On /viewer, find your engagement ("YOUR SIDE: …").
3. Under "ISSUED REPORTS", click Download.
4. Under "ACTION TRACKER", read each action's status by indicator code.

Your side's report edition downloads, for example …-PARTYA-FULL-EN-v1.pdf. The Tracker list shows codes and statuses, with no action text and no scores.

Reporting "no reports" before turning on two-factor. Asking for the Full view, which an outside viewer never receives. Reading "Submitted as complete" as done. Forwarding the report without HCDI's written consent.

Read an engagement and its reports without changing anything.

Deals → the engagement

1. Open the engagement.
2. Open the scoring page from the assessment row's Open.
3. On the report page, click Download on a row.

The pages show no edit controls and the reports download. The report page says "Your role on this engagement can read and download the reports but not generate them.".

Treating the Tracker refusal as a fault: "Reading the Tracker is refused: you are not recorded as holding a recipient role on this engagement."

Find readiness roles posted by organisations.

Menu → HCDI Network (/network)

1. Filter by Operating model and HCDI credential, or set both to Any.
2. Click a posting card.
3. Follow the "Apply on {host}" link to the organisation's own page.

/network/vacancies/:id shows the posting and its application link, with the link's host shown.

Calling a posting "HCDI-approved". Asking HCDI for an application; HCDI never receives one. Reading "No roles are posted at the moment." as an empty board: it means nothing matches the filters.

Show that you control a mailbox at your organisation's own domain.

/network → For corporates (/network/corporates) → "Declare your organisation"

1. Type Legal name, Email domain (the domain your account uses) and Jurisdiction (two-letter code).
2. Choose Legal entity identifier and type the Identifier.
3. Click Send me a code.
4. Enter the emailed code.

A domain other than your account's is refused ("Your account's email is not at {domain}. …"). A name carrying the HCDI mark is refused. For an organisation already on record: "This organisation was already declared at this domain. Nothing new was created; continue with it below."

Using a trading name or a department name. Typing the website domain when staff emails use another. Declaring again to "refresh" authority.

Put a role on the board, and take it down.

/network/corporates → New posting; Show postings

1. Click New posting.
2. Fill Role title, Country (two-letter code), City, Operating model, Reporting line, HCDI credential and Your application page.
3. Click Publish posting.
4. To take it down, click Show postings, click Withdraw on the live row, then OK.

"{title}: On the board · until {date}", and the posting appears first on /network/vacancies. After withdrawing, the row reads "Withdrawn" and the posting leaves the board.

Putting a job description in the title. Using an application link that names HCDI, which is refused. Publishing twice to "bump" a role.

Read the scheme's documents correctly.

the documents; the certification app's "Verify a credential" page

1. Certificate: read the number, the holder, the level title, the limitation block, the methodology version and the dates. It never states a status.
2. Statement of Results: it is marked "NOT A CREDENTIAL". While the pass mark is held, the required standard prints as a visible bracket, which is not a pass mark.
3. Register: on "Verify a credential", type the Credential ID and click Look up.

Today every lookup shows "Verification not yet published", the same for a real number and an invented one.

Using a certificate's dates to decide whether someone is certified today. Accepting a badge image or a Statement as proof. Reading "not yet published" as certified, or as not certified.

Find out what a disabled button is waiting for.

any page

1. Look next to the button.
2. Read the sentence there. It says what is missing, for example "Choose a file to upload."
3. Supply what is missing, then press the button again.

The button becomes enabled.

Clicking repeatedly, or reloading.

Use the refusal to find the fix.

any page

1. Read the refusal to its last sentence. That sentence usually names the fix.
2. Fix the cause.
3. Act again. The old red text may stay on screen until you do.

The status changes once the cause is fixed.

Reporting a refusal as a bug. It is the platform enforcing a rule.

Find who is allowed to act.

any page

1. Read the status line near where the button would be.
2. It names who acts next, for example "a second engagement member".
3. Ask that person.

The right person does the act.

Asking a Firm Admin or an administrator to "enable the button".