What the words mean

The job

Every job on Affirmat sits on one of three rungs. The rung is computed from the records and nobody can move it, including Affirmat.

Verified

The client confirmed the job, and at least one photograph was taken through Affirmat inside the job's own window and within 150 metres of the address or premises it is filed against. This is the only tier that may be described as verified on site.What it does not say. It says a camera was in the right place at the right time and that the client said the job happened. It does not say the work was done well, and Affirmat has not inspected it.

Client confirmed

The client who paid followed a link, said the job happened, and rated four things: quality, tidiness, communication and price. The photographs did not meet the place test, or were added afterwards.What it does not say. It is one person’s account of one job. It is not an inspection and it is not a certificate.

Logged

A business recorded the job on its own ledger. Nobody outside the business has said anything about it.What it does not say. A logged job is not evidence of finished work. It does not count towards the confirmed job figure and it does not affect where a business appears in results.

The photographs

Each photograph carries its own label, decided by what could be checked about the file rather than by where it came from. Affirmat accepts a photograph from the camera, the library, a share sheet or a desktop drag, and labels it for what it is.

Verified on site

The photograph came from a signed capture — a camera that signs its own files, or the Affirmat app with the device attesting to itself — taken inside the job window and within 150 metres of the anchor.What it does not say. A signature says the file has not been altered since the camera wrote it. It does not say what is in the frame.

Location matched

The photograph carried its own location, and that location was within 150 metres of the address or premises, with a fix good to 50 metres or better, taken inside the job window.What it does not say. It says where the camera was. A photograph of a screen, taken at the right address, would also carry the right location — which is why a confirmation from the client is still required before any job counts.

Time matched

The photograph's own timestamp fell inside the job window, but no usable location came with the file. This is the ordinary case on an iPhone, which removes location when a photo is shared unless the person allows it.What it does not say. It says when the photograph was taken, and nothing about where.

Photo added

A photograph was uploaded to the job. Affirmat knows when it received the file and nothing else about it.What it does not say. It is not evidence. A photograph with this label carries no stamp, and it never upgrades to another label later.

How the place and the time are established

The job window

From the planned start, or the first capture if there was no plan, to the moment the job is marked done — with 12 hours of slack at each end, because a phone's clock and a working day do not agree to the minute.What it does not say. A photograph outside that window is accepted and labelled photo added.

The geofence

150 metres from the address the job is filed against, or from the premises for work done in a yard or a garage. A site session opens when a fix good to 50 metres lands inside it, and lasts 4 hours.What it does not say. Affirmat never uses background location. Nothing is recorded when the app is not open, and a job on a page never shows a coordinate.

The stamp

The date, the time, the routing key of the area and the distance from the anchor, printed into the served image by Affirmat rather than laid over it in the browser. A screenshot of the photograph keeps the stamp.What it does not say. A photograph labelled photo added carries no stamp, because there is nothing recorded to print. Location data is stripped from every published image.

The original file

Hashed exactly as it was uploaded, before anything is done to it, and kept privately. What a page serves is a resized, stamped copy with its metadata removed.What it does not say. Originals are never published and never leave private storage. A job takes at most 20 photographs.

What Affirmat does not check

This is the whole list. If something is not here, it is still worth asking about.

• Affirmat does not inspect work. Nobody from Affirmat visits a job, before or after.
• Affirmat does not certify a tradesperson. Where a register or an insurance mark is shown, it says what was matched and on what date, and no more than that.
• Affirmat does not judge whether a price was fair. Clients rate price out of five, and that is their opinion, not a finding.
• Affirmat does not hold or move money. There is no deposit, no escrow, no payment and no guarantee of any kind.
• Affirmat does not rank by rating alone, and does not sell rank at any price. Results are ordered by confirmed work near you.
• Affirmat cannot tell you that a photograph shows the job it is filed against. It can tell you when the file was made and, sometimes, where.
• A phone number given for a one-off job is kept for 30 days after the job closes and then deleted, unless the client keeps a logbook.

Still not sure

Every word above appears in the glossary with the same definition, and how a job gets confirmed in the first place is set out in for customers.