QA Hub User Guide. IM11 V001 dated

Transcription

1 QA Hub User Guide 1

2 QA HUB USER GUIDE What is the Quality Assurance (QA) Hub? The QA Hub is a web-based data management tool, which has replaced Elmhurst s original Monitoring system. The QA Hub will maintain an up to date record of all Elmhurst Domestic Energy Assessors QA submissions (previously known as monitoring submissions ) and each assessor will have access to their own individual database via an on-line interface. How does the QA Hub Work? You will continue to receive quality assurance requests (previously known as monitoring requests ) via and these s will include a link to the QA Hub. By following the link and logging into the QA Hub, you will now have the option to upload your survey evidence directly via the QA Hub itself. Once uploaded, a member of the Elmhurst QA Audit Team will review your submission and provide you with feedback, which will be available via the QA Hub, although you will also continue to receive this by . You may access the QA Hub at any time in order to check your overall QA status. If Elmhurst does not receive a response to a QA request, reminders will still be issued. The QA Hub will also provide you with details of any outstanding QA requests (and associated reminders) and can help you to respond quickly and easily. We recommend that you log in to the QA Hub on a regular basis to check for new QA requests. All QA requests will be clearly listed within the QA Hub, thus ensuring that they are not overlooked. In the unlikely event that you do not receive your QA request via , we recommend that you check your personal details. If the details are incorrect, please complete a Change of Details form, which can be downloaded directly from the QA Hub. 2

3 How do I access the QA Hub? The QA Hub log-in page can be accessed by following the link which is included within all QA request s. In addition to this, you can access the QA Hub from both the Elmhurst website and the Members Area. Here, it will be necessary to enter your Surveyor ID and your password, then click enter to access to the QA Hub. Alternatively, the QA Hub may be accessed by typing into your Internet browser. Once you are logged in, you will have access to the Overview screen, which will provide you with a summary of your personal Q.A. status. 3

4 Overview Screen This screen is the main interface of Elmhurst s QA Hub. It will provide you with an overview of your QA status and allow you to access the system s various functions, as explained below: Search This allows you to enter an RRN or EPC Reference Number in order to quickly and easily locate any survey which has been requested for QA. Simply click on the green arrow to start the search. Surveyor ID Number Surveys requested for QA - awaiting submission. This row lists all QA requests which have not yet been submitted to Elmhurst, along with the issue dates of the requests. You can view full details of these surveys by clicking on any of the numbers in this row. Surveys currently undergoing QA This row shows how many of your surveys are currently undergoing QA. NB - Clicking on the numbers in this row will not provide you with survey details at this stage in the QA process. QA Completed awaiting sign off This row shows how many surveys have completed the QA process but are awaiting sign off, prior to feedback being issued. Again, it is not possible to view the details of the surveys in this row. QA Completed When a survey has undergone QA and the feedback has been sent to you, it will appear in this row of 4

5 the table. You are now able to view details of these surveys and their associated feedback by clicking on the numbers in this row. Should you wish to return to the Overview screen at any time, simply click on the orange overview link that appears below your Surveyor ID Number, which is situated to the left hand side of the screen. Alternatively, you may also click on the QA Hub logo. Submitting your evidence to us When you click on any of the numbers in the Surveys requested for QA - awaiting submission row, you will be presented with a list of outstanding surveys along with their associated EPC Reference Numbers and RRNs (see below). Surveyor ID Number You can now submit the appropriate evidence by clicking on the access information & upload evidence link for each survey. When you click on this link, you will be presented with the following screen: This screen lists your Surveyor Details, EPC Reference Number, RRN and the Property Address. Details of all previous correspondence relating to this QA request are also included in this section. Should you wish to hide these details from display, simply click the text click to hide details. To view the details again, simply 5

6 click the text click to show details, which will appear in the same location. It is possible for you to submit your survey via the QA Hub in two ways either as individual files (i.e. photographs, floor plans and site notes) or as a single document containing all of your evidence. Uploading individual photographs, floor plans and site notes Should you choose to submit your evidence to us as individual files, rather than a single document, please follow the steps outlined below. Browse Button Upload Button Submit Evidence to Elmhurst Button Step 1 - You can now add photographs to your Q.A. submission by clicking on the Browse button and navigating to the relevant file (which you have previously stored on your PC). Double click on the photo file and the file name will appear in the Upload Photos box. Step 2 - Next, click the Upload button. Step 3 - The name of the selected files will now appear in the Details box, allowing you to verify that the correct file has been uploaded. Step 4 - If an incorrect file has been uploaded into the Details box, simply click the red cross adjacent to the file name to remove it. Step 5 - The above steps should now be repeated in order to upload your floor plan and site note files. IMPORTANT When submitting your photographs, floor plans and site notes as individual files, you must ensure that all three sections (Upload Photos, Upload Floor Plans and Upload Site Notes) are populated with the relevant files. i.e. If you try to submit your photographs without uploading your floor plans and site notes, you will be presented with an error message and Elmhurst will not receive your QA submission. Step 6 - When you are satisfied that all files have been uploaded to the QA Hub, click the green 6

7 SUBMIT EVIDENCE TO ELMHURST button. You have now successfully submitted your evidence to us! Compress ( zipped) files cannot be uploaded as individual files the QA Hub will only accept compressed files if they are submitted as a single document. NB - there is a total upload size limit of 30MB. Please ensure that you evidence files do not exceed this size limit. Uploading a single document If you wish to submit your survey evidence as a single document (i.e. one file containing photographs, floor plans and site notes), this should ideally be in either MS Word or PDF format. If appropriate, the file should be compressed (i.e. zipped ) to ensure that it does not exceed the maximum total size limit of 30Mb. Please see the section headed Compressing and reducing the size of large files for further guidance. Browse Button Upload Button Submit Evidence to Elmhurst Button Step 1 - Click on the Browse button and navigate to the single document, which you have previously saved on your PC. Double click on the file and the file name will appear in the Upload Single Document box. Step 2 - Next, click the Upload button. Step 3 - The name of the single document file will now appear in the Details box, allowing you to verify that the correct file has been uploaded, prior to submission. Step 4 - If an incorrect file has been uploaded into the Details box, simply click the red cross adjacent to the file name to remove it. 7

8 Step 5 - When you are satisfied that all files have been uploaded to the QA Hub, click the green SUBMIT EVIDENCE TO ELMHURST button. You have now successfully submitted your evidence to us! NB - there is a total upload size limit of 30MB. Please ensure that you evidence files do not exceed this size limit. Acceptable file types The file types which can be submitted via the QA Hub are: Photos: - Floor Plans: - Site Notes: - Single Document: - JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP PDF, DOC, DOCX, DWG, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP TXT, RTF, PDF, DOC, DOCX, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP ZIP, PDF, DOC, DOCX Compressing, reducing and checking the size of large files Files submitted via the QA Hub must not exceed the total maximum file size of 30Mb. To check the size of a file, simply place your cursor over the file and right click. Select properties from the list of options and this will state the file size. We recommend that you adjust the settings of your digital camera to a low resolution in order to keep the size of photograph files at a manageable level. When scanning site notes and floor plans, please set your scanner resolution to a level which ensures that the file size is not excessive, whilst still ensuring that these documents can be easily read. If your photograph/image files sizes are large, it may be necessary to reduce their size. This can easily be achieved using most photo/image software packages or within Microsoft Windows using a basic application such as Paint. Alternatively, a number of free applications are available via the Internet, which will allow you to reduce image file sizes. If your submission is to be sent as a single document, the file can be compressed, or zipped, to reduce its size. To compress (or zip ) a document file using Windows XP or Vista, simply locate the file on your PC and right click on it. At this point choose Send To and then Compressed (Zipped) Folder. This will create a new zip folder with the same name as the original document file - the newly created, compressed document file can be found inside. Alternatively, document files can be compressed using third party software such as WinZip, detail of which can be found by carrying out an Internet search. 8

9 QA Completed When a survey has undergone QA and the feedback has been sent to you, you are able to view details of the survey and the associated feedback. All surveys that have completed the QA process are in QA Completed. When you click on any of the numbers in the QA Completed row, you will be presented with a list of surveys along with their associated EPC Reference Numbers and RRNs (see below). Surveyor ID Number You can now view the appropriate feedback by clicking on the access information link for each survey. When you click on this link, you will be presented with the following screen: 9

10 This screen lists your Surveyor details, EPC Reference Number, RRN and the property address. Details of all correspondence relating to this QA request are also included in this section. Should you wish to hide these details from display, simply click the text click to hide details. To view the details again, simply click the text click to show details, which will appear in the same location. Below these details, you will see the following: QA Result This is the result of your QA submission. SAP Variance This is the total SAP variance detected by the Elmhurst QA Audit Team. Observations Observations made by the Elmhurst QA Audit Team. Uploaded Evidence This is the evidence that you submitted. To view the evidence simply click on the file name displayed. On-line help A copy of this user guide can be accessed at any time when using the QA Hub by clicking on the Help link, which can be found at the top, right-hand corner of all screens. This document is also available in the Documents Download section of the Members Area. 10

11 How to contact us via the QA Hub Should you need to contact us about the QA process or a change your contact details, simply click the Contact Us link at the top right of the QA Hub screen. Surveyor ID Number The Contact Us Screen Surveyor ID Number To log your query, simply click on the Elmhurst Support Portal (E.S.P) icon. If you are not familiar with E.S.P, you can download the user guide by clicking on this link. To advise us of any changes to your contact details, click this link to download a Change of Details form. 11

12 To return to the Overview screen, simply click back or click on the QA Hub logo. Glossary of terms BMP Bitmap image file format. BMP is an older file format for saving pictures, commonly used in MS Paint. DOC / DOCX Word processing file format, typically used by Microsoft Word. DOC is most commonly used in MS Office 97/2000/XP. DOCX is most commonly used in MS Office DWG File format used for storing two and three dimensional design data. Native format for several CAD packages. EPC - Energy Performance Certificate EPCs tell you how energy efficient a home is on a scale of A-G. The most efficient homes - which should have the lowest fuel bills - are in band A. The Certificate also tells you, on a scale of A-G, about the impact the home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The average property in the UK is in bands D-E for both ratings. The Certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home's energy efficiency to save you money and help the environment EPC Reference Number EPC Reference Number is the unique reference number for each individual Energy Performance Certificate produced when lodged. GIF Graphics Interchange Format a bitmap image format. This image format is commonly used in websites. JPG JPEG is the most common image format used by digital cameras and other photographic image capture devices. MS 12

13 Microsoft Password A unique password is issued to each surveyor upon accreditation. The surveyor can change this password at any time. This password is used to log into Elmhurst Members Area. PDF Portable Document Format a file format created by Adobe Systems. There are several PDF writers and readers. Adobe Acrobat is the most common. PNG Portable Network Graphics a bitmapped image format. PNG was created to improve upon and replace GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). RDSAP - Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure Reduced Data SAP has been developed by the government for use in existing dwellings based on a site survey of the property, when the complete data set for a SAP calculation is not available. RRN Report Reference Number is the unique reference number for each individual Energy Performance Certificate produced when lodged in the central register. RTF Rich Text Format a document file format. Most word processors can read this type of document. Surveyor ID Number This is a unique eight digit number issued to a surveyor upon accreditation. This Surveyor ID Number is used to log into Elmhurst Members Area. TXT Text File. QA Quality Assurance ZIP ZIP file format is a data compression and archive format. A ZIP file contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce file size. There are several software compression programs perhaps the most common being WinZip. 13