How vetting works

1. 1A case is openedStaff open a vetting case against a listing. One case at a time per business, so there is always a single answer to "where is this up to".
2. 2The business consentsBefore a single document is asked for, the business agrees to be vetted and BOBBY records how that agreement was given. A directory that collected ownership papers without asking first would be doing something other than what it told people it does.
3. 3A document checklist is agreedThe case lists what is needed. The business uploads each item to BOBBY’s restricted Microsoft OneDrive folder, and the case records that the item arrived, where it lives, and who checked it off.
4. 4An investigator is assignedAn investigator — not the staff member running the case — takes the case on. Staff cannot file the report, because the report is the independent part of the process.
5. 5A visit is scheduled, where one is neededSome cases include a visit to the business. The date is recorded on the case.
6. 6The report is filedThe investigator reads the documents, visits where relevant, and files a written report with a recommendation. The report is stored in OneDrive and referenced from the case.
7. 7A decision is recordedAn authorised person decides. A case cannot be decided without a report on file — the database refuses it, not just the screen.

The order is enforced, not merely recommended. A case cannot skip from “requested” straight to “documents received”, and it cannot be decided without a report.

Ownership records, identity documents and investigator reports live in BOBBY’s restricted Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint storage. No part of a document’s contents is stored in BOBBY’s own system — not the text, not an identity number, not a copy, not a cached thumbnail.

What BOBBY keeps is a pointer: which drive, which item, a label for what it is, and who checked it. A reviewer opens the file in OneDrive with their own Microsoft account. The audit trail records that a checklist item was received, never the reference itself, because an audit log is read on a screen and often pasted into a ticket.

Deciding a case and changing a listing’s badge are two separate acts, kept separate on purpose. A decided case is the evidence; moving the tier is a further step with its own rules:

• The higher tiers require a decided case with an investigator’s report on file. The database enforces this, so it holds even if someone bypasses the admin screens.
• The top tier is awarded by BOBBY’s founder alone. Staff cannot award it, and BOBBY’s automated agents cannot change any tier at all.

Keeping the two apart is what stops a decision quietly becoming a badge, and it is checked by tests that fail if it ever does.

Claiming proves that a person controls a business, so they can edit its listing. It is a different thing from vetting and it never changes a tier. The documents a claim asks for are checked only for a connection between the person and the business — never against the 51% standard. A listing can be claimed and unvetted, or vetted and unclaimed.

A decision made two years ago describes a business as it was two years ago. Cases carry a re-review date, and BOBBY is reminded when one falls due. An approved change to a business’s ownership details brings its re-review forward.

A re-review falling due does not take a badge away on its own. A tier changes when a person decides it should, with a case behind them — never because a date passed.

Owners can request vetting from their dashboard once they have claimed their listing. See the eligibility standard for what is being checked, and the privacy notice for how long documents are kept.