Every professional in the OSCAR network passed a three-stage verification process before they were permitted to accept bookings. This article describes exactly what that process is, what it checks, and where its limits are. We think homeowners deserve to understand both sides of that sentence.
Running this process thoroughly takes time. The average verification period from application to first booking is currently 7 working days. We know that is slow compared to the gig platforms that approve workers with a selfie and a bank account. That is a deliberate choice. We are sending people into your home.
Stage 1: License and credential verification
In Portugal, working in electrical installation and gas fitting in residential buildings is legally regulated. Electricians must hold a valid habilitação issued under Decreto-Lei 194/2015, which governs the installation of low-voltage systems in buildings. Gas fitters require CERTIMIG certification. Plumbers working on installations connected to collective infrastructure must hold an Alvará de Instalador from the relevant municipal authority.
We verify these documents directly. For each trade category that requires a license, we request the original document and cross-reference it against the issuing authority's public registry where one exists. For electricians this means checking the IMPIC registration number. For plumbers we verify Alvará validity with the municipal câmara for the jurisdiction in which the professional will work.
Where credentials are self-reported rather than publicly registered — for example, a cleaning professional who completed a specific products training — we request proof of course completion but apply a lower weight to that credential in our internal scoring. Self-reported training completion and a documented license from a regulatory body are not equivalent, and we don't treat them as if they are.
Credential check takes 2-3 working days. We reject applications where the license has expired, where the applicant cannot produce the original document, or where the IMPIC number does not match the name on the application. In the first three months of processing applications, roughly 18% of applicants did not pass credential verification. The most common reason was expired credentials that the applicant had not renewed.
Stage 2: Identity and background check
We verify identity against a government-issued document — Cartão de Cidadão or Passaporte — and perform a criminal record check through the Registo Criminal Português. Under Portuguese law, applicants provide consent for this check as part of the application agreement. We do not access criminal records without that consent.
What we check for in criminal records: convictions for crimes against persons, against property in domestic settings, and financial crimes. We do not automatically disqualify applicants for all criminal history — that would exclude professionals who made mistakes years ago and have since maintained clean records. We evaluate each case individually when a conviction appears. We will not share the decision criteria in full detail publicly, but the guiding principle is: would this conviction represent a meaningful risk to a homeowner's physical safety or property in the context of a home service job.
We want to be honest that this check has limits. A criminal record check reflects documented convictions. It does not capture unprosecuted incidents, civil disputes, or professional conduct complaints that did not reach criminal prosecution. It is a necessary but not sufficient safety measure. This is why we also run Stage 3.
Stage 3: Supervised probationary jobs
Before a professional is fully activated on OSCAR, they complete two supervised probationary bookings. "Supervised" means: a member of our operations team accompanies the professional on the first job, and the second job is conducted independently but with a post-job inspection call to the homeowner within two hours of job completion.
The probationary homeowners know they are participating in a vetting process. We reduce their booking price by 25% as acknowledgment of that. The discount comes from our platform fee, not from the professional's take.
What we observe during probationary jobs: does the professional arrive within the scheduled window, do they show their credentials at the door when asked, do they communicate clearly with the homeowner about what they're doing and why, do they clean up after completing the work, and is the quality of the finished work acceptable. We use a structured checklist, not a subjective impression.
Approximately 8% of applicants who pass Stages 1 and 2 do not pass Stage 3. The most common failure mode is not technical skill — it is conduct. Professionals who don't communicate clearly during the job, who skip the cleanup step, or who arrived late for the probationary booking with no prior notification are the profiles that do not progress. Technical skill deficiencies are rare because the credential check already filters most of those cases. Conduct and reliability are harder to screen from documents.
What happens after activation
Verification is not a one-time gate. OSCAR's active-professional status requires:
- Annual credential renewal check — we request updated documents before the anniversary of the initial verification
- Ongoing review score monitoring — a professional whose rating drops below 4.0 across 10 or more jobs triggers an internal review
- Zero-tolerance conduct flags — any report of unprofessional conduct toward a homeowner triggers immediate suspension pending investigation
We have suspended three professionals since launch for conduct-related issues. In two of those cases, the suspension was permanent. In one case, the professional was reinstated after the homeowner's complaint was found to have been based on a miscommunication about job scope — one that the professional had genuinely attempted to address. We document these cases internally and use them to refine our complaint handling process.
What this process does not guarantee
We vet carefully, but we are not saying that every OSCAR professional will do perfect work every time. Trades involve judgment calls, and judgment calls sometimes go wrong. A plumber who is excellent at standard residential work may encounter a boiler installation situation they're less familiar with. An electrician who is fully licensed and technically competent may rush a job when they're tired in the late afternoon.
What we are saying is this: every professional in our network cleared a meaningful verification process, not just a checkbox. They have documented credentials, a clean background check, and two supervised jobs on record. When something does go wrong — and it occasionally will — we have a structured resolution process and we stand behind the work. We are not a directory that lists anyone who signs up. The vetting cost, in time and in the probationary discount to homeowners, is the price of that standard.
