DIREKT Pilot Category Decision¶
Decision status: APPROVED FOR CONTROLLED PHASE 11 ENTRY — first-wave primary revalidation still required
Approved categories: plumbing/water repair, electrical repair/services, motor-vehicle mechanics, appliance/electronics repair
Decision date: 2026-07-19 (Asia/Tokyo programme timezone)
Owner approval: Shadreck Kudzanai Musarurwa
Decision¶
The controlled Phase 11 pilot will use four categories only:
- plumbing and water-repair services;
- electrical repair/services;
- motor-vehicle mechanics;
- appliance/electronics repair.
No additional category may enter the first pilot without a separate decision and evidence review.
Why these four categories¶
The decision retains the established Phase 1–10 DIREKT baseline because it is now supported by current official evidence pathways rather than only founder preference:
- current Ministry/TEVETA programme listings include trade/craft pathways for plumbing/sheet metal, electrical engineering, automotive mechanics and electronics systems maintenance/repair;
- PACRA provides the official business-registration source when a provider claims a registered business;
- the categories exercise fixed-premises, mobile and hybrid operating models;
- they cover urgent household/service needs and workshop/premises-based services;
- they fit the existing provider-pathway, evidence-requirement, verification, discovery, enquiry and review architecture without introducing a new domain model.
This is an entry-scope approval, not proof that customers prefer these categories or that provider supply is sufficient. Those remain first-wave measurements.
Category scorecard¶
Scores are directional secondary-evidence scores from 1–5. They are used only to bound entry scope and must be replaced/revalidated with primary evidence.
| Criterion | Weight | Plumbing | Electrical | Mechanics | Appliance/electronics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer/use-case relevance | 15 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Trust/evidence learning value | 15 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Provider recruitment feasibility | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Evidence availability | 15 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Issuer confirmation feasibility | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Field-verification feasibility | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Safety/liability manageability | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Repeat-use potential | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Location relevance | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Operational learning value | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Directional weighted score | 100 | 81 | 85 | 84 | 80 |
The scores are not population statistics and do not replace pilot measurement.
Provider cohort target¶
Maximum 24 providers, six per category.
Target pathway mix per category:
- 2 registered businesses;
- 2 qualified individuals;
- 2 experienced informal providers where lawful and where the displayed trust claims do not imply a qualification/licence that has not been checked.
Minimum demand-entry rule:
Do not recruit customer demand for a category until at least 3 eligible discoverable providers are available for the approved pilot area.
Evidence model by category¶
Plumbing and water repair¶
Potential evidence layers:
- identity/contact;
- business registration where claimed;
- TEVETA/trade/craft plumbing or related qualification where claimed;
- service area / fixed-mobile-hybrid operating model;
- premises/location evidence where applicable;
- work history/references where included in approved requirements.
Do not imply that a trade qualification proves every borehole, utility, civil-works or regulated water activity.
Electrical repair/services¶
Potential evidence layers:
- identity/contact;
- business registration where claimed;
- TEVETA/trade/craft electrical qualification where claimed;
- exact ERB/NCC/other statutory registration only when that specific registration is applicable and checked;
- service area/location evidence.
An educational/trade certificate does not automatically mean the provider holds every licence required for electricity-sector enterprise work. Public claim copy must remain check-specific.
Motor-vehicle mechanics¶
Potential evidence layers:
- identity/contact;
- business registration where claimed;
- TEVETA/trade/craft automotive-mechanics or automotive-electrical qualification where claimed;
- workshop/public-premises evidence where applicable;
- mobile-service area for mobile mechanics;
- work-history/reference evidence where approved.
A premises visit or training certificate must not be represented as a guarantee of vehicle safety or diagnostic competence.
Appliance/electronics repair¶
Potential evidence layers:
- identity/contact;
- business registration where claimed;
- TEVETA electronics-systems maintenance/repair or relevant electrical/electronic qualification where claimed;
- workshop/premises or mobile service-area evidence;
- work-history/reference evidence where approved.
Excluded first-wave categories¶
The following remain out of scope for the first controlled pilot:
- builders/renovation contractors beyond the four approved categories;
- cleaning services;
- tailoring;
- borehole/pump/water-system specialist services beyond ordinary plumbing/water repair;
- healthcare, financial, legal, security, childcare and other higher-regulatory/safety categories;
- any category requiring a new verification model not already supported by the canonical architecture.
Safety and claim controls¶
- verification claims remain separate: identity, contact, business, qualification, location/field evidence;
- no blanket “verified professional” claim;
- provider pathway is context, not ranking/quality score;
- payment cannot affect verification/publication/ranking;
- high-risk category ambiguity triggers manual review or claim refusal, not an inferred approval;
- field-visit claims remain disabled in Wave 1 until a Zambia-based field operator/lead is appointed and trained.
Primary evidence still required¶
During the real pilot measure per category:
- recruited/eligible provider count;
- onboarding completion/abandonment;
- evidence rejection/resubmission;
- verification time/cost;
- customer search/no-result behavior;
- enquiry volume and response;
- complaint/safety patterns;
- comprehension of exact claim wording;
- differences between registered-business, qualified-individual and experienced-informal pathways.
Any category may be NARROWed or removed when primary evidence contradicts this entry decision.
Evidence sources¶
Current official sources used for entry approval include:
- Ministry/TEVETA current training/certification programme listings;
- PACRA official business registry/service information;
- National Council for Construction contractor-registration resources where applicable;
- Energy Regulation Board licensing guidance where applicable;
- existing DIREKT category evidence and verification architecture.
Approval gate result¶
The limited-category decision gate is cleared for controlled-pilot entry preparation.
The decision does not clear DPC/legal/provider approvals or constitute primary customer/provider validation. The four categories are approved to enter the bounded pilot, subject to first-wave evidence and immediate narrowing when legal or operational evidence requires it.