# 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:

1. plumbing and water-repair services;
2. electrical repair/services;
3. motor-vehicle mechanics;
4. 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 `NARROW`ed 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.
