What A1 confirms
An A1 certificate concerns applicable social security legislation. Where a posting meets the conditions, it confirms that the worker remains in the sending country’s system. For a Polish employer, the competent institution is ZUS. The document relates to an individual’s specific circumstances, not a general company quality certification or confirmation that an entire crew is ready to work. ZUS — guide for people working or living abroad.
Your Europe treats A1 separately from posting declarations, employment conditions and taxes. Maintain this distinction when organising travel: A1 is not a work permit and does not determine VAT treatment on an invoice. Each area needs its own check appropriate to the worker, country and contract. Your Europe — posting and social security.
Start with the actual work plan
Start preparing documentation by organising assignment information: dates, work location, employer and personnel list. If an installer regularly works in several countries, do not automatically follow the process for a one-off posting. The ZUS guide treats posting and work in multiple countries separately. The person responsible for HR should determine which procedure matches the actual work pattern. ZUS — guide for people working or living abroad.
From the project manager’s perspective, the mobilisation plan and documents must describe the same team. A programme sent to the client a week earlier may no longer match the current personnel. We therefore recommend one dated checklist with a person responsible for confirming completeness.
Pre-departure checklist
- Compare each person’s full name with the list submitted for site access.
- Check that the certificate’s period and scope match the planned work; refer uncertainties to the person handling the matter with ZUS.
- Distinguish an issued document from confirmation that an application was submitted. Do not mark both statuses as ‘ready’ in the register.
- Collect the general contractor’s requirements for document transfer, file formats and verification deadlines.
- Assign separate checks for posting declarations, work and residence rights, training and site access requirements.
- Identify a contact available to the crew leader on arrival and on the first working day.
An internal register only needs fields required for organisation: person, project, period, document status and responsible coordinator. Send copies containing personal data through the agreed channel only to those who need them to manage the project. A public progress report is not an appropriate place for HR attachments.
Changes to the crew or dates
An organisational example: the client postpones installation and two members of the original crew move to another site. Changing the date in the manager’s calendar is not enough. The coordinator should compare the new team with the prepared documents and agree with the relevant people which declarations require updating. Only after this check should the client receive the current package.
On longer projects, schedule a document review before the next stage. Link the check to the programme rather than waiting for a problem at the gate. The list of missing items should identify a responsible person and an expected resolution date.
What to agree with the installation contractor
Include the country, site address, expected work period and access rules in your enquiry. Ask for the person coordinating crew documentation and the date of its review. This makes the readiness discussion cover personnel, equipment and project-specific organisation. Simply asking ‘Do you have A1?’ does not provide that picture.
Sources checked on 9 October 2026. The checklists suggest how to organise crew preparation for a specific project.
Sources and documentation
Editorial update: 9 October 2026. The manufacturer and institutional sources used to check this information are listed below. The checklists and workflow examples were prepared by Panel Montage.