Roles and Certifications — Field Reference

Department menu → Import & Migration → (workspace) → Files & data sets

Three data sets cover what people do and what they are qualified for: Roles (Engineer, Paramedic, Officer …), Certification types (the certifications that exist — Firefighter I, EMT, CPR …) and People's certifications (which person holds which certification, with numbers and dates). Roles and certification types come before people; people's certifications come after them.

Preview feature

Import & Migration is a Preview feature: it is off by default and Resgrid turns it on per department while it is being rolled out.

## Where to find it

Fill in the Roles, Certification types and People's certifications sheets of the starter workbook (or resgrid-roles.csv, resgrid-certification-types.csv, resgrid-personnel-certifications.csv), or upload your own lists and match them on the matching page. Download current data exports your existing roles and certification types.

After the import, roles are on the Personnel screen and certifications in Certifications and Types.

## Turning it on

Part of Import & Migration: the Onboarding.MigrationWizard flag on for your department and a department administrator signed in. See Overview → Turning it on.

## Roles sheet

The roles people fill (Engineer, Paramedic, Officer…).

Starter workbook sheet Roles; CSV template resgrid-roles.csv.

Column header	Field key	Type	Required	Notes
Source ID [source_id]	source_id	Text		The role's id in the system you are leaving. Lets later files refer to this row and makes a re-import update it instead of adding it twice. Up to 256 characters. Must be unique in the file. Example: 1042. Headers recognized: id, source id, external id, record id, key.
Name [name]	name	Text	Yes	The role's name. Up to 250 characters. Must be unique in the file. Example: Engineer. Headers recognized: name, role, role name, position, rank, title.
Description [description]	description	Text		What the role does. Up to 3000 characters. Example: Drives and pumps the engine. Headers recognized: description, notes.

Contract roles version 2026.11.1, generated from the import catalog.

## Certification types sheet

The kinds of certification your people hold (Firefighter I, EMT, CPR…).

Starter workbook sheet Certification types; CSV template resgrid-certification-types.csv.

Column header	Field key	Type	Required	Notes
Source ID [source_id]	source_id	Text		The certification type's id in the system you are leaving. Lets later files refer to this row and makes a re-import update it instead of adding it twice. Up to 256 characters. Must be unique in the file. Example: 1042. Headers recognized: id, source id, external id, record id, key.
Name [name]	name	Text	Yes	The certification's name as your people know it. Up to 100 characters. Must be unique in the file. Example: Firefighter I. Headers recognized: name, certification, certification name, type, qualification.
Code [code]	code	Text		A short code for the certification. Left empty, Resgrid makes one from the name. Up to 50 characters. Must be unique in the file. Example: FF1. Headers recognized: code, abbreviation, short name.
Category [category]	category	Choice from a list		The group the certification belongs to. Choices: fire Fire (also: firefighting); ems EMS (also: medical services, emergency medical); sar Search and rescue (also: search and rescue, rescue); wildland Wildland (also: wildfire); emergency-management Emergency management (also: em); industrial Industrial; security Security; medical Medical (also: health); driver Driver (also: driving, evoc); vehicle Vehicle; other Other. Example: fire. Headers recognized: category, discipline.
Held by [applies_to]	applies_to	Choice from a list		Whether people or units hold this certification. Choices: person People (also: people, personnel, member); unit Units (also: apparatus, vehicle). Example: person. Headers recognized: applies to, scope, held by.
Issuing authority [issuing_authority]	issuing_authority	Text		Who issues the certification. Up to 200 characters. Example: State Fire Academy. Headers recognized: issuing authority, issuer, issued by, authority.
Valid for (months) [validity_months]	validity_months	Whole number		How many months a new certification stays valid. Leave empty when it never expires. From 1 to 600. Example: 24. Headers recognized: validity, valid months, renewal period, months valid.
Never expires [never_expires]	never_expires	Yes/No		Yes when this certification does not expire. Example: no. Headers recognized: never expires, no expiry, permanent.
Needs verification [requires_verification]	requires_verification	Yes/No		Yes when an administrator must verify a new certification before it counts. Example: no. Headers recognized: requires verification, verify.
Description [description]	description	Text		Anything people should know about the certification. Up to 2000 characters. Example: Basic structural firefighting. Headers recognized: description, notes.

Contract certification-types version 2026.11.1, generated from the import catalog.

## People's certifications sheet

The certifications each person holds, with numbers and dates. Certifications that are already expired are imported as expired without emailing anyone.

Starter workbook sheet People's certifications; CSV template resgrid-personnel-certifications.csv; imported after People, Certification types.

Column header	Field key	Type	Required	Notes
Person [person]	person	Reference	Yes	Who holds the certification, by the person's source ID or email. Refers to People. Example: alex.rivera@example.org. Headers recognized: person, member, email, employee, name.
Certification [certification_type]	certification_type	Reference	Yes	Which certification, by its name, code or source ID. Refers to Certification types. Example: Firefighter I. Headers recognized: certification, certification type, qualification, type, course.
Certificate number [number]	number	Text		The number on the certificate. Up to 200 characters. Department-only; protected by Advanced Data Protection when your department uses it. Example: FF-2019-0042. Headers recognized: number, certificate number, license number, cert number.
Area [area]	area	Text		Where the certification is valid (a state or region), when that matters. Up to 200 characters. Department-only. Example: Illinois. Headers recognized: area, state, jurisdiction.
Issued by [issued_by]	issued_by	Text		Who issued the certificate. Up to 200 characters. Department-only. Example: State Fire Academy. Headers recognized: issued by, issuer, authority.
Issued on [issued_on]	issued_on	Date		The date the certificate was issued. Example: 2019-05-14. Headers recognized: issued, issued on, issue date, received, date issued, certified on.
Expires on [expires_on]	expires_on	Date		The date the certificate expires. Leave empty when it does not expire. Example: 2027-05-14. Headers recognized: expires, expires on, expiration, expiration date, expiry, valid until.

Contract personnel-certifications version 2026.11.1, generated from the import catalog.

## Role requirements sheet

Which certifications each role requires. A role's other requirements stay as they are. If your department enforces requirements, people lacking one can lose the role at the next nightly check.

Starter workbook sheet Role requirements; CSV template resgrid-role-requirements.csv; imported after Roles, Certification types.

Column header	Field key	Type	Required	Notes
Role [role]	role	Reference	Yes	Which role, by its name or source ID. Refers to Roles. Example: Engineer. Headers recognized: role, position, role name.
Required certification [certification_type]	certification_type	Reference	Yes	Which certification the role requires, by its name, code or source ID. It must be a type people hold. Refers to Certification types. Example: Driver/Operator. Headers recognized: certification, certification type, required certification, qualification.
Mandatory [mandatory]	mandatory	Yes/No		Yes when the role cannot be held without it (the default); no for a recommended certification. Example: yes. Headers recognized: mandatory, required, is required.
Any-of group [any_of_group]	any_of_group	Whole number		Requirements of one role with the same number are alternatives: holding any one of them is enough. From 1 to 99. Example: 1. Headers recognized: any of group, group, one of group, alternative group.
Trainee allowed [allow_trainee]	allow_trainee	Yes/No		Yes when someone still training for the certification may hold the role. Example: no. Headers recognized: allow trainee, trainee allowed, trainee.
Grace days [grace_days]	grace_days	Whole number		Days a person keeps the role after the certification lapses, instead of the department's default. From 0 to 3650. Example: 30. Headers recognized: grace days, grace period, grace.

Contract role-requirements version 2026.11.1, generated from the import catalog.

One row is one role and one certification type. A role's other requirements stay as they are; a row for a role and type that already have a requirement is matched to it (and, with Review updates, its options are changed). Rows with the same Any-of group number for a role are alternatives. The type must be one people hold (N role requirements use a type meant for units). If your department enforces role requirements (certification settings, mode Enforce), the preview asks you to confirm that people lacking a newly required certification can lose the role at the next nightly check. Rolling the import back removes the requirements it added and puts back the options it changed.

## How rows are matched

Data set	Matched to existing records by
Roles	Source ID (same workspace, or the import it continues), otherwise name — ignoring case, accents, spaces and punctuation. Two existing roles with the same name block the row.
Certification types	Source ID (same workspace, or the import it continues), otherwise name.
People's certifications	Never matched to certifications already in Resgrid — the same person can hold two records of one certification. Within a workspace, a row already imported (same person, certification and certificate number) is recognized and not added again; in a different workspace it would be added again, so import each person's certifications once.

More rules:

• Person refers to a person by their Source ID or email — a row in your People file or an existing member. It must point at a person; Keep as text is not possible here.
• Certification refers to a certification type by its name, code or Source ID. The type must be one that people hold — a type for units fails the row (certifications use a type meant for units).
• Expires on must not be before Issued on.
• Certifications that have already expired are imported marked Expired, and nobody is emailed. Certifications expiring soon get no reminders while the holder is dormant. Both are statements you confirm before approving.
• A person's roles that require certifications are retried at the end of the import, after the certifications are written — approve People and People's certifications in the same import so certification requirements do not leave those roles out.
• Certificate number is protected by Advanced Data Protection when your department uses it. Area and Issued by are not: they describe the qualification, and qualification-based dispatch reads them.
• On the value matching page, unknown roles and certification types can be created new with just their name.