How Authorization Requirements Work

Authorizations make sure members have the right training before they use your space and tools. This page explains the concepts: what you can require, where, and what MakerVera actually checks when a member books. For step-by-step tasks, see:

• Managing Authorizations to create authorizations and grant or revoke them
• Managing Workspaces and Managing Equipment to attach requirements
• Booking Equipment & Workspaces for the member’s view

Two places to require an authorization

You can attach required authorizations at two levels.

Workspace requirements

A workspace requirement applies to the whole area. If the Laser Lab requires “Laser Safety”, members need it to reserve any equipment in the Laser Lab.

This is the requirement MakerVera enforces when a member reserves equipment. A reservation is rejected if the member is missing any authorization the workspace requires, and the booking page shows which ones.

Use workspace requirements when:

• The whole area has inherent hazards (chemicals, high voltage, confined spaces).
• Basic safety knowledge applies to every tool inside.
• You want to control who can book anything in the area.

Equipment requirements

An equipment requirement describes training for one tool, such as “Laser Advanced” for the 120W cutter. It is recorded on the equipment, shown on the equipment page, and visible to members, so your team and your members know what each tool expects.

Important

The booking calendar currently checks workspace requirements only. A requirement set only on a piece of equipment is displayed but does not stop a reservation. If a requirement must be enforced when booking, put it on the workspace. To protect one dangerous tool within a larger area, give that tool its own workspace.

Equipment inherits its workspace’s requirements automatically. When you edit equipment, workspace requirements appear as Inherited from workspace, and you only add what’s extra. Adding the same authorization at both levels is harmless but redundant.

What happens when a member books

For each reservation, MakerVera:

1. Finds the workspace the equipment is in. Equipment with no workspace has no workspace requirement.
2. Lists the authorizations that workspace requires. If there are none, this check passes.
3. Looks at the member’s active authorizations. A grant counts only if it hasn’t been revoked and hasn’t passed its expiration date.
4. Rejects the reservation if any required authorization is missing, and accepts it (subject to the other booking rules) if the member holds them all.

The same check applies when a member reschedules. Staff blocks for maintenance are not checked against authorizations.

Members see a Required Authorizations list in the workspace info panel, and a message explaining why booking is blocked when they’re missing one.

Common setups

Goal	Setup
Open area, no training needed	No requirements on the workspace.
One safety orientation for the whole area	Add the orientation authorization to the workspace.
Layered training (basic for the area, advanced for a tool)	Put the basic authorization on the workspace. For the advanced tool, either give it its own workspace requiring both, or record it on the equipment as guidance and verify it in person.
A meeting room or general-use area	No requirements on the workspace or equipment.

Example

Workspace: Metal Shop            requires: Metal Safety Basic
  Equipment: MIG Welder          lists: Welding MIG
  Equipment: Plasma Cutter       lists: Plasma Cutting Advanced

To reserve the MIG Welder, a member must hold Metal Safety Basic.
Welding MIG is shown on the tool as the training it expects.

Best practices

1. Start simple. Begin with workspace requirements and add more only where you need them.
2. Gate at the workspace. It’s the level that is enforced at booking.
3. Name authorizations clearly. Members see the names, so “Laser Safety” beats “LS-1”.
4. Set a grant duration for training that should be refreshed, such as yearly safety recertification.
5. Review regularly. As equipment and risks change, update requirements and archive ones you no longer use.

Physical access

Authorizations can also drive physical access, such as door locks, when you connect an access control provider. See the Access Control Overview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I add an authorization to a workspace, do I need to add it to the equipment in it?

A: No. Workspace requirements apply to everything reserved in that workspace.

Q: Can I require something on equipment only, with an open workspace?

A: You can record it on the equipment, but the booking calendar won’t enforce it. Use a workspace requirement for anything that must block a reservation.

Q: Can authorizations expire?

A: Yes. Each authorization has an optional grant duration (1 to 120 months). Everyone who earns it, from a class or from staff, gets a grant that expires that many months later. With no duration, it never expires. Staff can also set a specific expiration date when granting manually. Once the date passes, the authorization stops counting immediately, so the member can’t reserve in workspaces that require it. Members see expiration dates on their profile and get email reminders 7 days and 1 day before expiry.

Q: A member earns an authorization by completing a class. When does it expire?

A: That many months after the class is completed, based on the authorization’s grant duration. Set the duration once on the authorization and every class that grants it follows the rule.

Q: What if a member retakes a class they already have the authorization for?

A: The expiry resets to a full duration from the day they re-complete the class, not added on top of time remaining. The original “granted on” date is preserved and no duplicate is created. A retake doesn’t start an expiry on an authorization that was perpetual.

Q: What happens to members’ authorizations if I archive an authorization or cancel a class?

A: If you archive an authorization and choose to revoke it from holders, every active grant is revoked, whether it came from staff, a class, or a cohort, and each affected member is emailed. If you cancel a class (cancel a cohort or archive a class series), the authorizations that class granted are revoked and members are emailed. Authorizations earned another way are untouched. Reopening a completed cohort also revokes the grants issued at close-out.

Q: Do members see their own authorizations?

A: Yes, on Profile > Credentials, with granted and expiry dates and how each was earned. Staff see the same on a member’s profile; seeing another member’s list needs the View Users permission.

Q: How do I see who holds an authorization?

A: Use the Authorization filter on Admin > People > Users. See Managing Authorizations.

Summary

• Workspace requirements are enforced when members reserve equipment.
• Equipment requirements document the training each tool expects and are shown to members.
• Only active grants count: not revoked and not expired.
• Put anything that must block a reservation on the workspace.