For the parties carrying the risk
You did not write the procedures. You are exposed to them.
Insurers, franchisors and lenders finance, underwrite, or license businesses that run on written guidance nobody has checked. Stetmark reviews that guidance across the whole book, on one rubric, with every finding cited to the code section in force where the business actually operates.
Who commissions this
| Who | Why it matters to them | Program shape |
|---|---|---|
| Insurers and MGAs Restaurant, hospitality and contractor programs | Third-party inspection is already purchased; written procedures are a priced risk factor that currently goes unexamined. | Assignments across a book, under an annual program |
| Franchisors Operations and brand standards | System-wide standards drift as editions change and states amend. Participation can be mandated. | Re-certification on the system's cycle |
| Lenders SBA and equipment | Food businesses carry operational risk that written procedures either control or don't. A cited review gives you a documented baseline before and after funding. | Per-borrower assignment |
Why a network rather than a consultant
Coverage without hiring
No carrier is going to employ fifty credentialed professionals across thirty states. Stetmark convenes them per assignment.
One rubric, every file
Findings are scored the same way for every business in the book, so results compare across the portfolio instead of reflecting who did the review.
Jurisdiction held straight
Each finding states the edition adopted and the state amendment applied. A national standard is not the law until a state adopts it.
What comes back
A per-business report in the same structure as any Stetmark audit — the claim as published, what the code requires, the citation, severity, and replacement language — plus a roll-up across the portfolio showing where the same defect repeats. Recurring defects are where the loss sits, and they are usually one template copied into every location.
Compliance and practice stay separate. A procedure that meets the code and fails in a working operation is reported as advisory, never as a compliance failure. Being told a business is out of compliance when it is not is worse than no report at all.
How programs start
- A pilot on a slice of the bookTen to twenty businesses, chosen by you, so the output can be judged before anything is committed.
- A scoring standard you sign off onSeverity definitions and the advisory boundary agreed in writing before the first review.
- An annual programAssignments run through the year, re-checked when an edition changes or a state amends its adoption.
Policyholder, franchisee, and borrower documents are used only for the engagement, reviewed only by assigned credentialed reviewers, and never published. Data handling terms are set out in each engagement agreement.