A case study in scaling digital attendance registration across hundreds of mobile workers, dozens of sites, and zero CIAW fines.
Cegelec is one of Belgium’s largest technical installation and services companies, with over 500 mobile employees working across dozens of construction and industrial sites at any given time. Their workers install electrical systems, HVAC, and industrial automation, often on third-party construction sites where CIAW compliance is mandatory.
Managing attendance registration for a workforce this size, spread across sites that change weekly, was a logistical nightmare with manual processes. Missed registrations meant fines. Late timesheets meant payroll delays. And without real-time visibility, site managers were flying blind.
This is the story of how Cegelec partnered with Suivo to automate CIAW compliance, eliminate registration gaps, and transform their workforce management, achieving zero fines since implementation.
See the same results at your scale via the Check-in at Work solution page.
Quick Navigation
- The Challenge: 500 Mobile Workers, Dozens of Sites, One Deadline
- Why Cegelec Chose Suivo
- The Implementation: From Pilot to Full Rollout
- Results: Zero Fines, Full Visibility
- Lessons for Large Construction and Installation Companies
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Challenge: 500 Mobile Workers, Dozens of Sites, One Deadline
Before Suivo, Cegelec faced a set of challenges that will be familiar to any large construction or installation company operating in Belgium:
| ❌ Challenge | Impact |
| 500+ workers on 30-50 active sites simultaneously | Impossible to track attendance manually in real time |
| Workers change sites weekly or even daily | CIAW registrations missed when workers move between sites |
| Multiple subcontractor layers on client sites | Chain liability exposure for unregistered workers |
| Paper timesheets from remote locations | 3-5 day delay in hour collection; payroll errors |
| No centralised dashboard | Management blind to compliance gaps until inspection |
⚠️ Regulatory context: As a contractor frequently working on large construction sites, Cegelec falls under Belgium’s CIAW requirements. With the thresholds being: no subcontractor >€500K, 1 subcontractor >€5K, 2+ subcontractors always, virtually all of Cegelec’s sites require CIAW registration. Fines of up to €6,000 per worker per day made compliance a board-level priority.
The breaking point came when a routine NSSO inspection identified several registration gaps across two sites. While the resulting fines were relatively modest, the administrative burden of the investigation, and the reputational risk with their client, made it clear that manual processes could not scale.
Why Cegelec Chose Suivo
Cegelec evaluated several time registration and CIAW solutions before selecting Suivo. The decision came down to five key factors:
1. End-to-End Solution (Hardware + Software + App)
Unlike competitors that provide software only, Suivo offers its own time tracking hardware, including site poles for automatic entry/exit detection and vehicle badges for fleet-based workers. For Cegelec, this meant a single vendor for the entire registration chain, eliminating integration headaches between separate hardware and software suppliers.
2. Automatic CIAW Submission
Suivo’s Check-in at Work integration submits CIAW registrations to the NSSO automatically when a worker is detected on site. No manual action from the worker or site manager. No forgotten registrations. No compliance gaps.
3. Multi-Site Management at Scale
With workers spread across 30 to 50 sites at any time, Cegelec needed a solution that could handle the complexity of multi-site operations without requiring dedicated admin staff at each location. Suivo’s centralised dashboard provides real-time visibility across all sites from a single screen.
4. Belgian Payroll Integration
Cegelec’s payroll flows through Belgian providers. Suivo’s native integrations with SD Worx, Partena, and Acerta meant that time data could flow directly from site to salary slip, eliminating manual data entry and the errors that come with it.
5. Local Support in Dutch, French, and English
As a Belgian company with a multilingual workforce, having a local support team that speaks the same languages was a practical requirement. Suivo’s Belgian-based team provided onboarding, training, and ongoing support in NL, FR, and EN.
The Implementation: From Pilot to Full Rollout
Cegelec and Suivo followed a structured implementation approach designed to minimise disruption while building confidence across the organisation.
| Phase | Activities | Duration |
| Phase 1: Pilot | 3 sites, 40 workers. Install site poles. Test CIAW flow. Validate payroll export. | 4 weeks |
| Phase 2: Refinement | Adjust geofence settings. Train site managers on dashboard. Fine-tune payroll mapping. | 2 weeks |
| Phase 3: Regional rollout | Expand to 15 sites. Deploy mobile app for sites without poles. Onboard team leads. | 4 weeks |
| Phase 4: Full deployment | All 50+ sites active. Vehicle badges deployed. Centralised reporting live. | 4 weeks |
Total time from pilot kickoff to full deployment: approximately 14 weeks. This included a deliberate pause between Phase 1 and Phase 2 to incorporate feedback from field workers and site managers. For companies considering a similar journey, Suivo has published a detailed implementation guide.
A critical success factor was early engagement with site managers. Rather than imposing the system top-down, Cegelec invited site managers from the pilot sites to provide feedback on dashboard layout, alert thresholds, and reporting preferences. This created buy-in that smoothed the broader rollout.
Results: Zero Fines, Full Visibility
The results since full deployment speak for themselves:
| Metric | Result |
| CIAW compliance rate | 99.8% (up from ~90%) |
| CIAW fines since deployment | €0 |
| Time from site to payroll | Same day (was 3-5 days) |
| Administrative hours saved/week | 30+ hours |
| Payroll error rate | <0.2% (was 2-3%) |
| Sites managed from single dashboard | 50+ |
| Worker adoption rate | 98% within 8 weeks |
“The biggest change isn’t the technology, it’s the peace of mind. Before Suivo, every NSSO inspection was a stress event. Now, I can pull up real-time compliance data for any site in seconds. We haven’t had a single fine since we went live, and our site managers actually trust the data because they helped shape the system.”, Operations Director, Cegelec Belgium
Beyond the numbers, Cegelec reports several qualitative improvements. Site managers spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on site management. Workers appreciate not having to fill in paper timesheets. And the finance team has near-perfect alignment between project hours and invoicing, reducing revenue leakage from under-reported time.
Lessons for Large Construction and Installation Companies
Cegelec’s experience offers several lessons for other companies with 100+ mobile employees considering digital time registration:
Start with a focused pilot. Three sites and 40 workers gave Cegelec enough data to validate the system without overcommitting resources. The pilot also surfaced practical issues (like site pole placement at sites with multiple entrances) that were much easier to solve at small scale.
Involve site managers early. The people who will use the system daily should have a voice in how it’s configured. Cegelec found that this reduced resistance and produced a better-configured system.
Don’t underestimate chain liability. As a contractor working on client sites, Cegelec is part of a chain of responsibility. Ensuring that their own workers are registered correctly also protects the main contractor, and strengthens client relationships. For more on this topic, see the chain liability guide.
Plan for CIAO, not just CIAW. Belgium is expanding mandatory registration to include exit times (CIAO). Companies that invest in a CIAO-ready system now avoid a second migration later. Suivo’s site poles already capture both check-in and check-out. Learn more in the CIAW FAQ.
Choose an end-to-end partner. Cegelec’s experience confirmed that having a single partner for hardware, software, and support dramatically simplifies deployment and ongoing operations compared to stitching together multiple vendors.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did it take Cegelec to see ROI from Suivo?
Cegelec began seeing measurable ROI during the pilot phase, primarily through reduced administrative time and the elimination of registration gaps. By the time the full rollout was complete (approximately 14 weeks), the combination of avoided fines, payroll accuracy, and time savings had more than covered the investment.
Did Cegelec’s workers resist the change from paper to digital?
Initial resistance was minimal, largely because the system requires almost no action from workers. Site poles detect them automatically, and the mobile app is intuitive. The pilot phase helped identify and address concerns early, and by the time of full rollout, adoption reached 98% within eight weeks.
Can a smaller company achieve similar results?
Absolutely. While Cegelec’s scale is impressive, the underlying benefits, automated CIAW, reduced admin, payroll accuracy, apply equally to companies with 20 or 200 workers. Suivo’s construction solution is designed to scale in both directions.
What happens when Cegelec’s workers go to a new site that doesn’t have a Suivo site pole?
For sites without fixed hardware, workers use the Suivo mobile app with GPS-based geofencing. The app detects when the worker enters the site’s geofence and triggers the same automatic registration process. This ensures coverage even on short-term or ad-hoc site assignments.
Is Cegelec prepared for the 2027 mandatory time registration requirement?
Yes. Because Suivo already provides an objective, reliable system for recording daily working hours, Cegelec is fully compliant with the 2027 mandate before it takes effect. For companies still evaluating their options, Suivo’s comparison of digital time registration tools is a useful starting point.
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