# The Reg 44 visitor workspace

Source: https://arccare.co.uk/help/reporting-inspection/reg-44-visitor-workspace
Last updated: 2026-10-28

This page is for independent visitors who write Regulation 44 reports. It is free to use. ARC does not endorse a visitor, and using the workspace does not change who may act as an independent person: that is for the provider to judge.

## Signing in

You sign in with your email address and a one-time code. There is no password. Your sign-in only ever opens the Reg 44 workspace.

## Your homes

An appointment links you to a home. It starts one of three ways:

- **The home is on ARC and invites you.** Accept the invitation.
- **The home is on ARC and you ask.** Search by its URN. The manager approves.
- **The home is not on ARC.** Add it with its URN, name and address. A manager there confirms it by email. Nothing about the home is shown to anyone until they do.

## Writing the report

Each visit has a record with the headings Ofsted expects: conflicts of interest, people you spoke to, records inspected, your opinions on the two key questions, and recommendations. Findings and opinions have *Evidence sampled* and *Limits on assurance*. Recommendations follow *Evidence, Analysis, Action*, with an owner (a role) and the date to consider it by. There is no score or grade.

Your **private notes** are yours alone. They are deleted once the report is sent.

## Urgent concerns

The workspace is not the place to raise an urgent concern. Contact Ofsted and the local authority straight away. A tick-box records that you did, and the date, with no detail.

## Comments and sign-off

The manager and the Responsible Individual comment on the draft; you change the text. Every revision is kept. When you sign off, the text locks. A locked report cannot be edited by anyone.

If you work through a consultancy, a reviewer reads and approves the report first.

## When the home never replies

If a home you invited has not joined, ARC reminds its manager 14 and 5 days before the due date. After that you can sign off without comments, with the reason filled in for you, and the report still goes to Ofsted. The home's copy waits for it in the portal if it joins later.