• Compliance teams spending weeks before a programme audit manually assembling evidence packages from shared drives, email trails, and spreadsheets because there is no system that holds the obligation, the evidence, and the responsible owner in one place?

  • Audit findings managed in a spreadsheet with no systematic tracking of corrective action progress, so the next audit discovers the same finding because the previous corrective action was never verified as closed?

Defence Compliance Management Software

Defence contracts carry compliance obligations that span quality standards, security requirements, environmental regulations, export controls, and the specific contractual obligations negotiated with the programme office. Managing those obligations through a combination of spreadsheets, shared drives, and email threads means that nobody has a complete picture of what is required, what has been evidenced, and what is outstanding before the audit team arrives.

We build compliance management software for defence contractors and government organisations that need a structured, auditable record of their compliance obligations -- what is required, who is responsible, what the evidence is, and what findings or risks are open at any point in time.

  • Compliance obligation register mapping every contractual, regulatory, and quality obligation to the responsible owner, the evidence required, and the current compliance status

  • Audit preparation workflow assembling the evidence package for each obligation automatically from the records held in the system

  • Finding management with structured corrective action plans, due dates, responsible owners, and closure verification

  • Risk documentation capturing compliance risks with likelihood, impact, and mitigation actions linked to the obligation register

RaftLabs builds custom defence compliance management software for defence contractors and government organisations that need obligation registers, audit preparation workflows, finding management with corrective action tracking, risk documentation, and quality record management in one connected system. Most projects deliver in 14 to 22 weeks at a fixed, agreed cost with full source code ownership.

Vodafone
Aldi
Nike
Microsoft
Heineken
Cisco
Calorgas
Energia Rewards
GE
Bank of America
T-Mobile
Valero
Techstars
East Ventures
100+Software products shipped
FixedCost delivery
14-22Week delivery cycles
24+Industries served

When audit preparation takes longer than the audit itself

Defence compliance management is not a single standard. A prime contractor on a complex defence programme may simultaneously need to demonstrate compliance with AS9100 for quality management, Def Stan 05-138 for cyber security, ITAR and EAR for export control, ISO 14001 for environmental management, and a set of bespoke contractual obligations defined in the prime contract. Each of those obligations has different evidence requirements, different review cycles, and a different authority that will inspect compliance.

Custom compliance management software is structured around the obligation landscape of your specific programme -- the standards, the contractual clauses, the regulations, and the internal policies that together define what compliance means for your organisation. The obligation register is the single source of truth that a compliance audit, however framed and whatever standard it applies, can be answered from.

What we build

Compliance obligation register

Obligation register capturing every compliance requirement from every applicable source -- defence standards, regulatory frameworks, prime contract clauses, and internal policy requirements -- in a single searchable register. Each obligation record captures the requirement source and clause reference, the specific obligation in plain language, the responsible owner, the evidence type required to demonstrate compliance, the review frequency, and the current compliance status. Obligation hierarchy management grouping obligations by source standard, by programme, by business unit, and by responsible function so the compliance manager can view the obligation landscape from multiple dimensions without maintaining separate registers. Obligation change management tracking when an obligation changes -- because a contract is amended, a standard is revised, or a regulation is updated -- with the change recorded, the previous obligation retained, and the responsible owner notified to review whether the existing evidence still meets the revised requirement. Compliance status dashboard showing the overall compliance position across all obligations -- the number assessed compliant, the number with open findings, the number overdue for review -- as a single management view without requiring the compliance manager to aggregate status from multiple sources.

Audit preparation workflow

Audit preparation workflow triggered when an audit is scheduled -- the audit type, scope, and scheduled date recorded, and the relevant obligations automatically identified from the obligation register based on the audit standard and scope. Evidence package assembly drawing together the records, documents, and quality data linked to each in-scope obligation from within the system, presented as a structured evidence package organised by obligation clause. Gap identification where the system flags obligations within the audit scope that have no current evidence record, are outside their review cycle, or have an open finding -- the gaps visible to the compliance team before the audit rather than surfaced by the auditor on the day. Audit access management providing the audit team with read-only access to the relevant portions of the evidence package through a secure portal, reducing the volume of document extraction requests during the audit. Pre-audit checklist for the compliance team covering the preparation steps required for each obligation within the scope -- who needs to be available, what documentation needs to be printed or prepared in physical form, and what access arrangements need to be made.

Finding management with corrective action tracking

Finding register capturing every finding raised by an external auditor or an internal review -- the finding description, the audit or review in which it was raised, the obligation or clause to which it relates, the finding category, and the initial assessment of severity. Corrective action plan management for each finding -- the root cause analysis, the corrective actions required, the responsible owner for each action, the target completion date, and the evidence that will demonstrate closure. Progress tracking for each corrective action with interim status updates recorded by the responsible owner and visible to the compliance manager without requiring a status meeting. Closure verification workflow requiring the compliance manager to review the evidence of correction before marking a finding as closed -- preventing findings from being closed administratively without the corrective action having been completed and verified. Finding recurrence tracking identifying where the same or substantially similar findings recur across audit cycles, flagging systemic issues that have not been genuinely addressed by previous corrective actions.

Risk management documentation

Compliance risk register linked to the obligation register -- each risk record capturing the obligation or group of obligations affected, the risk description, the likelihood, the potential consequence, and the current risk score. Risk owner assignment with periodic review cycles configured for each risk -- the risk owner prompted to review and update the risk at the required interval, with overdue reviews flagged to the compliance manager. Mitigation action tracking for each risk -- the planned mitigations, the responsible owner, the target completion date, and the current status -- so the risk register reflects the actual risk position including credit for mitigations in progress. Risk trend reporting showing whether the compliance risk profile is improving or deteriorating over time -- the number of risks at each severity level by review period. Programme risk reporting aggregating the compliance risk position for a specific programme or contract -- for reporting to the programme manager or the customer as required by the contract.

Quality record management

Quality record register linking every quality record -- inspection reports, test certificates, calibration records, training records, supplier qualification documents -- to the obligation it evidences. Record retention management enforcing the retention period required for each record type -- defined by the contract, the standard, or the regulation -- with records approaching the end of their retention period flagged for disposition decision rather than automatically deleted. Controlled access to quality records with role-based permissions determining which individuals can view, upload, or supersede records for each obligation and programme. Record request management for customer and third-party requests for quality records -- the request logged, the records retrieved from the system, the disclosure recorded, and the requestor notified when the records are available. Document revision management for quality records that are periodically updated -- the current version accessible to authorised users, the previous versions retained in archive, and the revision history visible to the compliance manager.

Regulatory submission support

Regulatory submission register tracking each submission required under the applicable regulations -- export licence applications, environmental incident reports, security incident notifications, safety case submissions -- with the submission type, the responsible owner, the submission deadline, and the current status. Submission preparation workflow assembling the data and documentation required for each submission type from the records held in the system, with a checklist of additional information required from outside the system. Submission tracking from preparation through internal review and approval to submission to the regulatory authority and receipt of the authority's response. Response management for regulatory authority decisions -- approvals, rejections, requests for further information -- recorded against the submission with any required follow-up actions assigned and tracked. Submission history for each regulatory authority and submission type, providing the compliance manager with a complete record of all submissions, their outcomes, and the timelines involved for reporting and programme planning purposes.

Frequently asked questions

The obligation register supports multiple programmes and contracts simultaneously, each with their own set of obligations from their applicable standards and contractual requirements. Obligations are tagged to the programme and standard they belong to, so an audit scoped to a specific contract and standard shows only the obligations relevant to that audit. Where obligations are shared across programmes -- an AS9100 clause that applies organisation-wide -- the evidence is recorded once and linked to all the programmes that require it. The compliance manager can see the full obligation picture for a single programme or across all programmes from the same interface.

Yes. Common integration points include pulling document records and approval status from an existing document control system, importing calibration records from a calibration management platform, and synchronising non-conformance and CAPA data from a QMS. The integration approach depends on the API capability of your existing systems, and we assess the integration landscape during scoping. Where existing systems have limited interfaces, the compliance system can operate as the record of compliance evidence with links to documents held in the existing system rather than full data synchronisation.

Compliance records for programmes involving classified information are managed with access controls and hosting arrangements that match the classification requirements. We design the data architecture to your security officer's specifications -- including data segregation by classification level, access logging, and approved hosting environment. For programmes requiring UK OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE or equivalent handling, the system is deployed in a hosting environment that meets the relevant accreditation requirements. The security architecture is agreed before development starts.

A focused build covering obligation register, finding management, and corrective action tracking typically runs $60,000 to $120,000 depending on scope and the number of standards and programmes to be managed. Adding audit preparation workflow, risk documentation, and regulatory submission support brings the total to $120,000 to $250,000. Fixed cost agreed before development starts, no hourly billing.

Related defence software

Talk to us about your compliance management project.

Tell us about your compliance landscape -- the standards and contracts you operate under, the audit cycles you face, and where your current compliance process creates gaps before an audit. We'll scope a system built around your obligation structure and your audit obligations.