Onyx One vs NineID for chain liability in Belgium.

Which contractor management approach suits industrial sites?

When companies look for solutions for chain liability, contractor compliance and access control, names such as Onyx One and NineID often come up. Both solutions help organisations get a better grip on external workers, contractors and site access. But they do not necessarily start from the same focal point.

So the real question is not 'Which tool has the most features?'.
The better question is 'Which risk is your organisation trying to control?'.

For some companies, a solution that focuses on identity registration, access control and a smooth check-in is enough. For industrial sites, the bar is usually higher. Many contractors, subcontractors and foreign workers are often on site at the same time. Documents expire, crews change, shutdowns put pressure on the schedule and audits demand conclusive evidence. In that situation, knowing who is standing at the gate is not enough.

You must be able to show why someone was given access, through which company, for which job, based on which check and with what evidence. That is the difference between access and chain control.

What does chain liability mean in Flanders?

Under chain liability, every party in a contracting chain shares responsibility. If people without valid residence papers are working anywhere in the chain, as employees or as self-employed workers, the government can hold every party involved liable. That runs from the end client to the main contractor and every link in between.

Since 1 January 2026, new rules on chain liability for illegal employment apply in Flanders. In certain high-risk sectors, the Flemish government imposes an explicit duty of care. Its aim is to crack down harder on illegal employment and unfair competition.

This duty of care applies first to high-risk sectors such as construction, cleaning, the meat sector and courier services. In that context, contractors must request specific documents from their subcontractors.

This is particularly relevant for industrial companies

Even if your company does not fall under these sectors itself, contractors from those high-risk sectors often do work on your site. Think of:

• Maintenance work
• Industrial cleaning
• Construction and installation work
• Shutdowns
• Logistics support
• Technical interventions
• Subcontractors of your subcontractors

So the risk does not only arise from what your company does itself. It also arises from who comes to work on your site, through which chain and under which conditions.

Why chain liability is not a gate problem

Many companies still look at contractor compliance from the gate. Who is coming in? Is this person known? Are the documents in place? Can the badge be activated?

These are important questions. But for chain liability, they do not go far enough. Someone can be correctly identified and still be part of a chain that has not been fully checked. A contractor can be registered but not linked to the right work package. A document can be uploaded but not yet checked. A subcontractor can be active without being visible in the file.

That is why chain liability does not start at the gate.

It starts much earlier:

• With the choice of contractor company
• With transparency about subcontractors
• With the link between people and jobs
• With the checking of documents
• with the decision to allow or block access
• With the recording of exceptions
• With the evidence that must be immediately available afterwards

The gate is the end point of the check. Not the starting point.

That logic is also central to the Onyx One operational guide on chain responsibility. The guide states it clearly: supporting evidence must be checked in advance, not at the first sign-in at the gate. The gate should confirm a decision taken in advance, not resolve the file.

Why are we comparing Onyx One and NineID?

This comparison is relevant because Onyx One and NineID both come up in conversations about contractor management, access control, compliance and chain liability.

Onyx One focuses on contractor management for industrial environments. The solution goes beyond access control and verification. Onyx One centralises compliance information, supports the follow-up of documents such as Limosa, Dimona and A1, and helps companies organise contractor management so that it is audit-proof.

NineID positions itself around identity, verification, access control and the automation of gatehouse processes. NineID also refers explicitly to the new chain liability rules for 2026 and to contractor compliance. So it makes sense that companies put Onyx One and NineID side by side. But the comparison has to start from the right question.
Not 'Which solution is better?', but 'Which problem do you want to solve?'.

Two different focal points

Onyx One and NineID both play a role in contractor management. The difference lies mainly in the focal point. Onyx One starts from contractor compliance and chain control in industrial environments. In its positioning, NineID starts more strongly from identity, registration, verification and access automation. NineID describes its contractor management solution as, among other things, a way to check IDs, certificates and licences automatically and to reduce bottlenecks at the gate.

That does not automatically make one approach better than the other. It depends on your context. A company that only wants to improve queues, manual ID checks and access registration has different requirements from an industrial site where contractor compliance also touches HSE, procurement, operations, maintenance, security, legal and compliance.

The key question
Just streamline access, or demonstrate control of the whole chain?

If the question is 'How do we register and check external workers faster and more securely?', then both Onyx One and NineID are options. But chain liability goes much further. If you also want to show that the entire contractor chain was correctly checked before work started, then it is not only about the person at the gate.

Then it is also about:

• The contractor company
• The subcontractors
• The tier in the chain
• The work package
• The employment situation
• The required documents
• The validity of those documents
• The training completed
• The approval decisions
• The exceptions
• The audit evidence

So chain liability is not only about who gets access. It is about why someone was given access, based on which check, within which chain and with what evidence.

Comparing Onyx One and NineID

Registered is not the same as approved

In contractor management, registration and approval are often confused. That is dangerous. Registered means: someone is in a system. Approved means: based on checked information, someone may go to a specific site, for a specific job, within a specific period and under specific conditions.

That difference is crucial. A contractor can be registered but not linked to the right work package. An A1 certificate can be present but not valid on the start date. A Limosa declaration can exist but not match the right person, period or job. A subcontractor can be working without being visible in the chain. An exception can be granted verbally, without anyone later being able to show who made that decision. That is why good contractor management is more than registration. It is a decision process. And every decision must be provable.

What do you need to be able to show?

The central question is simple: 'Can you show who checked what, and when, for this specific task and crew?'.

For each work package, you need six building blocks:

• A chain map
• A people map
• A situation type
• A verification record
• A decision log
• An exception trail

These building blocks make the difference between “we collected documents” and “we can show that we checked correctly in advance”. That is where chain liability becomes operational. In the ability to show quickly:

• Who was present
• For which employer
• In which tier of the chain
• Under which situation type
• With which documents
• Checked by whom
• Approved when
• With which exceptions

Can you prove within 10 minutes who worked on your site?

Select one contractor crew that was active on your site last month. Can you show within 10 minutes who was present, through which company, in which tier of the chain, for which job, with which documents and based on which approval? If the answer is no, your contractor process may be organised administratively, but it is not audit-ready.

Download the Operational Guide to Chain Responsibility 2026 or talk to Onyx One about how to turn contractor compliance into provable chain control.

FAQ

What is the difference between Onyx One and NineID?

Onyx One and NineID both operate in the field of contractor management, compliance and physical access. The difference lies mainly in the starting point.

Onyx One starts from the full contractor flow: companies, subcontractors, workers, documents, training, work packages, statuses, exceptions and audit evidence. That compliance status can also be linked to physical access. Access then stops being a stand-alone gate process and becomes the result of a contractor status checked in advance. NineID publicly profiles itself mainly around identity, verification, contractor onboarding and automated access.

Is NineID an alternative to Onyx One?

That depends on what you want to solve. NineID can be relevant when the emphasis is mainly on identification, registration, verification and streamlining access.

Onyx One is more relevant when access must depend on a contractor process. Think of industrial sites where it is not only the person that counts, but also the contractor company, the subcontractor, the work package, the documents, the training, the expiry dates, the exceptions and the audit trail.

Is an identity check enough for chain liability?

No. An identity check is necessary, but it is not enough. You do not only need to know who someone is. You also need to be able to show through which company that person works, in which tier of the chain, for which job, with which documents, after which check and based on which decision access was allowed. So chain liability does not call for a stand-alone identity check. It calls for provable chain control.

When is Onyx One relevant for chain liability?

Onyx One is relevant when industrial companies want to keep a grip on the full contractor flow. That covers contractor companies, subcontractors, workers, documents, training, work packages, statuses, exceptions and audit evidence. The added value lies mainly in the link between compliance and execution. What is not in order digitally must not become an operational grey area at the gate. The access decision must rest on a status checked in advance.

When can an identity and access focused solution be enough?

An identity and access focused solution can be enough when the main problem lies in registration, identity checks, certificate verification or reducing queues at the gate. But as soon as access depends on broader contractor compliance, the question changes. Then you must not only record who someone is. You must be able to prove why that person may be given access. In complex industrial environments, that difference quickly becomes important.

What is the difference between registered and approved?

Registered means that someone is in a system. Approved means that, based on checked information, someone may be given access to a specific site, for a specific job and within a specific period. That difference is crucial. A registered contractor is not automatically an approved contractor. Approval requires context: company, job, documents, training, status and decision.

Why is the link between compliance and physical access important?

Without a link between compliance and physical access, there is still room for problems. Someone may not be fully in order administratively, yet still get onto the site through an old badge, manual intervention, verbal approval or an exception that was never properly recorded. When physical access is linked to the current contractor status, that grey area shrinks. The gate then no longer follows loose lists or ad hoc decisions, but a status checked in advance. That does not make access slower. It makes access clearer.

Is this legal advice?

No. This article gives an operational view of chain liability, contractor management and access control. For the legal application to your specific situation, advice from a legal expert remains necessary.