For consultancies and freelancers
Win the bid with measured quality.
A client who has software built sees mainly the demo and has to trust what the supplier says about the code.
Watchdog surveys the delivered code independently of both sides and grades it from 0 to 100, whatever stack it is built in. That score is the Code Assurance Index, an open standard whose rules are published and belong to neither side. The supplier can attach a minimum score to the contract, and the client can check the number for themselves.
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Agreed minimum
the client and the supplier write a minimum quality score into the contract, and every survey during the work checks the code against it
Signed
at handover, the client and the supplier get the same signed record of the result, which they can still check after the contract ends
Neutral
Watchdog is paid the same whatever the score, and grades every supplier by the same rules
€0
for the first survey of every repository you connect, with nothing held back
From bid to handover
Quality both sides can see and check.
Today a client can rely on what the supplier says about the quality of the code, or pay an outside expert to review it. A review costs time and money, so repeating it at every stage is unsustainable. When bids are compared, quality is described in words, and the choice is made on what the client can see: demos, deadlines and price.
Watchdog makes an independent check part of the work. It surveys the code on a schedule and at a fixed price. The rules are published and the same for every supplier, whether the code is written in Java or C#. With a score in the bid and a minimum score in the contract, the client and the supplier agree from the start on the quality the delivery must have, and both check it with the same measurement. The client can compare bids on quality as well as price, and the supplier can show how well it builds.
In the bid: the quality on offer
A signed survey of code the supplier has already built, such as its own product or an earlier project it has permission to share, shows the client how the supplier builds before the choice is made. The survey counts the same whether the supplier is one freelancer or a large consultancy. A score that has risen over several surveys also shows how the supplier works on quality over time. The bid can also name the minimum score the new delivery will meet.
In the contract: the agreed minimum
The agreed minimum score becomes a binding appendix to the contract. The appendix can also set minimums for chosen aspects of the code, such as security, and name problems that fail a delivery outright, such as a critical known security hole. It can list the regulations the delivery must show evidence for, such as the Cyber Resilience Act. Every survey checks the delivery against the appendix and signs the result, and each change to the appendix is recorded as a new version.
During delivery: problems fixed before handover
Surveys on a schedule show the score against the agreed minimum from the start of the work to the delivery. The supplier's developers, or their coding agents, fix what the surveys find, and a fix counts only when the next survey confirms that the problem is gone. The client can follow the progress, and a score that rose during the work is evidence for the supplier's next bid.
At handover: a signed delivery verification
Assay, our product for business reports, produces a signed delivery verification from the final survey, as a PDF. It shows whether the delivery meets each point in the appendix and lists any findings that were set aside. It also includes a list of every library and licence in the code (CycloneDX SBOM) and the security findings with their standard weakness codes (CWE). The client and the supplier keep the same signed record, and it can still be checked after the contract has ended.
SAMPLE · DELIVERY VERIFICATION
Delivery verification · payments-core
- Contract appendix · version 3 · rules fixed at signing
- Survey · #14 · commit 8c41f2e
- Code Assurance Index · 82, minimum 80 · pass
- Security · 78, minimum 75 · pass
- Critical known security holes (CVEs) · 0, maximum 0 · pass
- Findings set aside · 2, listed
Neither the supplier nor the client can move the number. A minimum of 80 also means that every area the survey grades for all code is rated Strong or better, and that no area is rated Critical.
No stake in the score
A score both sides can trust.
Never part of the work it scores
Canine Development, the company behind Watchdog, never builds or advises on code it also scores, and is never on both sides of the same contract.
Paid the same, whatever the score
Watchdog is paid the plan's fixed price and takes no success fees, so it earns the same whether a delivery passes or fails.
The same rules, whoever pays
The same published rules score every delivery, whoever pays for Watchdog, and neither side of the contract can change them. Each new version of the rules is published, and a contract can lock one version for its whole term. The client can also check the calculation behind any score against the open standard.
Put a number on your quality, and let the client check it.
Self-serve · the first survey of every repository is free · free for one person, commercial work included · see pricing
Next: From code host to your first baseline · Answers for your client's security reviewer, or browse all the guides.
Having software built by a supplier? See Watchdog for software owners. Building software for your own company? See Watchdog for engineering teams.