How NIRAP verifies a firm
RAICB™ is NIRAP's credential for firms that use AI in client work. A firm cannot certify itself. It earns the credential by building a written AI program, training its people, and passing a review by a NIRAP assessor. The assessor is a person, not software.
The standard: V-AGE™
Every firm is checked against V-AGE™, the Versatile Adaptive Governance Engine. V-AGE™ has more than 100 control practices drawn from the NIST AI Risk Management Framework 1.0, ISO/IEC 42001:2023 for AI management systems, and guidance from each profession, such as NAR's AI Policy Template for Brokers. A firm's assessment selects the controls that apply to the ways that firm actually uses AI. V-AGE™ looks at four things in every use of AI.
Inputs
What information goes into an AI tool. This covers approved data sources, personal information removed before it is typed into a tool, and users trained before they get access.
Outputs
What comes out, and where it goes. This covers checks for invented facts, a person reading the work before a client sees it, and limits on what can be produced.
Controls
Who is accountable. This covers a named owner for every use, a person in the loop on high-risk decisions, and a log the firm can produce later.
Constraints
The hard limits. This covers spending caps, prohibited subjects, regulatory boundaries, and permissions that decide who can use which feature.
NIRAP's mapping of V-AGE™ to these frameworks is its own. It is not published or endorsed by NIST, ISO, NAR or the ABA.
What the firm must submit
The firm builds its program with the Responsible AI Toolkit, which produces one finished document from each working session. The real estate edition produces the documents below. Each profession's edition is written against that profession's own rules.
- Approved AI Tool Register. Every AI tool the firm uses, what it is used for, and what data it touches.
- Firm AI Policy. The firm's written rules for using AI, with a named owner.
- Work Review Standard. How a person checks AI-assisted work before it reaches a client.
- AI Records Retention Schedule. What the firm keeps, and for how long, so it can show its work later.
- Rollout Plan. How the policy reaches every person in the firm, with scheduled check-ins.
- Training acknowledgments. A named record from every staff member who uses AI tools, after the AI Governance 101 training.
How the review works
- The firm uploads its documents. These are the documents its toolkit sessions produced, plus each person's training acknowledgment.
- A NIRAP assessor reads everything. The assessor checks each document against the V-AGE™ controls that apply to the firm. The review usually takes 3 to 5 business days.
- Gaps come back with a resolution. If something is missing, the assessor tells the firm what it is and how to resolve it. The firm fixes it and resubmits.
- The firm earns the credential. The RAICB™ badge and the AI-assisted. Human-approved. label are issued only after the review is complete.
How long it lasts, and how to check it
A RAICB™ credential is valid for two years, and then the firm must renew it. Each firm's record on this site is read from NIRAP's records every time it loads. If a credential expires or is revoked, its record, its badge and any label that links to it show that it is no longer current.
What the credential does not mean
RAICB™ certification is a point-in-time attestation that the firm's program is in place. It is not a guarantee of legal or regulatory compliance, and it is not a review of any individual document the firm produces. NIRAP has no stake in the AI tools it assesses.
Learn how to get your firm verified
Start with a 20-minute call, or explore the program for your profession. Real estate brokerages can begin now. The law firm edition is in development.