Glossary

OpenCRVS uses a consistent set of concepts across modules:

• Event – a civil registration event type such as birth, death, marriage, etc.

• Record – the data instance for a single event.

• Notification – a preliminary capture of event details that may form the basis of a formal declaration.

• Declaration – a formal statement that an event has taken place.

• Registration – the process by which an event record is reviewed and legally registered.

• Certified copy / certificate – an official document representing a registered event.

• Informant – the person who formally reports the event.

• Workflow – the ordered steps and rules that govern a record through its lifecycle.

• Status – the state of a record in the workflow (for example, Draft, Notified, Declared, Registered).

• Action – a user or system operation that changes a record or its status (for example, Notify, Declare, Validate, Register, Correct, Issue certificate).

• Form – the structured data capture for an event, defined by fields, conditional logic, and validations.

• Business rule – a configurable rule that validates data or controls workflow behaviour.

• Administrative unit – the organisational unit responsible for services for a specific area.

• User / role – the authenticated user and their permission set.