This article contains the most frequently asked questions regarding Trade Partner access.
Click a question or topic to jump to the corresponding answer.
- Who is considered a partner user?
- How can I adjust partner permissions?
- How do I know if a trade partner has registered for web access?
- When partners are given web access, do they receive instructions on how to use the site?
- How do I edit or delete a partner?
- How can partners update their personal settings?
- Will partners receive email notifications?
- Where can I post requests and information that partners can see?
- What is "Show in Lists" in the Partner list?
- What is "Email Preferences" in the Partner list?
- How do I put names in "Assigned To" columns?
- What does "Task visible to partners" mean?
- Can trade partners post and view comments?
- Can partners attach files and videos? Who sees them?
- Can trade partners see notes and files on the Schedule?
- Can partners see files on selection items?
- Can partners see files on change orders?
- What happens to partners on archived projects?
- Why are some partners inactive, but not deleted?
Who is considered a partner user?
Partner users include all of the people who are not on your team who you may want to assign to complete work on a job, such as your subcontractors and vendors.
These users are housed under the Partner List which you can access and update from your Main Menu > Partners.
Examples of partners would be your electrician, outsourced decorator, and lighting fixture supplier.
How can I adjust partner permissions?
As a default on your account, you can decide what your trade partner users can see if you are providing them with web access. Configure these settings by going to the Settings > Trade Partners.
Here you can choose whether or not you will allow your trade partners to view your specs, selections and approvals as well as your project schedules.
Whether or not you decide to share your specs & selections and approvals with your trade partners, NO financial information will be displayed to them. They will only be able to see the specification information, trade partner information, choices or decisions made by clients, and any files/photos and comments shared with them.
If you are sharing your Schedules with your trade partners, they will be able to view the Gantt, Calendar and Task views, but will NOT be able to edit your Schedule. They will be able however, to add files/photos and comments as well as confirm work.
How do I know if a trade partner has registered for web access?
When looking at your Trade Partner list (Contacts > Trade Partners), if there is a check in the checkbox under the web access column, it means that the trade partner has registered with the invite email that the system sent to them and now they have a password and can log in.
If it says Invite Sent then it means they have been sent an email inviting them to CoConstruct but they have not yet registered. That means that they have not yet logged in to the system.
Use the Resend link to send out a second invitation, since they may have lost or discarded the first welcome email.
If you have resent the web access welcome email and they still have not registered, you may want to personally contact them after a period of time to explain what the registration email is for and that they need to use that email to secure their login email address and password so that they can have access to your projects.
If your trade partner needs a password reset sent to them, they can request one by using the Forgot Password link on the main login page. You can always enter their email in the Forgot Password form to reset this for your trade partners.
When my partners are given web access, do they receive instructions on how to use CoConstruct?
Yes. Once a partner is given web access, and they register, there is a 3-minute video linked in big text right from their main menu to explain how it all works. We always suggest, though, that you talk to your partners before giving them access or turn on alerts so they know what to expect.
When trade partners first log into their accounts, the system prompts them to watch this overview video:
http://co-construct.s3.amazonaws.com/Training/PartnerSideTraining-April_2014.mp4
How do I edit or delete a partner?
To edit a trade partner, navigate to Contacts > Trade Partners, click on the trade partner’s nickname.
Then click Edit at the bottom of the screen.
You can then update their contact and notification settings from this page. If you do not see an Edit button, that means the partner is inactive and you will need to first click the Make Partner Active button.
To delete an active partner account, you can delete a user by clicking the Delete button next to Edit.
Inactive vs. completely deleted: You may notice that some partners cannot be deleted entirely from CoConstruct. This is because they have completed items in the system. These users will instead be “inactive” at the bottom of your Trade Partner List in gray in order to keep an accurate paper trail of those interactions, but they will no longer show up in your assignment lists on projects.
How can partners update their personal settings?
By clicking the Personal Settings link from their Main Menu, partners can edit their name, email and text message addresses, and can specify how they want comment alerts sent (if at all). They can also update their password, profile picture and time zone preference.
Will partners receive e-mail notifications?
They can, but just because a partner is in CoConstruct does not mean he or she will receive e-mail notifications. Click the partner’s nickname to see the Partner Detail screen. Look at the Send Individual Work Requests and Send Task Summary On: boxes to see if e-mail notifications are enabled. If not, you can turn them on by clicking Edit, entering the partner’s e-mail address, and clicking the appropriate notification checkboxes.
Where can I post requests and information that partners can see?
Schedule, to-do, and warranty items can generate task notification requests, alerts and reminders to your partners. So, depending on the nature of the item, you can pick the most appropriate of the three methods.
For your partners to receive these notifications, be sure to have enabled their ability to receive individual work requests on the Partner Details page.
Partners can view Public Notes and files attached to schedule tasks, as well as files you share with them on the Project Files page and Selection Sheet.
Partners can also be added to comment conversations on selection, schedule, warranty and to-do items.
What is "Show in Lists" in the Partner list?
A checkmark in this column means that this partner will be displayed as an available partner assignee (in the “P” lists) on pages such as the To-Do List and Warranty List. If you do not want items to be assigned to this partner, click the partner’s nickname and edit the value on the Partner Details screen.
Remember that just because the partner shows in the assignment lists, it will not automatically receive e-mail notifications and summaries about outstanding items. The e-mail notification settings may also be set on the Partner Details screen.
What is "Email Preferences" in the Partner list?
This shows which days the partner will receive daily summaries of open tasks, as well as whether he will receive individual work request e-mails. You can change these settings by clicking on the partner's nickname.
How do I put names in the "Assigned To" lists?
There are two types of lists in the Assigned To column on To-Do and Warranty items.
The Assign builder list is comprised of people on your team who are set up as builder-side users, who have active logins to CoConstruct.
If someone is missing from the list, your company's admin user can head to Contacts > Team Members to add the builder-side user's first and last name and email address.
The Assign partner list is comprised of people you've entered on your Partner List. You can access this list by going to Contacts > Trade Partners.
Any person on that list who is active and has the Show In Lists box checked will show up in the partner Assigned To list. To edit a partner on this list, click on their nickname, select the Edit button, click the checkbox to Show in Lists and click Update.
What does "Task visible to partners" mean?
If a task is visible to trade partners, the task will be included in e-mail notifications sent to the trade partners on that task, assuming that the trade partner’s profile is set to send e-mail notifications.
Based on your Scheduling Settings, CoConstruct will only make a task visible to a trade partner if it falls within a certain date range, if the task has no predecessors, or if the predecessors have "stable" dates. There are a number of factors to determine if a task's predecessor dates are stable, such as if the predecessor has been confirmed by its partners or if the task is already complete.
Even if a task is not visible to a trade partner, you can always click the "Notifications/Confirmations" link and force CoConstruct to send an individual work request anyway. That will make it visible going forward.
If you have given web access to your trade partners and have allowed them to see the full project schedule, then they will see all tasks when they view the full schedule. However, only those tasks marked as "visible to partners" will show on their personalized task reports, since those are the only tasks with stable dates.
Can partners post and view comments?
Trade Partners with web access can post comments on to-do, spec/selection items, schedule tasks and warranty items. The comments will only be visible to builder side users until you decide to share their communications with the client or other trade partners.
When your trade partner comments on an item, you will be able to see their message through the Comments link on the task or item. To add them to the conversation to send a reply or include them on future communications with your client or other trade partners, select the Add to Conversation button:
You can continue to add additional trade partners to the conversation as needed using the Select a trade partner box. If you need to remove a user from a conversation, click the X next to the partner's name.
Once a trade partner is added to a conversation, his comments can be made visible to clients and other trade partner users.
Can partners attach files and photos? Who sees them?
Yes, partners who have web access can attach files and photos. Your team members and the partner who uploaded the file are able to see it. You can use the icon buttons to also share it with the clients and all of the partners with web access to the project.
Can partners see notes and files on the Schedule?
If you have enabled partners to view project Schedules (Settings > Trade Partners), trade partners with web access will be able to view Public Notes you have added to schedule tasks, as well as any attached files that you have made visible to trade partners.
For trade partners without web access, you can still set them up to receive Individual Task Assigments for their tasks. Any Public Notes or shared files that are attached to schedule tasks will be sent to the specified assignees as part of their task assignment notification.
Can partners see files on selection items?
If you have enabled web access for a partner on this project and have allowed access to the selection sheet on the Partner Web Access Settings page, he may be able to see certain files on the selection item.
To check, click the Edit link next to the selection.
In the Related Files section, any file with a green partner icon (the picture of the 3 people) will be visible. To hide the file, click on the Hide link next to the icon.
Can partners see files on change orders?
If you have enabled web access for a partner on this project and have allowed access to selections and change orders from the Settings > Trade Partners page, he may be able to see certain files attached to change orders after you request approval with the Save & Request Approval button.
As you upload new files to your change orders, you can choose whether the files will be visible to your partners.
After you have requested approval, the files with a green partner icon (the picture of the 3 people) will be visible to your partners who have web access for the project. To hide a file, click on the Hide link next to the icon.
What happens to partners on archived projects?
Any assignments that you have made to partners on your projects will remain. However, partners who have web access will no longer be able to see the details of the project and they will no longer receive e-mail notifications for those tasks. If you still have open, active items for your partners, you should wait to archive the project until they are complete.
Why are some partners inactive, but not deleted?
Some partners can be deleted from CoConstruct because there are no completed to-do or warranty items in the system assigned to them, and there is no need to keep the partner’s information for historical purposes.
However, when there are completed items in the system, CoConstruct will not let you fully delete the partner so that you still have a paper trial on those items. Instead, the partner becomes “inactive,” which means it no longer shows on any of the assignment lists and is always at the bottom of the Partner List.