Site updates to the company and the client
Every submitted site report makes two updates: a full one for your own people and a clean one for the client. The client one has progress and photos but never your costs, crews or notes. Each goes by email or WhatsApp, as a link or as a picture card, after a manager's approval if you want one. Weekly and monthly round-ups add up the days, and clients can comment.
PLANSEvery plan
Why it matters
The client who calls every evening for progress is the most common complaint of contractors and owners alike. Most site apps keep the daily report for the team. The client gets a PDF someone remembers to forward, or a portal login they never use. Here the client's update is made by itself from the report the site already submitted. It shows only what you choose and can wait for a manager's approval. It reaches the client's own WhatsApp or email as a link or as one picture of the day. The client can answer on the page, and the comment reaches the project manager.
The problem it solves
- The client calls the site engineer every evening to ask how far the work went.
- Someone forwards the daily report to the client, with the crew count and the internal notes still in it.
- Clients do not open links or log in to portals; they read WhatsApp.
- Once a week the manager writes a summary by hand from seven reports.
How it works
- On the project's Status Updates tab, choose how the client update is released, how often, when it goes and how long links stay open.
- Tick what the client sees (eight switches) and list who gets which version. Your people get the company version, the client the client version. Each goes by email or WhatsApp, as a link or images.
- When the site report is submitted, or auto-submitted at the cut-off, both updates are made.
- The company version goes at once or at the set time. The client version waits for a manager's approval if you chose so.
- The manager opens it, adds a line for the client if needed, and presses Approve and Send, or Don't Send.
- The client opens a page made for phones, or sees the picture card in WhatsApp. A comment on the page reaches the project manager.
- With round-ups on, a weekly update on your chosen day and a monthly one on the 1st add up the days. They go the same way.
Everything it does
The two versions
- Company: everything, including labour by trade and contractor, material, plant, visitors and internal notes
- Client: only work lines and photos marked Client Sees, and issues marked Client Sees or Client Must Act
- The client switches: Work in Words, Work Done by Place, % Complete, Photos, Workers on Site, Weather, Issues (Client-Visible), Plan for Tomorrow. All are on to start with
- Message to the Client: a line from the manager shown on top
- States: Waiting for Approval, Ready, Sent, Not Sent, Not Sent (Day Off)
When and how it goes
- Client Update: A Manager Approves First (the default) or Send by Itself; the company version always goes by itself
- How Often: Every Report (the default) or On Chosen Weekdays (Monday to Saturday ticked to start with). On other days the client update is Not Sent (Day Off)
- When: As Soon as Released (the default) or At a Set Time (19:00 site time to start with); a report released later goes at once
- Recipients: a line per person, Company or Client Version, Email or WhatsApp (WhatsApp to start with), Link or Images (Link to start with), language, Active
- Send Now and Send Again (managers) for a ready or sent update
- With nobody listed, the update notes it and waits for Send Now
Link or images
- Link: a secure page at /cons/update/..., for phones, light and dark, no login, not indexed by search engines
- Links Open For 30 days to start with; then the page says it has expired
- Images: a picture card of the day, 1080 px wide, with progress bars, issues, tomorrow and four photos
- By email the card and up to 6 photos are attached; on WhatsApp the card is the message's picture
- The card draws Hindi, Tamil, Arabic, Chinese and other scripts with a font that has them
Round-ups
- Weekly Round-up: on the chosen weekday (Monday to start with), the 7 days before
- Monthly Round-up: on the 1st, the month before
- Work added up by place and activity, the days' summaries, man-days, hours lost to weather and photos. Also the open issues and the plan from the last report
- Made only for running or on-hold projects with submitted reports in the period
- Approved and sent like the daily updates
Comments and the record
- A comment form on the client version's page: name and comment
- Each comment goes to the project manager and is listed in Client Comments, with Seen by Us
- Clients with a portal login see the latest 30 updates sent on their project page
- A report whose client update went out cannot be reopened
Who uses it
Project managerApproves or holds back the client update, adds a line for the client, reads the comments.
Construction ManagerSets the sending, the switches and the recipients per project; sends again by hand.
Client or ownerReads the update on WhatsApp or email, comments on the page, sees past updates in the portal.
Managing directorGets the company version of each site every evening.
Where you use it
- Web: the project's Status Updates tab; Construction Site > Site Work > Status Updates and Client Comments
- The SmartMy Construction app: Status Updates to approve, for managers (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- WhatsApp and email: the link or the picture card
- Client portal: past updates on the project page
- WhatsApp: works once the two message templates are approved by WhatsApp for your number; until then use email
What you control
Settings
- Client Update: A Manager Approves First
- How Often: Every Report; weekdays Monday to Saturday
- When: As Soon as Released; Send At 19:00 site time
- Links Open For: 30 days
- Weekly Round-up: off (Monday when on); Monthly Round-up: off
- The Client Sees: eight switches, all on
- Recipients: per person, version, channel, link or images, language
Approvals
- Client Site Update: Construction managers to start with; add levels or set it to Approved at Once
Notifications
- Site Update (Link): to each recipient, by email or WhatsApp as set, at once
- Site Update (Images): to each recipient, by email or WhatsApp as set, at once
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the client update, in the app, by email and as a phone notification, with a to-do
- Client Comment on a Site Update: to the project manager, in the app, by email and as a phone notification
Questions
Can the client see our labour count or costs?
Costs and wages never go in an update. The workers-on-site number shows only if Workers on Site is on; switch it off and the client sees work, photos and what you choose.What if the site wrote something the client should not read?
Keep A Manager Approves First. The manager reads the client version and presses Don't Send, or reopens the report before it goes. Internal notes never go to the client.Our client does not open links. Can they get pictures?
Yes. Set their line to Images. They get one picture card of the day on WhatsApp, or the card and photos by email.Can the client reply?
Yes, on the client update's page. The comment goes to the project manager and is kept in Client Comments.Can we send only on some days?
Yes. Choose On Chosen Weekdays and tick the days, or switch on the weekly or monthly round-up instead.Does WhatsApp work from day one?
Email works at once. WhatsApp needs the two message templates approved for your number first, and it has not been tried on a real phone yet.Related features
SITEDaily site report with auto-submitThe site enters the day once: work done by place, labour, material, plant, weather, issues and photos. A report still in draft at the project's cut-off is submitted by itself, so the company and client updates go out on time.PORTAL AND APPPortal for clients, subcontractors, buyers and borrowersPeople outside your company sign in at /my/construction and see only their own part. Clients see their projects, site updates, variations to agree and approved bills. Subcontractors see their work orders, certified measurements and retention. Buyers and borrowers get their own pages when you sell homes or lend.ACROSS SMARTMY CONSTRUCTIONApproval chainsBudgets, material requests, wage runs, work orders, subcontractor and client bills, client updates, piece work, permits and more need approval. They go to the right people in order, set up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.ACROSS SMARTMY CONSTRUCTIONNotificationsSmartMy Construction tells the right person when something needs them. For example: the day's site update to the client, a report submitted, a budget line at 80 %. Or an incident on site, a request to approve, a payment due. Each event has its own recipients and channels: in the app, by email, as a phone notification, on WhatsApp or by SMS.PORTAL AND APPThe SmartMy Construction app, also offlineOne app for Android and iPhone for the people on site. It has today's site report with photos, the muster roll and check-in, snags and inspections. It also has material requests and issues, measurements, plant log sheets and safety. What is entered without signal is kept on the phone and sent when the signal is back. Clients, subcontractors and buyers use the same app for their own pages.
See your next site report on it.
Tell us what you build, how many sites you run and how your client hears about progress today. We will set up a project with you and send your first daily update.