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Stages you leave only when the checks pass

Every job moves through your stages, from Planning and Approvals to the Defects Period. A stage lets go only when its checks pass, such as the key events done or the client's stage payment received. Passing anyway takes an approval with the reason on record.

PLANSFrom Growth

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Why it matters

On a building job the money leaks at the stage changes. Finishes start while the client still owes the slab payment. The job is called handed over before the snags are closed. Nobody can say which site has sat in Structure for nine months. Most construction software tracks progress and percent complete, and the stage is a label anyone can change. In SmartMy Construction the stage itself checks the work and the money before it lets the project go on. The only way past a failed check is an approval that names who agreed and why.

The problem it solves

Finishing work starts while the client still owes the payment due at roof slab.
A villa is called handed over while snags are open and the possession event never happened.
Management cannot see which jobs have sat in one stage far longer than planned.
When a site pushes ahead anyway, nobody knows who allowed it or why.

How it works

Seven stages come ready: Planning and Approvals (30 days), Mobilisation (15), Foundation (45), Structure (180), MEP and Finishes (120), Handover (30) and Defects Period (365). Each is held by the project manager or the site engineer.
An administrator ticks the checks each stage needs to leave it. The ready stages come with no checks ticked, so you choose them.
A new project starts in the first stage. The project form shows the stage, the holder and since when, and marks it late past the target.
When the stage's work is done, the holder presses Next Stage. The checks run, along with any stage payment marked Stops Moving On.
If something fails, the project stays and the message lists what is missing, such as: Payment "Roof slab" (450,000.00) is not received yet.
A manager can press Ask to Move On and write why. Once a project manager approves, or the levels of your Stage Override chain, the project moves on. The history shows it was passed by approval.
Entering a stage can post a message on the project feed and make a client payment fall due.

Everything it does

Checks on a stage

Every needed role has a person: each role marked Every Project Needs One has a current person on the team. The Project Manager is marked to start with
Its key events are done: the stage's key events, such as Slab Casting or Handover, are done or cancelled
Roles needed to start the next stage, such as a Quality Engineer before Structure
Stage payments: a client payment milestone marked Stops Moving On, once due and not received, holds the project

Stages

Name, order, target days, Held By (role), roles needed to start, checks to leave, last stage, folded on the board, notes
Can Be Passed by Approval: on to start with; off makes the checks strict
A message to post on the project feed on entry, and the audiences it goes to
Stages for every Entity or for one; rename, add, reorder or archive them

Moving on and passing

Next Stage runs the checks and fills the next stage's roles from your assignment rules
Ask to Move On (managers) lists what is not met and needs a reason
Stage Overrides: Draft, Waiting for Approval, Approved, Rejected, with the reason for a rejection
Only Next Stage changes the stage; an administrator can set it directly, and the move is still logged

History and lateness

Stage History on every project: entered, left, days held, held by, target, late, moved by, passed by approval
Where Jobs Wait (managers): open stages grouped by stage, as a list, pivot or graph
Late is checked every hour; the holder and the project manager are told once per stage
Filter Late in Stage and group by stage on the project list

Assigning the holder

Assignment rules pick a person for a role when a stage starts, by Entity, city and project value
Take Turns, or the person with the Fewest Open Projects; the first rule that fits is used

Money tied to stages

A client payment can fall due When a Stage Starts or When a Stage Ends
Marked Stops Moving On, it holds the next stage until it is received

Who uses it

Site engineerHolds Foundation, Structure and MEP and Finishes, and presses Next Stage when the work is done.

Project managerHolds Planning, Mobilisation, Handover and Defects, asks to move on with a reason, and approves requests.

Managing directorWatches Where Jobs Wait and the late jobs, and approves overrides in the chain.

Construction AdministratorSets up the stages, their checks, targets and holders, and the assignment rules.

ClientReads on the feed that the job has entered a new stage, if the stage posts to the client.

Where you use it

Web: the project form (stage, holder, Next Stage, Ask to Move On, Stage History); Construction > Projects > Projects > Where Jobs Wait and Stage Overrides
Configuration: Construction > Projects > Configuration > Projects > Stages, Stage Checks and Assignment Rules
Not in the SmartMy Construction app yet: stages are moved on the web
Not on the client portal as a stage bar: the client sees stage posts on their feed link

What you control

Settings

Stages, order, holder and target days: seven ready, from 15 to 365 days
Checks per stage: none ticked to start with
Can Be Passed by Approval: on
Assignment rules: none to start with
The Stage Override approval chain: project managers to start with

Approvals

Stage Override: a project manager approves to start with; add levels to the chain, or set it to Approved at Once

Notifications

Project Stage Is Yours: to the person who holds the new stage, in the app, by email and as a phone notification
Project Late in a Stage: to the holder and the project manager, in the app, by email and as a phone notification
Approvers get each override request in Approvals and as a to-do
Sent at once, at any hour: these are work messages, so quiet hours do not hold them back

Questions

Can we add a check such as 'structural drawings approved'?

You choose from the checks listed here. A new kind of check is built by us; tell us what you need. Meanwhile a readiness check with a sign-off on a key event does much the same.

What if a check fails for a good reason?

A manager presses Ask to Move On and writes why. Once approved, the project moves on and the history marks the stage as passed by approval. Turn off Can Be Passed by Approval to make a stage strict.

Our jobs have different stages, such as for a road. Can we change them?

Yes. Rename, add, reorder or archive stages and set the days and holder, for every Entity or for one.

Can we hold the job until the client pays the slab payment?

Yes. Mark that payment milestone Stops Moving On. Once it is due and not received, Next Stage refuses and names the payment and the amount.

Which plan has it?

Growth and Scale.

Related features

PROJECTS AND SET-UPKey events: slab casting, handoverBhoomi pooja, foundation pour, slab casting, topping out and handover run as key events. Each has readiness checks counted back from the day, bookings for ready-mix and pump, and invitations the client answers from a link. Curing and cube results follow by themselves.PROJECTS AND SET-UPClient payment plans with milestonesGive a contract job its payment plan. For example: 10 % on signing, 15 % at foundation, 10 % per slab and 5 % at handover. Each milestone falls due by hand, on a date or after a number of days. With Growth also at a stage or when the slab casting is done. The client is told the amount and the date to pay by.PROJECTS AND SET-UPProject team with roles and datesEach project lists who does what: project manager, site engineer, QS, the client's representative, the architect, subcontractors and the bank's engineer. Each line has from and until dates, so a hand-over keeps the history and site staff see only their own sites.PROJECTS AND SET-UPProject feed for the team and the clientOne timeline per project where stage changes, key events, payments due and your own posts land. Each item says who it is meant for: your team, the client, subcontractors, the bank or buyers. People outside are told on WhatsApp or by email with a link to their own view, and confirm important items with Seen.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.PROJECTS AND SET-UPDashboards: Site, Projects, QualityReady dashboards open first in Construction: Site for every site engineer, Projects and Quality for managers, and Sales for the sales team. Every number counts only what the viewer may open, and a click shows the records behind it.

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.

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