Design approval from a client who will never log in

What is a design approval and who gives it?

Before a kitchen is fabricated, a staircase is made or a layout is set out on site, someone has to approve the drawing it is built from. That someone is the client, or on a design and build contract the employer or their architect, and the approval is of a particular revision, not of the design in general.

Design and build contracts usually set a timescale for the employer to accept or comment on a design submission, with an extension of time if they're late; if there's no timescale, a reasonable one is implied. Starting work before that approval is a known trap: if the design is then not approved, the contractor carries the delay and the cost of the aborted work.

The approval is therefore a record with three parts: which revision, who approved it, and when.

What should a design approval record?

The value of the approval is entirely in its precision. An approval of the kitchen drawings is worth little when there are four revisions; an approval of revision C, dated, by the client, settles what was agreed, what was built and who approved it.

Comments belong on the drawing itself, against the thing they are about, rather than in a separate email that nobody can match to a revision later.

• The drawing number and the revision being approved
• Any comments or conditions, marked on the drawing where they apply
• Who approved it, in their own name, and the date
• Whether the approval is for construction or fabrication, or for comment only
• The date the next revision superseded it, if one did

What happens when the drawing is built without a signed approval?

The joinery arrives and the client says that's not what they approved. Sometimes it's true: they commented on revision B and the shop built revision C. Sometimes it isn't, but there's nothing to show which. Either way the argument is about which PDF was attached to which email, weeks ago, and the cost of remaking the thing sits with whoever cannot prove their case.

A reported High Court case turned on exactly this: whether a client had approved a redesigned element or whether it had been built without their approval. The party with the clearer record of what was approved, and when, is the one that wins that argument.

The approval needs to be on the revision, from the client, before fabrication, and it needs to survive the next revision without being lost.

How do I get a drawing approved with Portal Worx?

You upload the drawing revision, as a PDF or an image, to the job in Portal Worx and send the client a link by email. They open it on their phone. No account, nothing to install, nothing to learn: the page shows the drawing and asks for a decision.

They can mark an area of the drawing and leave a note against it, ask a question, approve or decline. If you asked for it, they must enter a one-time code emailed to them before signing, which shows whoever signed had control of that inbox at that moment. They draw their signature and submit.

When you issue the next revision, you send it as a new version. It supersedes the old one, the client approves again, and the earlier approval stays on the record, so you can always show which revision was approved when. Unanswered requests are chased from the same screen.

What does the signed record hold?

The record is dated and signed, pinned to the exact revision the client saw, with its SHA-256 fingerprint. A later copy of the drawing can be checked against it to show whether it is the approved file. The marked areas, the notes and every version are kept with the job.

A simple electronic signature is admissible evidence in the UK under the Electronic Communications Act 2000; the weight it carries is for the court and rests on the record around it, which here is the revision, the date, the address and the notes.

Where doesn't this fit?

One drawing goes to one approver per request. If the architect and the client both approve, each gets a request; there's no multiple-approver flow and no delegation. The drawing must be a PDF or an image; a CAD file or a Word document is exported first. Portal Worx doesn't check the drawing, doesn't draw on photos, and doesn't verify identity: the code proves control of an inbox.

The page the client opens is on our domain, not yours.

Common questions

Can the client comment on a specific part of the drawing?

Yes. They mark an area of the page and write a note against it. The note and the mark are kept on the record with the approval or the decline.

What happens to the approval when I issue a new revision?

The new revision supersedes the old one and needs its own approval. The old approval stays on the record, so the history shows which revision was approved on which date.

Does an approval of one page approve the whole set?

The approval is of the file you sent. Send the set as one PDF and the approval covers that PDF; send pages separately and each is approved on its own.

Can I send a photo of a sample instead of a drawing?

Yes. Images are accepted as the thing being approved. The client approves that exact image.

What does it cost per drawing?

Nothing per drawing. Requests and links are unlimited on every plan, from £29 a month.

Related

• Variation order sign-off before the work starts
• Extra works authorisation signed on a phone
• Handover certificate signed on the day