Send requests to contractors with a link

Available on Pro and Enterprise

Contractor request links let you send a checklist item to someone outside installHUB, like a scaffolder, a kit supplier or a DNO contact, as a link they open on their phone. They confirm, flag a problem or mark the work complete with photos, and the job’s checklist updates itself, so nobody in the office has to chase a reply by phone and copy it into the job.

How it works

Every request is tied to one checklist item on one job. You send it from the job’s checklist, the contractor gets an email with a button to open their request, and every answer they give lands back on the job: in the checklist, in the job notes and, when the office needs to act, as a job alert.

• One link per request. The same link stays open for the whole job, from confirming the brief through to taking the scaffold down. Resending sends the same link again.
• Links don’t expire. The contractor can come back to it whenever they need to. It only stops working if you cancel the request.
• No login. Contractors never need an installHUB account or the app. They just give their name and company when they reply.
• Only what they need. The contractor sees the site address, your dates and message, and the survey sections you choose. They never see the customer’s email address, and they only see the customer’s name and phone number if you include them for access.
• Your brand. If you use the Branding Studio, the page and email carry your logo and name. Otherwise they come from installHUB on your company’s behalf, with your phone number so the contractor can call you.

The steps on a contractor’s link

A link walks the contractor through up to three steps. Which ones they see depends on the request type you pick when you send it.

• Acknowledge: “Can it be done as briefed?” They answer Yes, as briefed, or No, something needs to change with an explanation and a photo. A “No” flags a change on the job for the office to deal with.
• Complete: the date the work was done, inspection and handover notes, a Valid until date if the item tracks one, and photos. This is the step that completes your checklist item. It is always on. The completed date can’t be in the future, and Valid until can’t be before it, so a slip of the date picker can’t make a scaffold look inspected next week.
• Removal: the date it came down (today or earlier), a photo of the cleared area, and whether there was any damage or follow-up. Useful for scaffold and anything else that has to leave site.

Set up your request types

A request type is a reusable setup for one kind of contractor: which steps their link has, whether the office reviews their work before the item ticks, and which parts of the survey they see by default. Add one per kind of contractor you send work to, for example Scaffold, Kit delivery or Electrician.

Open Contractor Request Types under Settings, Jobs & Installations, and click Add request type:

1. Name: what your team picks when sending, for example “Scaffold”.
2. Trade: for example “Scaffolder”. Shown to your team when picking a contact.
3. Steps on the contractor’s link: turn on Acknowledge (on by default) if you want them to confirm the brief before they start, and Removal (off by default) if the work has to be taken away later. Complete is always on.
4. Office review before the item ticks: turn on if someone in the office should check the contractor’s photos and notes before the checklist item counts as done. Leave off to tick it as soon as they submit.
5. Survey sections shown by default: pick the parts of your survey the contractor needs to see, such as the roof access or scaffold section. They see the answers and photos read-only. You can change the selection on each send.
6. Leave Active on and click Save.

Changes to the steps and to office review also apply to requests already sent with that type, from the step each one has reached, and the edit dialog reminds you of this. So if you switch off Removal on your Scaffold type, open scaffold requests stop asking for it. If you want requests in flight to keep the old setup, add a new type instead of editing the old one. Remove, in a type’s ⋮ menu, takes it off the list for new requests; requests already sent keep their steps.

An individual checklist item can override the review setting. In Job Checklists & Gates, edit the item and set When a contractor completes it to Always review before it ticks or Tick it straight away. The item’s own setting always wins over the request type’s.

Setting up a new trade for the first time? Add a contractor stage to your jobs (example: an electrical contractor) takes one example, an electrician whose certificate has to be in before a job can be marked Installed, from the request type to the accepted certificate.

Save the contractors you use

Open Contractor Contacts and click Add contact for each scaffolder, supplier or DNO contact you work with regularly. Enter their Name, Company and Email (all required), plus a Phone number and Trade if you like. When you send a request, start typing their name, company or trade and their details fill in. You can still change them on an individual request.

Send a request from a job

Open the job from Jobs and find the Checklist panel. Open the ⋯ menu on the item you want help with and choose Send to third party, or click View details and use Send to third party on the item there. You can send any item that is still open; it does not have to be set up as “By a third party”.

1. Contact: search your saved contacts, or click Not listed? Enter their details and type a name, company and email.
2. Request type: pick the type that matches the work. With no type, the contractor gets a single Complete step.
3. Dates (optional): Erect on, Arrival window, Ready by, Quote ref, Permit and Planned removal. Fill in what the contractor needs to plan around.
4. Include customer name and phone: turn on only when the contractor has to arrange access with the customer themselves. It is off by default. While it’s off, the customer’s name and phone are also left out of any survey sections you share, and the customer’s email address is never shared either way.
5. Show from the survey: tick the survey sections to share, read-only with their photos. They are pre-ticked from the request type.
6. Message: anything else, like access, parking or timings. The dialog shows a one-line preview of exactly what they will see.
7. Click Send.

The item now shows With and the contractor’s name, and the request shows Awaiting reply. What you send is version 1 of the brief.

When the contractor replies

Every reply is added to the job notes. The office is emailed when a contractor flags a change or submits their completion, which are the two moments you need to act. The email always goes to whoever sent the request, and also to the people you choose in Email Notifications (see Choose who in the office hears about replies). Acknowledgements and removals are recorded on the job without an email.

They flag a change

If the contractor answers “No, something needs to change”, the item shows Change flagged, a job alert is raised and Proceed as briefed becomes the main button on the item. You have two choices:

• Proceed as briefed: you have read their concern and the job can go ahead as planned. Add a comment explaining why (it is required). They are emailed your comment, the alert clears and their link moves on to the Complete step.
• Update brief: the plan does need to change. Say what changed and click Send. The contractor gets version 2 of the brief with a Changed badge and answers the Acknowledge step again. Earlier answers stay on record.

They mark it complete

With no review, the item ticks straight away, credited to the contractor, with their first photo as evidence and their expiry date if the item has one. With review on, the item shows Awaiting review, the job alert says the contractor is waiting on you, and Review becomes the main button. Click it, look at their notes and photos, and choose:

• Accept: the item is ticked and the job can move on.
• Raise a query: you need something more, like a clearer photo of the tag. They are emailed and can send their completion again.
• Reject: the work is not acceptable and needs redoing. They are emailed and the Complete step reopens.

Accepting needs no comment, though you can add a short one. A query or rejection needs a comment of at least 10 characters, which the contractor sees on their page. While a completion is awaiting review, the job can’t move past that item’s gate, and an appointment that depends on it is not ready to start. Accepting is what lets the visit go ahead.

Resend, update, cancel or close

Open the item’s ⋯ menu on the job:

• Resend: emails the same link again, for when it has gone to junk or been forgotten. It only works while the contractor has a step to answer.
• Update brief: sends a new version of the brief. Before they complete, they answer from the first step again. After they complete, they only see that the brief changed.
• Cancel request: only possible before the contractor has replied. installHUB asks you to confirm, because the link stops working straight away and can’t be reopened. Choose Keep request if you clicked it by mistake. To ask them again, send a new request.
• Close request: once they have replied, closing keeps their answers and your reviews on the job but stops any more steps. Review any completion waiting on you first.
• See their response: everything they have sent, step by step, with photos and who sent it.

Choose who in the office hears about replies

Whoever sent a request is always emailed when the contractor flags a change or completes it. To make sure a central team hears too, even when the sender is on holiday, add them to the office list in Email Notifications:

• On Pro the row is called Contractor replies.
• On Enterprise it’s the SLA digest list, and the row says the same people are emailed when a contractor replies to a request. One list covers both, so the people who watch for stuck jobs also hear when a contractor needs an answer. See Job status SLAs: catch stuck jobs.

Choose Specific users, then Add email for each person. With No one, or an empty list, only the sender is told.

Example: a scaffold request from survey to strike

A solar installer has a Scaffold request type with Acknowledge and Removal on, office review on, and the survey’s scaffold and roof access sections shown by default. The checklist item “Scaffold erected and inspected within last 7 days” blocks the job moving to Installed and needs evidence.

1. After the survey, the office sends the item to their usual scaffolder with Erect on two days before the install date and the customer’s phone number included for access.
2. The scaffolder opens the link on site, sees the surveyor’s photos of the elevation, and flags that a conservatory is in the way. The office gets an email and a job alert.
3. The office checks with the customer and clicks Update brief: “Conservatory roof to be boarded, customer agreed”. The scaffolder confirms version 2.
4. On the day, the scaffolder marks it complete with the handover certificate and a photo of the tag. The office accepts it and the item ticks, valid for 7 days.
5. After the install, the scaffolder confirms removal with a photo of the cleared drive.

Nobody rang anyone to find out where the scaffold had got to, and the job’s notes hold the full record if the customer ever asks about a mark on the drive.

Other ways installers use it

• Kit delivery: send “Kit delivered to site” to your wholesaler with a Ready by date. They mark it complete with a photo of the delivery note, so the operative doesn’t turn up to an empty garage.
• Groundworks or trenching: send the cable route item to a groundworks subcontractor with the survey’s cable route section attached, and review their photos before booking the install.
• An electrical contractor: make “Electrical installation signed off by contractor” a Block before Installed for heat pump and battery jobs, set to By a third party with evidence required, and the electrician uploads their certificate from the link. See Add a contractor stage to your jobs (example: an electrical contractor).
• A consultant’s sign-off: send “Structural and roof survey signed off” to a structural engineer with review on, so their report lands on the job as evidence.

Related guides: Work a job’s checklist, Set up job checklists and stage gates.