Roles and access
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Three separate things decide what a user can reach. They fail in different ways, and diagnosing an access problem is mostly working out which one is involved.
The three controls
Section titled “The three controls”| Control | Set where | Decides |
|---|---|---|
| The plan | Your subscription | Which modules exist for the company |
| Module access | Users | Which of those a user can open |
| Project and costing permissions | On the project | Which jobs they can see |
They apply in that order. A module your plan excludes cannot be granted to anyone; a module a user cannot open is invisible regardless of their project permissions.
Diagnosing
Section titled “Diagnosing”| Symptom | Cause | Fix under |
|---|---|---|
| Padlock on the menu item | Plan excludes it | Change plan in the Admin panel |
| Greyed out, no padlock | No module access | Users |
| Module opens, no projects listed | No project permission | Project Permissions |
| Project opens, a costing is missing | No costing permission | Costing Permissions |
| Not in the menu at all | Switched off system-wide | SmarteBuild support |
The middle three are the ones you can fix yourself, and the second and third look similar enough to be confused constantly. The distinguishing question: can they open the module at all? If yes, it is permissions. If no, it is module access.
Sensible setups
Section titled “Sensible setups”Estimator
Section titled “Estimator”| Modules | Projects, Documents, Take-Off, Cost Centers, BOQ, Tenders, Quotes |
| Projects | The jobs they are pricing |
| Administrator | No |
They do not need Purchase Orders or Claims, and giving access to modules someone does not use makes the menu harder to navigate rather than more useful.
Site supervisor
Section titled “Site supervisor”| Modules | Documents, Schedule & Booking, Site Diary, Checklists & Safety, Defects, Messages, Purchase Orders |
| Projects | Their jobs only |
| Administrator | No |
The interesting question is Purchase Orders. Supervisors often need to raise orders on site, and they generally should not see the whole job’s margin. Grant Purchase Orders; leave the BOQ off.
Contract administrator
Section titled “Contract administrator”| Modules | Orders, Expenses, Claims, Variations, plus BOQ read access |
| Projects | All live jobs |
| Administrator | No |
Business owner
Section titled “Business owner”| Modules | Everything |
| Projects | All |
| Administrator | Yes |
Grant what people need
Section titled “Grant what people need”The default instinct is to give everyone everything, because it avoids being asked. It is worth resisting for two reasons, neither of which is distrust.
A shorter menu is easier to use. A supervisor with fifteen modules they never open has to find the three they do.
Costing data is commercially sensitive. Your margin, your rates and what you pay each subcontractor are not information every user needs, and site staff work alongside the subcontractors in question.
Reviewing
Section titled “Reviewing”Worth a look twice a year, and immediately when someone changes role:
- Anyone disabled who has left?
- Anyone still on projects they finished a year ago?
- Anyone an administrator who does not need to be?
- Anyone who changed role and kept their old access as well as their new?
The fourth is the one that quietly accumulates.