Understanding roles and permissions in FastDraft

FastDraft users have basic privileges by default. Admins (either System Administrator or SuperUser) have FastDraft admin privileges.  Admins can give end users admin privileges as needed.

This article explains the following :

Note: Some features listed in the article require a Professional or Enterprise licence (speak to our Customer Success Team for a plan comparison).

User roles overview

When you have lots of contracts and projects to manage across your organisation, it's a good idea to have SuperUser accounts set up for your admin team.  This requires an enterprise plan.  If you only run a handful of contracts with us, this work is done for you as a managed service.

You can assign SuperUser permissions to let other people access your admin panel, without giving them complete control of your account. Having SuperUser permissions can also help you to keep track of recent changes and events on your contract dashboard and reporting tools. The number of Supe­­­­rUser licences you can create is determined by your licence.

Before we explore the System Administrator and SuperUser roles in more detail, let’s start by first understanding the structured roles and permissions in the platform.  It breaks down into three tiers.

• Tier 1 System permissions - The permission settings are the top tier of permission and decide what areas of the platform a user can access and what contract they can see. They do not grant any permission to a user to do anything on a contract, although an account can be made dormant at a system level e.g., remove permissions.  A user can only have one level of system permission.
• Tier 2 Contract Party roles - The middle tier of roles are closely aligned to the form of contract used, so are defined by the contract terms and conditions like NEC or FIDIC. They are used to drive the permissions at a contract level.  Because a user can be assigned to lots of contracts, their role on each contract can be different.  These roles are defined generically in the platform architecture as Client, Contractor, Project Manager, etc., but change dynamically in the user interface with the contract language. It's a bit like saying “hello” in English or French, it broadly means the same thing, but “bonjour” is clearer to someone who is French.  In NEC3 (New Engineering Contract 3) ECC (Engineering and Construction Contract) the Contractor works for the Employer and under the NEC4 ECC they work for the Client. Tier 2 and tier 3 roles and permission work together on a contract.
• Tier 3 Supplementary contract roles - This third tier of roles like the second tier, are closely aligned to the forms of contract used. They are used to drive the permissions at a contract level, but they provide extra flexibility for contractual delegations, to facilitate collaborators, and support internal organisational hierarchies and business needs e.g., seniority of staff, financial delegation, holiday leave, sick leave, joint ventures, etc.

Guide user permissions by role

The following section explains user privileges by the three tiers of roles.

Note: Contract notice creation, management and communication privileges are not determined by the System user's role, but are determined by Party and Supplementary Contract User user permissions, in a contract by contract basis. 

System admin permissions

These system roles are used to control access to areas of the platform but not to what can be done on the contracts.

The system permissions :-

• A System Administrator who has full system control of the system
• SuperUsers who have limited system permission 
• View all Users who have no system permissions (e.g., admin rights) but can view all contracts. They do not get assigned any inherent contracts roles but assigned contract roles apply on a case by case basis.
• Project Managers General User who again have no system permissions (e.g. admin rights) and can only view contracts assigned to them. They do not get assigned any inherent contract roles but assigned contract roles apply on a case by case basis.
• Read only user who again have no system permissions (e.g. admin rights) and can only view contracts assigned to them. Any existing assigned contract roles are overridden so they can no longer control contracts.

These system roles are the same on all instances of the platform so new or extra system user types cannot be added or changed by the System Administrator and SuperUsers, but they change a user from one role to another, but do not add new roles.

System roles are assigned via Users’ profile page under the Company by the System Administrator and SuperUser or our support team. They can be updated, but a user can only have one system permission, although each type offers additional control. By default, they do not assign any contract roles/rights beyond allowing some user to view a contract. They can grant access to new area of the platform like the admin panel.

Warning: System Administrators and SuperUsers can view all contracts and can add themselves to contracts with additional permissions.

Setting contract read, drafting and communicate rights 

FastDraft admins have full access to all Contracts, Users, Companies, Projects and Contract Templates, including the ability to view all contract notices and the ability to add, edit, and publish all contract notices. These contract level rights are not part of the admin role by default, but are set at the contract level for the contract management platform and reporting and analytics tools.

Contract party roles

“User party” or “Party” are generally roles aligned to the contract terms, and a user maybe assign several roles. The label given to these roles also changes dynamically using contract templates to reflect the contract language (e.g., NEC/JCT/FIDIC). By default, they designed to be contract neutral as follows:-

• Client
• Project Manager
• Contractor and
• Supervisor 

These roles above should be self-explanatory and are designed to cater for almost all contract structure. The party hierarchy outside a contract can be expanded through use of Projects, Programmes, Hubs and Areas in the platform.

These contract roles are used by the contract templates to control permissions and actions on contracts, so defined what a user can do, and who is notified by system events when they are triggered e.g., who is notified when a communication is created. These contract roles are displayed in formal notice sent between the Parties. 

Additional contract roles cannot be added by the System Administrator and SuperUser, but they can be renamed through a contract template to reflect different contract parties. The platform caters for a four-party contract structure, but additional flexibility can be supported by tier 3 roles e.g., user contract roles.

Contracts party roles are assigned via Contract Users page by System Administrator and SuperUser or our support team. This should not be confused with the Contract Overview Page which displayed the Party in the contract based on the contract template.

Where one of the default contract roles isn’t relevant under the contract it is hidden from the user interface e.g., the Supervisor roles is hidden in the user interface for an NEC3 ECS contract. This is controlled through the contract templates under the “Party Structure”. An individual user can be assigned multiple contract roles e.g. the same person can do the Project Manager role, Supervisors role and be the Employer.

Note: Party roles are pre-configured in default contract templates to align to unamended versions of common contract templates e.g. NEC4 ECC, FDIC Yellow Book 2017, JCT Design and Build Contract 2016, etc. 

Warning: In practice most contract terms and conditions are amended, so the SuperUser or System Admin will need to configure amendments on a contract by contract basis for project teams before activating the contract. We recommend that SuperUser and System Admins have a good understanding of contract law and construction contracts do to this. Correcting errors made in contracts incorrectly configured is very complicated. The contract templates editors allows the contract templates to be amended to support this but the Party Role "names" cannot be amended so the permissions associated with the Party Role will have changed if the contract template is changed.

Supplementary contract user roles

This third tier of roles like the second tier are closely aligned to the forms of contract used, and are used to provide an extra layer of control for the permissions at a contract level, but they provide extra flexibility for contractual delegations, to facilitate collaborators, and support internal organisational hierarchies and business needs e.g., seniority of staff, financial delegation, holiday leave, sick leave, joint ventures, etc.

This additional tier can be customized by enterprise plans, via support request. Charges may apply. By default the platform includes the following five roles:-

• Full permission - Manager to do the Party role they are assigned,
• Limited permission - Cost manager provides a restricted role based on the contract template configuration,
• Limited permission - Support provides a restricted role based on the contract template configuration,
• Limited permission - Site agent provides a restricted role based on the contract template configuration,
• Limited permission - Read only provides a restricted role based on the contract template configuration, and
• Custom permissions e.g. company specific job roles.

Note: Supplementary contract user roles are pre configured in default contract templates as outlined above but users must be assigned these roles on a contract by contract basis. 

Warning: In practice most contract terms and conditions are amended and need to cater for delegate of duties for "financial reasons", "annual leave" or other routine events, so the SuperUser or System Admin may configure supplementary contract user roles on a contract by contract basis for project teams this can be done before or after a contract has started. We recommend that SuperUser and System Admins have a good understanding of contract law and construction contracts do to this and also a good understanding of the organisation constraints and policies to avoid allow user to do things that their employer might not allow. Correcting errors made in contracts incorrectly configured is very complicated. We recommend policies are in place to help manage this risk. The contract templates editors allows the contract templates to be amended to support supplementary roles but these supplementary contract user roles "names" cannot be amended so the permissions associated with the role name will have changed if the contract template is changed. 

Custom permissions roles names are supported for enterprise plans, but charges may apply.