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Related Notices

Tom Levitt
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This article is a guide to linking various types of notices in FastDraft.

This guide contains the following:

Introduction

Under a construction contract there is likely to be lots of different types of communications that are exchanged between the parties. Our platform provides pre-configured workflows that automatically link notices wherever possible but, for a variety of reasons, there may be scenarios where users may wish to link one or more notices from different workflows. For example, a Contractor's Notification may require a follow-up Notification from the Project Manager or there may be a series of notifications back and forth that constitute part of a longer conversational exchange. 

How to link notices 

Notices can be linked several ways through our platform to make it easy for users. You can either:-

As soon as a draft notification has been created, the Relations tab is visible on the top right of the notice. From the relations tab you can both group or link notices. This article explains how to link related notices. If you are trying to group notices around a building asset or section of the works then the tagging function may be better suited to your needs.  

Create a relation by selecting a previous notice as part of the workflow

There may be a contractual reason why some workflows should be linked (e.g. a Project Manager's Instruction leads to a Compensation Event or an Instruction to Quote will be followed by a Task Order). Consequently, in some specific cases, FastDraft forms include one or more dropdowns to allow you to select a previous notice as part of the workflow. In those scenarios, FastDraft will include reference to the selected form(s) on the communication and FastDraft will also automatically create a relationship between those two notices. 

Please note that relationships created this way cannot be edited.

Create a related notice

Open the notification you wish to relate. Depending on which workflow you are in, there is a choice of related notifications you can create. 

The below example is from the Early Warning workflow 

Open the notification you wish to relate. Depending on which workflow you are in, there is a choice of related notifications you can create. 

Relate create.PNG

The below example is from the Early Warning workflow 

Relate dropdown.PNG

Create a brand new related notice at the point of communication

Many contracts dictate that each notice that the contract required need to be communicated separately. Consequently, in some cases, the sender of a notice will know that their communication needs to be followed immediately by another notice (e.g. under NEC terms, a Project Manager instruction a scope change will be aware that they also need to separately notify a Compensation Event).

At the point of communicating, you may see a dropdown arrow next to the Communicate button. When you are ready to communicate, clicking the arrow will allow you to communicate and launch a brand new workflow.  

create associated.png

Once you create the draft the relationship between those two notices is automatically created.

Relate_EW2.PNG 

Please note that relationships created this way cannot be edited.

Linking a previously communicated notice

From any existing draft or communicated notice click the Relations tab.

Relations_Tab.PNG 

The below screen is then displayed.

Relate_Items_1.PNG

  • Click on Add /Edit button
  • Click on the workflow to search for the notification(s) to relate and select one or more on the right hand side.
  • Save changes

Relations_Add.PNG

Save_As_button.PNG

Once updated the Relations tab will now show how many notices are related to this one.

Relations_Number_Tab.PNG

Clicking on the tab shows which notifications are related. 

Relations_Add_1.PNG

Once linked you can click between notices using the hyperlink.

How to update related items

  • As with manually creating a relationship, go to the Relations tab
  • Click on Add/ Edit button 
  • Click on the workflow to update and select or deselect the relevant notification(s) on the right-hand side.
  • Repeat for each workflow you wish to update.
  • Save changes

 

How to find related notices in registers 

The relations can be viewed on all the notification registers. To view them - add 'Relations' to your register via the column chooser. 

Relations_Register.PNG

 

View related notices

From any draft or communicated notice, clicking on the Relations tab takes you to a list of directly related notices. 

Relations_Add_1.PNG

Each reference contains a hyperlink to the related notice. Direct relationships are automatically reflected in both directions so you can easily navigate back and forth.

 

View indirectly related notices

Over time you may find that you build up a chain of related notices. For example, an Early Warning leads to a PM Instruction which leads to a CE Notification, which results in a Contractor's Notification followed by a Project Manager's Notification. Each of those will be directly linked to the communication that went before it but, in many cases, it would be beneficial to be able to see the whole conversation from start to finish. The good news is that from the end of October 2024 you will be able to trial a new feature to help you do just that!

Where enabled, you'll see a new button on the Relations tab.

Hit the View Relation Chain button and FastDraft will query all of the direct relations and all of their relations and all of their relations and so on and will return a summary of those back and forth communications in a sortable, searchable, filterable, exportable register.

Each reference acts as a hyperlink. Click the back button in your browser to return to the previous page.

This new feature will initially be available to a limited number of customers on a first come first served basis so if you're interested in trying this out please contact us.

 

 

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