OpSpot Blog

Every job collects paperwork: plans, engineering, the signed contract, variations, supplier quotes, compliance certificates and hundreds of site photos. Most of it needs to reach the people on site. Some of it, like your pricing, margins and contracts, should never leave the office.

OpSpot keeps every file on the job it belongs to, in two areas with different rules:

• Shareable Files: plans, drawings and photos the crew and subcontractors need
• Sensitive Files: contracts, pricing and anything else that stays in your business

Each person's role decides what they can see and delete.

At a glance

1. Upload files to the project (or to a booking), into folders you create.
2. Put each file in Shareable or Sensitive files.
3. Set what each role can do: view or delete their own uploads, and other people's.
4. Subcontractors see Shareable files only, and only on the bookings they're assigned to.
5. Open photos, PDFs, Word and Excel files in the browser, without downloading them.

Step 1: Upload and organise files

Each project has a file manager where you can:

• upload files and create folders (for example "Plans", "Engineering", "Photos - rough-in")
• sort, switch between grid and list views and see file details
• download or delete files

You can upload the files a job really produces: photos (including iPhone HEIC photos), PDFs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, videos, voice notes, CSV files and zip archives. Photos get thumbnails automatically, so you can find the right one quickly.

Step 2: Shareable or Sensitive?

Step 3: Set permissions by role

Permissions are set separately for Shareable and Sensitive files:

• view own uploads: see the files they uploaded themselves
• view others' uploads: see files uploaded by anyone
• delete own uploads
• delete others' uploads

For example: a site supervisor can view all Shareable files but only their own Sensitive uploads. An apprentice can upload photos but not delete anyone else's. Only the office can delete other people's contracts.

Step 4: Share safely with subcontractors

Subcontractors work in their own company and are linked to yours. When they open a booking in your company, OpSpot checks three things before showing a file:

1. The file is Shareable. Sensitive files are never visible to another company.
2. The subcontractor is assigned to that booking.
3. Their role in your company allows it.

Your electrician sees the lighting plan for the job they're booked on. They don't see your contract with the client, or files from jobs they're not on.

Step 5: View files without downloading

• Photos open with thumbnails.
• PDFs and presentations open in a viewer.
• Word and Excel files (including .doc, .xls and .csv) open in the browser, so a supervisor on a phone can read a spec without Office installed.

Files elsewhere in a job

Files also live where the work happens:

• Lead documents: plans and photos attached to an enquiry before it's won
• Action documents: supporting files on a follow-up
• Checklist photos: proof photos from site checklists, filed by job type
• Comments: attach files to a comment thread
• Home building compensation (HBC) insurance: the project's certificate has its own place

When a file is deleted, OpSpot removes it from view but keeps a record of it, so a deletion can be traced later.

Example: commercial office fit-out

• Shareable: architectural set, reflected ceiling plan, electrical layout, fire engineering report, SWMS. Each trade sees them on the bookings they're assigned to.
• Sensitive: head contract, tender pricing, subcontract agreements, insurance certificates. Only the project manager and the office see them.
• The ceiling contractor opens the reflected ceiling plan on their phone at 6:30 am. They don't need to ring the office.

Example: residential kitchen renovation

• Shareable: the kitchen design PDF, appliance specs and the "before" photos.
• Sensitive: the signed contract, supplier quotes and the HBC insurance certificate.
• The stone mason sees the benchtop drawings, not what the homeowner is paying.

FAQ

Can a subcontractor download my contract by mistake? No. Sensitive files are never shown to another company, whatever their role.

Can I stop staff deleting files? Yes. Deleting your own uploads and deleting other people's are separate permissions for each role.

Do I need Microsoft Office to open Word or Excel files? No. They open in the browser.

Can I organise files into folders? Yes. Create folders on each project, for example by trade, stage or document type.

Related guides

• Subcontractor licence and insurance tracking
• Site checklists with photo proof
• Leads to projects: managing your pipeline