OpSpot Blog

On a renovation or fit-out, the schedule usually lives in three places at once: a whiteboard in the office, a spreadsheet the project manager updates on Sunday night, and a stream of texts to trades. When a delivery slips, someone has to update all three, and the client still rings to ask when the tiler is coming.

OpSpot keeps one schedule, and every view reads from it:

• Bookings: each block of work on a job, with its dates, job type and the people attending
• Calendar: who is where, day by day and week by week
• Planner: every job laid out on a Gantt chart
• Reminders that go out automatically, and a read-only link you can share with a client

At a glance

1. Create a booking for each block of work and add your staff and subcontractors as attendees.
2. Use the calendar to see the week, and drag a booking to a new day when plans change.
3. Use the planner to see whole jobs on a Gantt chart, then export it to PDF.
4. Share a project's Gantt chart with the client through a read-only link that can expire.
5. Set reminders for workers, the client and the project manager.

Step 1: Create bookings

A booking is a block of work on a project, for example "Demolition" or "Second-fix electrical". It has:

• a start and end date and time
• a job type (the stage and status of the work, so the planner can group it)
• attendees: your own staff and your subcontractors. On a multi-day booking you can choose who attends on each day.
• the job's checklist (see Site checklists with photo proof)

Not ready to commit? Save the booking as a draft and finish it later. Drafts are clearly marked on the calendar and planner.

Step 2: Run the week from the calendar

The calendar shows bookings for each day, together with the actions (follow-ups) that are due or overdue. Switch to the week view to see the week in detail.

• Reschedule by dragging: in the week view, drag a single-day booking to another day.
• Filter by attendee, project manager, project, job number or job type, or even by checklist item, or show only your own bookings.
• Add a booking straight from a day on the calendar.
• Choose whether your week starts on Monday or Sunday in company settings.

People only see what their role allows. A role can see all bookings, only the bookings on projects they manage, or only the bookings they're assigned to. A subcontractor sees their own work, not your whole calendar.

Step 3: Plan whole jobs on the Gantt chart

The planner lays every booking out on a Gantt chart, so you can see a job from start to finish and spot clashes before they happen.

1. Pick a month range.
2. Filter by project manager, project, job type or attendee.
3. Choose a layout:
   • Classic: a row for each job type on each project.
   • Condensed: one row for each project, best for a quick overview of many jobs.
4. Sort by Default order or Earliest First (projects ordered by their first booking).
5. Go fullscreen for a planning meeting, or export to PDF to print or email.

From a project's page, the Stages card takes you straight to that project in the planner.

The Scheduler gives a table view of projects in the stages and statuses you choose, with their project manager, site start date and booking status.

Step 4: Share the schedule with your client

Clients mostly want to know one thing: when are the trades coming? Instead of answering by phone:

1. Open the project in the planner and choose Share Gantt Chart.
2. Optionally set a date for the link to expire.
3. Copy the link and send it to your client.

The link shows a read-only Gantt chart for that one project, covering every booking from the first to the last. It shows the job number, not your other jobs or internal notes. You can change the expiry date or delete the link at any time, and an expired link stops working.

Step 5: Set reminders

Each booking can send email reminders to:

• Workers: everyone attending, or only your staff, or only subcontractors, by role
• the client
• the project manager

Choose when each reminder goes out:

• In advance: a number of minutes, hours or days before the booking
• On save: as soon as the booking is saved or changed
• At a set time on the same day, the day before, or two days before

Reminders use your own email templates, so the message sounds like your business.

Example: commercial office fit-out

A 6-week office fit-out has demolition, partitions, electrical, data, ceilings, flooring and joinery.

• The project manager creates a booking for each trade, with subcontractors as attendees.
• The planner's Classic view shows each trade as its own row, so it's obvious if the ceiling crew is booked before the electrician's first fix is finished.
• The client's facilities manager gets a share link that expires after handover.
• Subcontractors get a reminder the day before at 3 pm.

Example: residential kitchen renovation

A 3-week kitchen renovation has a small crew and lots of handovers.

• The week view shows the whole crew's week at a glance. When the benchtop is delayed, the installer's booking is dragged to Thursday.
• The homeowner gets a reminder two days before each visit, so they can clear the kitchen and leave a key.
• A condensed planner view in the Monday meeting shows all kitchens in progress, one row each.

FAQ

Can my client change the schedule through the share link? No. The link is read-only, and it shows only that project.

Can subcontractors see my other jobs? No. What each person sees depends on their role. A subcontractor typically sees only the bookings they're assigned to.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. OpSpot runs in the browser, and the calendar has a phone layout you can swipe through week by week.

Can I print the schedule? Yes. Export the planner's Gantt chart to PDF.

Related guides

• Site checklists with photo proof
• Work orders and subcontractor payments
• Leads to projects: managing your pipeline