Document approvals and client review
Business and above
Two optional controls sit on top of the standard document lifecycle for Business and Site Control accounts: a named approver who must accept each version before it can be issued, and a client review step that lets the person you share a document with respond formally.
See everything waiting for your decision
Open the Approvals page at /approvals, or click the "N documents awaiting your approval" card on your Dashboard.
Lists every version currently pending YOUR decision across the account, most recently requested pairs (like a CPP and RAMS requested together for the same job) grouped by project. It only appears once you've signed in — each request email also links here, so you can decide everything in one sitting instead of one sign-in per email link.
Each row has its own Open, Approve and Reject — there's no approve-all.
Approving or rejecting recreates the exact decision the document page's approval panel makes (same reason requirement on Reject, same audit trail) — the list is a faster way to reach it, not a different decision. A decided row disappears from the list immediately; no page reload needed.
A row whose version has been superseded says so — and says what approving it covers.
If the document was regenerated after the request was made, the row reads "Version 4 — a newer version 5 exists. Approving this only affects version 4." Deciding it records the decision in the document's Business review history against that version; the newer current version still needs its own approval before it can be issued.
Turn on document approvals (Business and above)
Go to the Team page and find the Document approvals card.
Owners and admins can switch Require document approvals on or off for the whole account. Off is the default — small teams can skip approvals entirely.
Optionally pick a Default approver.
They're pre-selected whenever someone requests approval; you can still choose a different approver per request. The picker shows the profile name that will print, alongside the person's login email and role. If it warns that a selected person has no name on their profile, ask them to add their First name and Last name. In the mobile app they open the More tab, tap Profile, type their name and tap Save changes; this works whatever their login profile says. On the web they can instead click their profile picture at the top right, choose Manage account, then add their name under Profile; The Site Book picks that up on its own, and there is nothing to re-invite. If the warning is still showing after you reload the page, for example because their name was already filled in there, use the mobile app steps instead. That automatic pick-up only fills in a missing name; it never replaces a name already set in The Site Book. Their email and your company Main Contact Name are never printed as the approver. The same warning appears in the RAMS review summary and beside Approved by in the CPP and COSHH generation forms. On the mobile app, the full CPP wizard's review step shows the same Approved by name read-only, with the same warning, so you can see who will print before you submit. CPP and COSHH keep their editable field, while RAMS keeps its existing Supervisor fallback; all three use that existing value unless the selected default has a profile name. While approvals are switched on, the default approver's name is also printed on the Approved by line of every new RAMS, full CPP and COSHH version (the Lightweight CPP used for small domestic jobs has no Approved by line) — the signature line underneath stays blank, ready for a wet signature. Change the default approver here and regenerate if a document needs to name someone else. If the default approver is later removed from the team, has their account deleted, or is made a Site Supervisor, the default is cleared automatically and any approval requests still waiting on them are cancelled — those versions go back to Request approval (a version that was approved earlier and then re-requested is instead left waiting until you route it to someone else, so an old approval can never quietly come back into force), and the Document approvals card on the Team page shows No default approver until you choose a new one. If the card instead warns that the previous default approver can no longer approve documents, the stored default went stale before it could be cleared — choose a new default approver to fix it.
Request approval on a document
Open the document — the Approval before issue panel shows the selected version's status.
Not requested, Awaiting approval, Approved or Rejected. While the version isn't approved, Download and Share are blocked with a clear message, and worker sign-offs for the version aren't issued yet. On a phone, those actions (and the version list) are behind the Document menu button under the document title.
Pick the approver, add an optional note, and click Request approval.
Owners and admins can request. The named approver is emailed at that person's login email with a secure link that opens the exact version awaiting their decision, and the request is recorded in the Business review history. Each person's login name is shown in the request; the company Main Contact Name does not replace it. If the request is saved but email delivery cannot be started, the page warns you; use Re-route approval to the same approver to try the notification again.
Approve or reject as the named approver
On the document page you'll see You are the named approver for this version.
Review the document in the preview, then click Approve version or Reject version.
Rejections must record a reason.
The reason is stored against the version and shown to the team. Approving unlocks download and share, and issues any worker sign-offs the version was waiting on (the usual review-and-confirm acknowledgement still applies at issue time).
Client review through a share link
Share the document by link as usual — the recipient sees a Review this document section.
They choose Approve, Request changes or Reject, add their name (and company), and a comment — required unless they approve.
Their response appears on your document page under Client responses.
A rejection or change request also flags the document as needing review, so it shows the usual review badge until you deal with it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use approvals?
No — they're off by default. Smaller teams can keep issuing documents straight after the review-and-confirm step. Turn approvals on when you want a named second pair of eyes before anything leaves the business.
Who can approve a version?
Only the named approver on the request. Owners and admins choose who that is per request (with an optional account-wide default), but they can't approve on the named person's behalf — that's the point of the routing.
Which name and email does an approval use?
The requester and approver names come from their separate login identities, and the notification goes to the email address of the login selected as approver. Company Profile fields such as Main Contact Name and Company Email are document contact details; they do not change who requested an approval or where the selected approver's notification is sent.
Why does the PDF name someone other than the person who approved it?
The Approved by line prints your account's default approver at the moment the document was generated — it's a snapshot, not a live pointer. A request can be routed to a different named approver afterwards, and the default approver can change too; the frozen PDF follows neither. When that happens, the document page's Approval before issue panel shows a short notice, and it says something different depending on why: if a request has since been routed to someone other than the printed approver, it names both people; if the line wasn't filled from a default approver when the version was generated (for any reason — approvals were off then, the plan wasn't Business yet, or the configured approver wasn't eligible), it names whichever value was actually printed, or says the line is blank if nothing was typed in the wizard. Either way it points at Regenerate to refresh the printed name — or, if you don't have access to regenerate, at an owner or admin who does. The live per-version decision — who was asked, who approved it, and when — is on that same panel; the same decision's durable audit trail sits under Business review history. If a document needs to name the right person, change the default approver on the Team page (or route the request to someone else) and regenerate.
What happens when a version is rejected?
The rejection and its reason are recorded against the version, the document is flagged as needing review, and download/share stay blocked. Fix the issue, then request approval again — or regenerate, which creates a new version to approve.
Do workers see a document before it's approved?
No. While approvals are on, worker sign-offs for a version are only issued once the named approver approves it — the document doesn't appear in the crew's to-sign list, and nobody can record a signature against it, until then. Approving the current version sends the pending sign-offs out automatically. On projects with the full Site Access portal switched on, the worker portal (in the browser and in the Site Book app) only ever shows the latest approved version of a document: if you regenerate and the new version is waiting for approval, or was rejected, workers keep seeing the version that was last approved — with that version's number — until the new one is approved. A document that has never been approved is still listed, in the portal's Generated documents list or its COSHH (hazardous substances) section (COSHH assessments appear on every portal, not only the full Site Access one) and in the app's Documents list, marked Awaiting approval, with no version number and nothing to open. The Awaiting approval label in the Site Book app needs the next app version: older builds still list the row, with Open document disabled. If you switch approvals off, or your plan drops below Business, nothing is held back: workers see the newest version as usual.
What does a client see on a project share link while a version is waiting for approval?
The same rule as the worker portal. On the project's Documents tab, the Share with Client / Designer card (Create share link) gives a read-only link to the whole project's documents; the card isn't shown on a project where you work as a subcontractor. While approvals are on, each document on that link shows its latest approved version with its View PDF button — a regenerated version that is waiting for approval, or was rejected, never replaces it, and the link shows a Some documents may be out of date notice naming the document so your client knows a newer version is on its way. A document that has never been approved appears on the link marked Awaiting approval, with no version number and no View PDF button. This applies to links you have already shared too: they start showing the last approved version as soon as the rule is live. If approvals are off, or the plan is below Business, the link shows the newest version as before.
What if our plan changes?
The approvals gate only applies while your account is on Business or Site Control. If the plan lapses, documents are never stranded — the gate stands down and the ordinary review-and-confirm step still applies.
Can my client respond without an account?
Yes. Anyone you share a document with by link can record Approve, Request changes or Reject (with a comment) — no login needed. Their response appears on the document page under Client responses.
Our approver belongs to a different account — can they still decide?
Yes. A named approver only needs an active membership in the account that owns the document — it does not have to be the account they currently work under. Their pending requests appear on the Approvals page whatever account it lives in, and the Open link takes them straight to the document, where they can read the PDF and record the decision. While they are deciding they see the document in review mode only — no share links or management actions are offered on that view, and issuing the document stays blocked until they approve.
What happens to an open request while it stands down?
Nothing is lost. If approvals are switched off, or the plan drops below Business, the request is parked: it disappears from the Approvals page and cannot be decided, and documents issue under the ordinary review-and-confirm step instead. Switch approvals back on and the same request reappears, still pending, ready for the named approver to decide. A request that has already been decided, rejected or superseded never reopens access to the document by itself.
Related guides
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