Providing Access to Inspectors & Auditors

 

The Guest Access feature provides users with limited access to the Portal for inspections of records. ‘Guests’ include Building Inspectors and Auditors who require access to a building’s records. As a premium service, organisations also have the option to charge Guests for use of the service. 

 

Contents

• Enabling Guest Access 
• Setting Time and Charges  
• Add a Guest User 
• Start Inspection
• Manage Credit Card
• Billing and Inspection Time

 

Enabling Guest Access

Organisation Admins can simply activate this feature to allow Guests to search the portal for documents, correspondence, and work & quote requests of the relevant building managed by the Organisation.

To enable the feature, go to the Settings page and select 'Features - Internal'.

 

There are two options for enabling guest access:

Calculate Net Owing - Guest Access is a premium feature offered in the portal, therefore, charges may apply for use of the feature. However, building inspectors are also charged for access to the organisation's records. If 'Calculate Net Owning' is enabled, the organisation will be reimbursed the amount charged for the inspection less any incurred fees for premium service usage. 

Receive Full Payment - Whatever amount guest users are charged will be full reimbursed back to the organisation. The service fee for premium service usage will be invoice separately.

 

Once you've decided your preferred invoicing method, click the required check box for 'Enable Guest Access’. This will activate the feature for all organisation team members.

 

Organisation Admins are also required to enter their organisation’s bank details so that the payments made by the guest users can be reimbursed. 

 

If the organisation charges Owners Corporations for the admin associated with setting up Guest Access, they can click 'Enable Export Guest Access Charges to Strata Master'. This will export charges associated with Guest Access to Strata Master. 

 

Setting Time and Charges

Once activated, Organisation Admins will need to update their charges for this feature. From the Settings page, go to ‘Time and Charges’ then go to Guest User and click the 3 dots on the right. 

This will open the Edit Event modal. Enter the default ‘Minimum $ Charge’ for inspections. This will apply a default charge to the New Guest Access User page. Once done click ‘Save’. 

Add a Guest User

Go to the Buildings page, search for the building, and click the Plan Number of the relevant building to open the Building Settings page. On the Building Settings page, go to the Guest Access tab then click '+ NEW GUEST USER’.

Enter the Guest User’s Type - Auditor or Inspector. Then enter their name and email. 

Select Access Permissions. This will determine what the Guest can have access to when logged in to their Guest Access profile. 

Note: If 'Documents' are selected, they can see all documents depending on the Category Permissions that have been selected visible for them. If not selected, they will not be able to see Documents that have been selected under Categories and anything that's unselected. For Levy Notices, access to levies is set up under the Permissions page, if this is selected, Inspectors and Auditors will be able to view Levy Notices.

Add Access Time. This will be the date range that the Guest will have access to the building’s records. Guests can use the allocated time at any point within that range. 

 

If the Guest User type is 'Inspector', enter the maximum allowable inspection time under 'Limited to (minutes)'. For inspections in NSW and QLD, if more than 60mins is provided, the inspector will start with only 60mins, then have the option to extend for 30min increments within the minute allowance. In other jurisdictions, inspectors have access for the full minute allowance. 

If the charge for the inspection differs from the default setting in Time & Charges, update it under 'Minimum charge'. 

Note: Charging for use of the Guest Access feature is a premium service available in the portal. A service fee will be claimed per charge including extensions as a fee for usage of the premium feature. For full terms & conditions, please read the Customer Product Service Agreement.

 

If the Guest User type is 'Auditor', the Guest will have unlimited access within the Access Time dates. There will be no charge for the service. 

 

Lastly, click Save. 

Once the access is granted, the Guest will appear in the Guest Access tab of the Building Settings page. Here, the Organisation Admin can edit the Access Permissions by clicking the 3 dots at any time leading up to the start of the inspection. However, once the inspection starts, the access can no longer be edited. 

Or they can Delete the Guest at any time which cancels the access of the Guest.

Note: If the feature is not enabled for the organisation, the '+ NEW GUEST USER’ button will still be available but will result in an error if clicked. 

 

Start Inspection

When given access, Guests will receive a welcome email that includes the details of the Organisation that invited them, the Inspection time and the cost. 

If they are a new user, they will be prompted to sign up and activate their profile in the portal. They will only need to create their password once as it will be the same profile they use if they need to inspect a building in the portal again. 

 

Once logged in, Guests can start the inspection by going to the ‘Select Building’ dropdown on the top left. Here they will see all the Buildings that they have access to. 

They will need to click the Address to access the documents and navigate the portal. 

This will open the Start Inspection modal which will display the details of the inspection such as the Start Date, Expiry Date, Duration of time permitted and the cost. 

Click ‘START INSPECTION’ to begin the inspection.

The access included will depend on the permissions given by the Organisation. 

Users can click the Documents icon from the toolbar to navigate to the Document Management System and view documents and invoices. They can download these files individually or in bulk. 

If given access to the Jobs page, they can view the details of the job and any attachments.

Clicking on the Messages icon takes the Guest to historical conversations regarding the building.  

Manage Credit Card 

New users will be prompted to add their credit card details before they can begin the inspection. They can’t start the inspection until a credit card has been added. 

To add the credit card, click the ‘UPDATE CREDIT CARD’ button in the Start Inspection modal. The user will be routed to the Settings page where they click ‘ADD CREDIT CARD’.

Enter the details of the card, select the checkbox to agree to the terms, and click ‘Add Card’. 

Users can also remove the card or add another credit card if they want to change the card on their profile. 

After the card has been added they can begin the inspection by clicking ‘START 

INSPECTION’ 

 

Billing and Inspection Time 

When users start the inspection they will see the remaining time on the upper left of the screen. 

Under Billing, the Inspector can also check the amount that they are charged. To access Billing, click the arrow in the top right of the screen and click ‘Billing’.

Note: The charged amounts include the processing fee.

Users can pause or stop the inspection when needed. When paused, they will no longer have access to the records. To pause an ongoing inspection, click ‘Select Building’ on the top left. Select the address (if multiple plans/buildings) then click ‘PAUSE INSPECTION’.

To resume the inspection, click ‘Select Building’ on the top left. Select the address (if multiple plans/buildings) then click ‘RESUME INSPECTION’.

Once the inspection time has expired, Guests may be given access to extend their inspection. Guests can choose the time period to extend for. 

Click ‘EXTEND INSPECTION’ to acknowledge any additional charges and resume the inspection.  

 

For more information, please see Functions and Features of the Building Settings Page and Download Files from the Document Management System. 

 

Organisation Admins should contact us with any further questions regarding this process.