Project Access Explained
Summary
This article explains how project access works in BuilderPal—who can see which projects, how team boundaries affect visibility, and how General Contractors and Subcontractors collaborate without ever sharing full project workspaces. Understanding these rules ensures your team knows exactly what each person can see and do inside BuilderPal.
Prerequisites
- You understand your team role (Admin, PM, Supervisor, etc.).
- You have access to at least one project.
How Project Access Works
Project access is determined by two separate systems:
- Your Role — defines what you can do inside a project
- Your Project Access — defines which projects you can open or see
These systems work together, but they are not the same.
A role does not grant visibility into every project—only into projects your team owns or ones you’ve been added to.
1. Projects Belong to Teams
Every project in BuilderPal is owned by a team, not an individual.
- Your GC organization owns GC-created projects
- Each subcontractor organization owns the subcontractor project automatically created when they are awarded work
- Internal Projects belong to your team
- Personal projects (My Tasks Workspace) belong only to the individual user
Because each organization owns their own projects:
Project access never crosses team boundaries unless shared through an Action.
2. Access Inside Your Own Team
Inside your company, your role determines visibility across your team’s projects.
Team Administrator
- Can see every project your team owns
- Can see all actions inside those projects
- Can manage roles, participants, settings, and financials
❌ Cannot open another team’s projects (e.g., subcontractor projects)❌ Cannot open personal “My Tasks” projects unless invited
Project Manager
- Can see all projects owned by your team
- Can view and manage all tasks, schedules, and documents
❌ Cannot open subcontractor-owned projects❌ Cannot open someone’s My Tasks Workspace unless invited
Supervisors, Leads,Supervisors and Team Members
These roles can see:
- Projects they are added to
- Actions that are assigned to them
- Documents they have permission to view or upload
They cannot view projects they have not been invited into.
3. Cross-Team Access (GC ↔ Subcontractor)
When you hire a subcontractor and award a bid:
- A GC Project belongs to your team
- A Subcontractor Project belongs to the subcontractor’s organization
Even though these two projects are related:
What the GC Cannot See
- The subcontractor’s project dashboard
- Their internal actions, schedules, or documents
- Their financials, budgets, or estimates
- Their Site Office or Reports
- Their participants list
What the GC Can See
- Punch Lists
- RFIs
- Change Orders
- Purchase Orders & Bills
- Submitted documents
- Status updates
This ensures clean collaboration without exposing internal project data.
4. How Information Flows Between Teams
Projects are private.
Actions are shared.
Actions act as the “bridge” between GC and subcontractor teams.
Each team can see:
- The actions assigned to them
- The comments and files inside those actions
- PO/Bill submissions
- Linked estimate/budget values after they are submitted
Each team cannot see:
- Each other’s project workspaces
- Each other’s internal tasks or schedules
- Any private documents not shared through an action
- Any financials belonging to the other team
This mirrors real construction workflows—each company maintains its own internal job folder while collaborating through structured requests and deliverables.
5. Subcontractor Projects
When a subcontractor is awarded work, they receive a full private project, including:
- Their own estimate & budget
- Their own schedule and tasks
- Their own documents
- Their own financial center
- Their own Site Office
- Their own reports
The GC cannot open or browse this project.
GC visibility into Subcontractor work:
- ✔ Assigned actions
- ✔ Submitted POs/Bills (through the action thread)
- ✔ Uploaded files within those actions
- ✔ Status updates
- ❌ Not their project contents
6. Upstream vs Downstream Assignments
Assignment direction controls visibility:
GC → Subcontractor (Downstream)
- GC sees everything related to the assigned action
- Subcontractor sees only that action—not the GC project
- Subs cannot assign tasks back upstream to the GC
Subcontractor → GC (Upstream)
- Subcontractors cannot originate upstream assignments
- They can only respond inside actions the GC created
This prevents upstream task creation and keeps responsibilities clear.
7. My Tasks Workspace vs Assigned Work
My Tasks Workspace is a private personal project that belongs only to you.
It does not belong to your team, and even Admins cannot open it unless you invite them.
Inside My Tasks:
- You see only the tasks you create yourself
- Only participants you manually invite can access it
- It does not show all tasks assigned to you across BuilderPal
- It does not inherit any team-level visibility rules
- It functions as your own personal workspace inside BuilderPal
To see tasks assigned to you across all projects, use your To-Do List, not My Tasks.
Summary Table
FAQ
Can Admins see all projects?
Admins can see all projects owned by their own team, but cannot access subcontractor-owned projects or personal My Tasks projects unless invited.
Can subcontractors see my GC project?
No. Subcontractors only see actions assigned to them, not your full project workspace.
Do POs and Bills sync between GC and Sub projects?
Yes—because they are Actions. The action thread manages visibility, not the project itself.
Can subcontractors assign actions to the GC?
No. Work only flows downstream from GC → Sub.
Why can’t I see a project someone mentioned?
You must either:
- be added as a participant, or
- be part of the team that owns that project, or
be the owner of a personal My Tasks project.