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What is Project Book?

Project Book is a shared digital project record for building projects. It keeps the people working on a project connected to the information, decisions, actions and evidence that explain what is happening and why.

Building projects generate drawings, documents, messages, photographs, questions, decisions, programmes, costs, instructions and contractual records. Project Book brings these records together around the project instead of leaving its history scattered across inboxes, folders, spreadsheets and individual systems.

You do not need to use everything at once

Project Book is designed to grow with the project. Start with the information you need today, then bring additional workflows into the same project record as they become relevant.

For a new project, a practical starting point is to create the project, add the core team and upload the information people are already working from. As the project develops you can begin using decisions, tasks, programme, site evidence, costs and contract administration without setting up a separate system.

The aim is not to create extra administration. Information entered once should contribute to the wider project record and, where relevant, appear automatically in summaries such as the Project Overview.

Creating a new project

Create the project record once, add the key information you already know, and let the rest of the team build on that record as the project develops.

1. From the Project Book home screen, choose Create New Project.
2. Add a Project Title. This is the only field required to create the project.
3. Add the project information you already know. You can return and complete or update it later.
4. Choose Create Project. The new project will then appear in your project list.

Project information

• Address / Location — ideally including a UK postcode.
• Local Authority — use Find from postcode to identify it where possible.
• Planning Search — add or check the public-access planning search link.
• Client and Lead Consultant.
• Project Description and Budget.
• RIBA Stage — Stage 0 to Stage 7.
• Status — Enquiry, Live, On Hold or Completed.
• Start Date and End Date.

Use AI to fill the form from a document

If you already have a project brief, appointment document or similar project information, choose Upload Document, then Extract Data. Project Book will suggest information for the project fields.

Creating an enquiry

If the project has not yet been won, set its status to Enquiry. This reveals additional fields for Potential Fee, Enquiry Source and Enquiry Date.

If the commission proceeds, change the status to Live rather than creating a second project. This keeps the enquiry history and the project record together.

Understanding the Project Overview

The Project Overview is the front page of each project. It brings together the most useful current information from across Project Book so you can quickly see what has changed, what needs attention and what is coming up next.

Most information on the Overview is surfaced from other parts of the project rather than entered twice. Think of it as the project dashboard, with the detailed record remaining in the relevant project tabs.

What you will see

• Latest documents — recently updated project information, including its discipline, status and latest upload.
• Recent messages — the latest project communications and RFIs, with a quick preview and a link to the full conversation.
• Project activity — a chronological record of project events. Use Log Event to record an important meeting, issue, inspection, approval, delivery, delay or milestone that might otherwise be lost in an email or notebook.
• Key dates — important dates drawn from project settings and other project records, together with manually added deadlines and milestones.
• Project inbox — the project-specific email address and recent inbound emails. Attachments can feed into the project document record and relevant emails can be used to create project events.
• My tasks — outstanding project tasks assigned to you.
• Compliance — a compact indication of compliance matters requiring attention, with the detailed record held in the Compliance section.
• Progress photographs — recent site images providing a quick visual record of progress.

Adding the project team

The Team section records the people and organisations involved in the project and allows them to participate in the parts of Project Book relevant to their role.

Add the client, consultants, contractor and other project contacts early. Keeping the team attached to the project means communications, responsibilities and project information can be connected to identifiable people rather than existing as an anonymous collection of files and messages.

Adding people

• Open the project and choose Team.
• Add or invite the relevant person and identify their role or discipline.
• External project contacts can be recorded even where they are not yet active Project Book users.
• If an email address is available, an invitation can be sent so that person can join the project.
• Invitations can be resent or cancelled, and people can be removed if they are no longer part of the project.

Different people, the same project record

Project Book uses role-based views so that an architect, client, consultant or contractor does not necessarily see the project in exactly the same way. The underlying project record is shared, while each user is presented with information and workflows relevant to their role and permissions.

Once the team is in place you can include the relevant people in project threads, RFIs and decisions instead of moving the conversation outside the project record.

Messages, RFIs & decisions

Use Project Book for project conversations that need to remain understandable later — questions, responses, design issues, requests for information and decisions that affect what happens next.

Messages & RFIs

Messages are organised into project threads. Create a thread around a subject rather than relying on one continuous project chat. A thread can be a normal discussion or an RFI where a clear response is required.

• Add the relevant project team members to the conversation.
• Use @mentions where a particular person needs to see or respond to something.
• Attach files or link existing project drawings and documents so the conversation retains its context.
• Keep significant project questions and answers here rather than allowing the only record to sit in personal email or WhatsApp histories.

Issues & Decisions

Not every discussion needs to become a formal decision. Where an issue affects design, cost, programme, compliance or the work being carried out, use the Issues & Decisions area to move it from conversation into a structured project record.

The purpose is to preserve not only the eventual answer, but the context around it: what the issue was, what was considered, who was involved and what was agreed.

Important developments can also be recorded in the Project activity timeline, helping the Overview explain the history of the project without somebody having to reconstruct it later.

Using the drawing and document register

Project Book keeps project drawings and documents in one register, with their key information and latest available version.

If you have not yet set the project up, start with Creating a new project. Recent information from this register is surfaced automatically on the Project Overview, and drawings or documents can be linked into project conversations so the discussion retains its context.

• View drawings and documents in list or grid view.
• Search and filter by discipline, category or RIBA stage.
• Switch between current information and a wider revision view.
• Mark frequently used items as favourites.
• Create formal issue sets from selected drawings.

Upload a new drawing

Add a drawing to the project register. Project Book can analyse supported PDF or image files and suggest useful drawing information.

1. Open the project and go to Drawings.
2. Choose upload and select the file.
3. Review title, discipline, RIBA stage, revision, status and consultant where available.
4. Correct or complete the information and choose visibility where required.
5. Complete the upload.

Working with drawing revisions

Project Book keeps revision information with a drawing so users can distinguish current information from earlier versions while retaining project history.

Create a formal drawing issue set

Issue Sets record selected drawing versions together as a named, dated issue.

1. Select the drawings.
2. Create an Issue Set and give it a clear title.
3. Choose Planning, Tender, Contract, Construction, As Built or Custom.
4. Set the issue date and confirm.

The set retains a snapshot of the selected versions, so the historical issue can still be reviewed after newer revisions are uploaded.