Collaborate in Cost Management

Cost Management enables collaboration between contractors, owners, and suppliers through controlled access permissions. External partners can view and edit specific information assigned to them while maintaining project security.

The collaborative permission allows members to view and edit limited attributes on items assigned to them. To collaborate within Cost Management, every member needs an Autodesk Build license.

To set up collaborative access, refer to the Cost Management Permissions article.

In this article:

Supplier Collaboration

Suppliers can collaborate in multiple areas of Cost Management:

  1. Request for Quotation and Change Orders

    • Provide work breakdown and pricing
    • Upload or download attachments
    • Export reports

  2. Payment Applications

    • View and Response Access: Fill in and submit payment applications, view previous submissions, generate documents, upload attachments
    • Create, View, and Response Access: All view and response capabilities plus create billing periods, set due dates, delete applications (with status limitations)

  3. Contract Management

    • Upload or download contract exhibits and attachments
    • Provide schedule of values breakdown

  4. Cash Flow Distribution

    • Set distribution start and end dates
    • Submit items for review

Owner Collaboration

Owners focus primarily on review and approval workflows:

  1. Change Order Requests (CORs)

    • Accept or reject incoming requests
    • Download supporting documents
    • Upload additional attachments
    • Export project reports

  2. Owner Change Orders (OCOs)

    • Approve or reject proposed changes
    • Download change order documents
    • Manage attachments and supporting files
    • Export reports for analysis

  3. Payment Application Reviews

    • Approve or reject payment applications
    • Review payment history and previous submissions
    • Download payment application documents
    • Upload supporting documentation

Setting Up Collaboration

To enable effective collaboration, ensure accurate company and contact information is configured in Company Setup.

Inviting Suppliers to Collaborate

To add a supplier as a collaborator:

  1. Select the Members tool from the left menu.
  2. Click Add members and enter the supplier's email.
  3. Select the supplier's Company and Role. Ensure that the Access level is set to Project Member.
  4. Click Send invitations.

Troubleshooting Collaboration Access

If collaboration access isn't working, verify:

Owner Access to Main Contract

To give owners collaborative access for document uploads:

  1. Go to the Settings tool.

  2. Scroll down to the Company Setup section.

  3. Select company and contact for the owner role.

  4. In the main contract's flyout panel, assign the correct owner in Owner Details.

Owners with collaborative permission can view contract details in the Main Contract table and upload documents to the Attachment section. Access to individual SOV item links is restricted.

Advanced Collaboration Features

Collaborators as Reviewers

Collaborative users can participate in approval workflows:

  1. Workflow-Based Reviews: Grant collaborate permissions in Settings for external companies to enable approval/rejection of OCOs and budget payment applications.

  2. Manual Review Process:

    • Grant collaborate permissions to external companies in Settings
    • Select external architect in Architect Details for COR/OCO approval requests
    • Add external reviewers in the Additional Collaborators section outside workflow engine

Learn more: Approval Workflows | Cost Management Permissions

Restricted Comments

Control comment visibility with restricted comments:

Users with Full Control/Admin permissions see a Restricted checkbox. Check the box to make the comment private to internal team members only.

Note: Comments are limited to 1000 characters maximum.

File Permissions for Collaboration

When generated documents are stored in the Files tool, collaborators need specific folder permissions.

Setting Up Folder Permissions

To configure file permissions for collaborators:

  1. Select Build from the product picker, then open the Files tool.

  2. Click the More menu next to the desired folder.

  3. Select Permissions settings.

  4. In the Permissions flyout panel, click Add.

  5. Search by name, email, role, or company.

  6. Choose the appropriate permission level from the dropdown.

  7. Click Add.

Note: Permissions set on the main folder automatically apply to all subfolders.

Permission Requirements by Activity Type

Standard Activities (No additional file permissions needed):

Document Management Activities (Requires: View + Download + Publish Markups + Upload + Edit):

Application Management (Requires: Collaborate permission):

Supplier Access Requirements

RFQ Activities:

Contract Activities:

Payment Application Activities:

Owner Access Requirements

Change Order Activities:

Payment Application Activities:

Tip: The Collaborative Potential Change Order Workflow article provides a practical example of collaboration in action.
Pages in this section
Parent page: Set Up Cost Management