Consultant requests

Use a project's Co-consultants tab to ask an external consultant for a quote and keep their response with the project. Start with the consultant and their reports set up in PlanMan. Updating project consultants requires permission to update projects. Archived projects must be unarchived before changes.

Add the consultant and send a request

1. Open the project's Co-consultants tab and use the add control.
2. Select Discipline, Consultant and the required Report(s), then click Add Consultant.
3. Use the consultant row's quote-request/email control. Check the selected reports and the consultant's email address.
4. Review Email subject and the request details, then click Send Request.

Sending requests is unavailable during a trial. PlanMan first attempts to queue the email through the sending user's connected Microsoft 365 account. If that route is unavailable, it uses the normal PlanMan email sender. The request email includes a link to the response page and its expiry date. The link lifetime comes from your company's consultant-request expiry setting.

Share supporting documents

In the project's Files tab, select Co-consultants for documents they should see. This shares the document with all project co-consultants, so check that choice separately from Public, which controls client visibility. The response page lists shared documents and offers Download all.

What the consultant submits

The linked page shows the requested reports. For each report, the consultant can decline or enter the requested fee, payment terms, hourly rates, quote expiry, timeframe and contact details. They can add notes and up to three documents per response. Each uploaded file needs its own Document Type: Quote, Insurance or T&Cs. Selecting files without those classifications prevents submission. Allowed file types are shown on the page.

Review the outcome

Open the request or reply from the project to check its dates, quote details and classified documents. Track the consultant's status through the available options, such as Quote requested, Quote received / Sent to client and Quote accepted by client. A submitted reply is not, by itself, your instruction to start work. Expired links and consultants marked completed cannot continue through the original response page.

See Co-consultants and Active Projects.

Missing a report name in the selection? Ask an administrator to add it under Co-consultant report types.