Distribution, Exports & Sharing Schedules

Creating your distribution list

Creating a distribution list of your external design team means your schedules can be in the hands of your architects, contractors, consultants and wider project team with just one click. All design team members from your company that are assigned to the project are automatically included on the distribution list. To learn how to add members of your company to a project, click here.

Empty distribution list
1

Open the Issue Report tab

On the Issue Report tab, click the create distribution list button in the middle of the page.
2

Add stakeholder information

Enter the company information for the first stakeholder and relevant team members. For example, the architects may have assigned 2 team members to this project, so you can add both of their names and emails to your distribution list.
3

Add additional contacts

Continue to add as many companies/people to your list. Remember you can control which schedules are shared with people on your distribution list.
4

Save your list

Click Save Changes on the right when you are finished adding people to your list.
5

Edit your list

To make changes or additions to your distribution list at any time, click Edit.

Issuing your first schedule to your distribution list

If you have one or more schedules you have completed and wish to share with the external project team, and you have created a distribution list, then you can do so on the Issue Report tab.

Issue report
1

Ensure schedules are locked

Ensure you have locked any schedules that have Revision Control enabled you want to share.
2

Navigate to Issue Report

Go to the Issue Report tab for the project with the schedules you want to issue.
3

Select schedules

Select the schedules from the list that are ready to be issued. Note that schedules which are not locked, will not be available to select. To learn about locking schedules, click here.
4

Select recipients

Select the companies or specific team members from your distribution list who you would like to share the schedules with. For a more in-depth guide on distribution lists, watch our video demo.
5

Preview your Issue Report

You can preview your Issue Report sheet by clicking the preview button in the bottom right corner of your screen. Issue Report sheets advise the date, the status and revision of each schedule that will be sent out.
6

Issue the schedules

When you are ready to send those schedules out to the selected stakeholders, click Issue Schedules. Inspec will automatically generate PDF exports of the schedules you have selected which will be attached to the distribution email, along with a copy of the Issue Report sheet.

Internal distribution of schedules

The project design team is automatically included on the distribution list for all issued documents. When a design team member issues a set of schedules, all team members will receive an email containing those schedules and the accompanying issue report.

To learn more about adding company users to the project design team, click here.

Distributing schedules with revision control disabled

When first creating a schedule, you are given the option to toggle on or off Revision Control. If you selected to turn this feature off, it is not possible to then distribute the schedule through Issue Report.

Besides Issue Report, there are three alternative options designers often use to share their schedules:

  1. Send your trades, consultants or clients the schedule using a Shareable Link.
  2. Export the schedule as a PDF and manually distribute this.
  3. Generate a QR code for direct access to all schedules from site.

Revision Control enabled schedules can also be shared with a link or by exporting as a PDF.

Creating a shareable link

Shareable links allow you to distribute schedules in a secure, view-only format to anyone with access to the link. When Revision Control is enabled, the shareable link will automatically display the most recently locked revision. Links do not expire once they are sent.

Shareable link
1

Open the Share menu

On the schedule page, click on the black Share button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

Enable the shareable link

Toggle on the Enable button for the shareable link (toggle off will disable the link for anyone who has it).
3

Copy the link

Click on the Copy icon at the end of the link.

Exporting a PDF

PDF export functionality enables designers to share draft schedules with external design teams, print hard copies, or archive documents to local servers. Schedules can be exported in any state and are automatically formatted to A4 page size.

Exporting a schedule to PDF will not automatically issue your schedule to your distribution list. Issuing a schedule to the external design team through Inspec must be done with Issue Report. Learn more about Issue Report.

To export your schedule or spec sheet to PDF:

1

Open the Share menu

Click on the black Share button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

Download the PDF

Under the Export PDF heading, click on the black Download PDF button. The schedule will then save to your downloads automatically.

Generating a schedule QR code

Inspec has introduced a printable QR code as part of the shareable link feature. This provides a convenient method for trades and consultants to access schedule information directly from site via mobile devices.

The page was designed to be printed and pinned up onsite for quick access.

To download a printable QR code:

1

Open the Share menu

Click on the Share button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

Enable the shareable link

Ensure that shareable link is enabled. See Creating a shareable link for more information.
3

Download the QR code

Click on the Download QR Code button. This will automatically save a copy of the printable QR page to your downloads, ready to be printed or sent to the team onsite.

Related Frequently Asked Questions

Can I issue my spec sheet through Issue Report?

No, Spec Sheets are not currently supported in Issue Report. You can still export your Spec Sheets as a PDF or generate a shareable link.

Does removing someone from my distribution list have any effect on the Issue Report?

Removing someone from your distribution list simply removes the line with their name, it will not impact any of the information regarding the schedules.

Can I export to Excel or other formats?

No, the only format we support is PDF.

Can I customise the PDF layout for both schedules and spec sheets?

We are working on offering customisability for PDF exports, but this is not currently available to users. If you have a specific look you are trying to achieve, please get in touch with us.

Will my PDF schedule export include the section images I uploaded?

Yes, all section images are visible on a schedule export. These images appear at the top of each section, and each section starts on a new page. The images uploaded to a section will always appear larger than the images in your rows.

Can I send a shareable link to someone even if they don't have an Inspec account?

Yes, anyone with a link can view your schedule, regardless of whether they are subscribed to Inspec.

Can a shareable link be revoked?

Yes it's possible to disable the shareable link by toggling off the Enable button. Learn more about Shareable Links.

Other helpful articles

Intro to Schedules

Learn how to create, manage, and collaborate on specification schedules.

Intro to Revision Control

Learn how to use Revision Control for version management of your schedules.

Intro to Projects

Learn how to create and manage projects in Inspec.