Set up and manage permit types (pre-release draft)
Pre-release documentation — subject to change. Permit settings, labels and behaviour may change before release. Test your configuration before using it for live work.
Set up and manage permit types
Permit types are reusable templates for controlled work. They determine what information a permit collects, who can take action, when workers can select it during check-in, when they can sign, and which stages record approvals.
This guide is for customer administrators who configure permit types and assign customer users to permit roles. For instructions on creating and using individual permits, see the companion Manage permits guide.
Quick links
- Create a permit type
- Set the permit name and validity rules
- Choose who can access the permit type
- Set up roles and stages
- Configure approval, check-in and signing stages
- Build screens and questions
- Check access before saving
- Assign permit roles to customer users
- Set up notifications
- Test and maintain a permit type
- Troubleshoot common issues
Create a permit type
You need access to the supplier settings for your organisation.
- Open Suppliers > Settings > Permit types.
- Check the organisation shown in the selector at the top of the page.
- Select Create permit type.
- Enter a Name.
- Choose a template and select Use template. Empty permit type is one available starting point.
- Complete the editor sections below.
- Select Save at the bottom of the page.
To start from a similar existing type, use Copy permit type on the permit types list. Review every setting in the copy before saving it.
The list shows each type’s Name, Permit key, Supplier types and Active status. Use Filter settings to narrow the list and Clear filters to reset it.
Before you leave the editor: Changes take effect only when you select Save. Back to list leaves without saving.
Set the permit name and validity rules
Name, key prefix and guidance
- Name is shown when someone selects a type in Start permit. It is required and can contain up to 50 characters.
- Key prefix is used to generate permit IDs. It is required and can contain up to 10 characters. For example, HOT produces IDs such as HOT-1 and HOT-2. Use a unique prefix for the type.
- Create permit information text, under Details, gives people guidance when they start a permit. Keep it specific to the work and your organisation’s process.
Permit validity
Open Permit validity to set:
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Maximum permit duration and Duration unit | The longest validity period allowed when a permit is first created. Leave the duration blank if you do not want a limit. |
| Allow editing the valid-from date and time | Whether the start of an existing permit can be changed. |
| Allow editing the expiry date and time | Whether the expiry of an existing permit can be changed. |
| Additional duration allowed when extending expiry and Duration unit | How much extra time can be allowed when the expiry is edited. |
For example, an 8-hour maximum with 2 additional hours for an extension allows a permit to run for up to 10 hours in total. Choose limits that match your organisation’s permit process.
Choose who can access the permit type
Under Supplier types, select the supplier types that can access or start this permit type. If you leave the selection empty, all supplier types can access it. Supplier types are managed under Suppliers > Supplier types.
Use Roles which can access/initiate this permit type regardless of supplier type for roles that need access even when a supplier-type restriction would otherwise apply.
Check both settings together. An unintended supplier-type restriction may stop someone starting a permit; an unrestricted role may give someone access outside that restriction.
Set up roles and stages
Add permit roles
Permit roles define who participates in the workflow. Their names and number are configurable—for example, Requester, Site Safety Reviewer or Permit Authority.
- Open Roles and select Add new role.
- Enter a Name.
- Under Assigned to, select your own organisation or Supplier.
- If appropriate, use Map requester to roles to add the person who starts a permit through the Hub to a selected role.
Customer roles are filled by customer admin users. Supplier roles are filled by supplier contacts. Assigning a customer user to a role is a separate step described below.
Add and order stages
Stages are the steps a permit moves through. Add as many as the work requires, in the order your organisation needs.
- Open Stages and select Add stage.
- Enter a stage Name and choose its high-level Status.
- Select the roles that act at this stage and the roles that can request a revision of it.
- Configure the stage’s email subject and edit or read-only email templates, if needed.
- Save the stage. Use Move up or Move down to set its position in the workflow.
A stage name describes the current step; its status gives users a broader indication of the permit’s state. Review both to make sure they make sense together.
Configure approval, check-in and signing stages
After adding stages, select which stages have each workflow function. A stage can have more than one function.
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Approval stages | When a permit leaves a flagged stage, or completes while at one, the person making the change is recorded as an approver. Flag every stage that should record a formal approval. |
| Check-in stages | Workers can be offered the permit during site check-in while it is at a flagged stage. Leave this empty if workers should not select this permit type during check-in. |
| Worker signing stages | Assigned workers can sign when the permit reaches a flagged stage. You can flag one or more stages. |
Signing becomes available at the first flagged signing stage the permit reaches. Each person signs once, unless a revision invalidates their signature. Adding more signing stages does not mean that workers sign once at every stage.
Plan these flags alongside the stage order. For example, decide when workers should first be able to select a permit during check-in and whether signing can occur before or after a particular approval.
Build screens and questions
Screens organise the information collected through the permit workflow. You might use separate screens for work details, controls, reviews, approvals and close-out.
Add a screen
- Open Screens and select Add screen.
- Give the screen a name.
- Use its drag handle to place it in the right order.
- Select Edit beside the screen to configure access.
In Edit screen, set Permissions for each stage and role to No access, Read-only or Editable. You can also limit the screen to particular Supplier types or add Hide screen rules based on an answer to a question.
Add content or a field
Within a screen, select Add content to provide instructions or Add field to ask a question or collect information.
Fields include text, dates, numbers, checkboxes, dropdowns, file uploads, signatures and supplier contacts.
On a field’s General tab, set its label, field type, required status and any options relevant to that type. The Advanced tab lets you override screen permissions for particular stages and roles, and limit who can see the field.
Check field access carefully. The source administration guide notes that a field left unset may be editable by default. Do not rely on the screen name alone to protect an approval or confirmation question.
Check access before saving
Use Process access to review how screen and field permissions work together.
- Select a stage.
- Use Focus on role to inspect one role, or select All roles to compare them.
- Select Expand all questions to show field-level permissions.
- Check that the acting role can edit what it needs, later-stage roles can read relevant earlier answers, and approval questions are editable only by the intended role.
- Repeat for each stage, then select Save at the bottom of the permit type editor.
Assign permit roles to customer users
Creating a customer permit role does not, by itself, assign it to anyone. Assign it to the customer users who will take part in the process.
- Open Account settings > Users.
- Select Create user, or edit an existing user.
- Enter or review the user’s details and sign-in settings.
- Set Access level to Site and select their sites, or set it to Customer for access across all sites.
- Select the account roles they need.
- Under Supplier process roles, select their permit roles.
- Select Save.
A user can hold more than one permit role, and several users can hold the same role. Site-scoped users can act only at their selected sites. Use the Site and Role filters on the users list to review assignments.
Set up notifications
Stage-specific edit and read-only emails are configured in each stage.
The signing notification is configured once for all permit types under Suppliers > Settings > Configuration > Permit available for signing notification. Review the available notification method and the email, SMS or push message fields shown in your organisation’s configuration.
If you use message substitutions, check the rendered message during testing. For example, the administration guide identifies $permit, $permittype and $permitsigninglink for signing messages.
Test and maintain a permit type
Before using a new or changed type for live work, test the full workflow in a non-production environment:
- Start a permit and check its generated ID and validity rules.
- Complete each stage as the intended role.
- Confirm which stages record approvals.
- Check when a worker can select the permit during site check-in.
- Check when an assigned worker can sign.
- Request a revision and check what happens to any existing signatures.
- Complete close-out and review the permit’s Audit log.
Changes to a live permit type can affect permits of that type. Test changes first and tell permit holders about changes to stages or signing.
The permit register is under Suppliers > Permits. Permit and approval activity appears in each permit’s audit log.
To retire a permit type, use the action on the permit types list and review the Delete or archive permit type? dialog before confirming. The Delete action sits beside Edit, so check the control you have selected. If you opened the dialog by mistake, select Cancel.
Troubleshoot common issues
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| A worker cannot see a permit during check-in | Is the permit at a Check-in stage, currently valid and associated with the supplier selected during check-in? |
| A worker cannot sign | Has the permit reached a Worker signing stage? Is the worker under People carrying out work? Have they already signed? |
| An approval was not recorded | Was the stage flagged as an Approval stage? Approval is recorded when the permit leaves that stage or completes there. |
| A supplier cannot start the permit type | Check Supplier types and the roles allowed access regardless of supplier type. |
| A user cannot edit a question | In Process access, check the screen permission and then the field’s Advanced permission for their stage and role. |
| A permit’s expiry cannot be extended | Check Allow editing the expiry date and time and Additional duration allowed when extending expiry. |
| A screen is missing for some users | Check its Hide screen rules and Supplier types restriction. |
Last verified: 29 September 2026, 11:44 am (New Zealand time). This pre-release draft is based on supplied administration documentation, not a check of a production tenant.