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How do the Subcodes, Contractor Details and Review tabs relate on a construction permit?

On a Construction Permit, the Subcodes tab is where a permit's disciplines (Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire, Mechanical, Elevator) are added, and the Review tab is where each of those disciplines is reviewed. The two are linked in one direction: a subcode only appears on the Review tab after its section has been added and saved on the Subcodes tab. Filling in a contractor's details does not create a subcode on its own. This article is for Technical Assistants, subcode officials and anyone else who enters or reviews permits. It walks the tabs in the order a permit moves through them.

Step 1: Property tab, the general contractor

The Agent/Contractor fields on the Property tab hold the principal contractor for the whole permit. Search by name, state license number or local license number to pull the contractor from the Contractors module. This is contact information for the permit. It does not add any subcode, and it does not put anything on the Review tab.

PLACEHOLDER: Customers refer to a "Contractor Details" area when describing this problem. Confirm which screen they mean (the Agent/Contractor section on the Property tab, or the contractor fields at the top of each subcode section) and name it the same way the product does.

Step 2: Subcodes tab, add a section for each discipline

  1. Open the permit and click the Subcodes tab (to the right of the Property tab). The sections are listed in order: Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire, Mechanical, Elevator. Scroll down to see them all.
  2. Click Add [Subcode] above the grid for the discipline you need, for example Add Electrical.
  3. At the top of the section, fill in that trade's contractor. Use Same as Owner, Same as Agent/Contractor, or search by name or license number.
  4. Enter the Description of Work, the Estimated Cost of Work, and the items for that trade.
  5. Click Save on the section, then save the permit record.

Once the section is saved, two things happen automatically. The subcode checkbox in the top-right corner of the permit form (Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire, Mechanical, Elevator) is ticked for that discipline, and a review line for it appears on the Review tab with a status of Pending Review. The checkboxes cannot be ticked by hand; they only reflect the saved sections.

If you entered a contractor somewhere but the checkbox is still empty and the discipline is missing from the Review tab, the section was not added, or it was added and the record was closed without saving. Go back to the Subcodes tab and add or save it.

Step 3: Review tab, one line per subcode

  1. Click the Review tab (to the right of the Subcodes tab).
  2. On the left is a button for each subcode on the permit. Next to each button are the Date, Status and By of the most recent review entry for that subcode. Any subcode you added on the Subcodes tab starts here as Pending Review.
  3. Below that, the activity log lists every review entry ever made on the permit: Date, Subcode, Decision, Reviewer and Send Email.

The Review tab also does not change the permit's main Status. When a permit enters review, set the Status field to Plan Review yourself.

Step 4: Recording a review decision

  1. Click the button for the subcode you are reviewing. A new entry opens with your name as Reviewer, the subcode filled in, and today's date.
  2. Check the Subcode shown is the one you intend. Select a Decision.
  3. Add notes if needed with Add Note, including code citations or a saved Note Shortcut.
  4. Check Send Email if the applicant should be notified. Emails are sent for Denied decisions only.
  5. Click Save, or Add Another for a further entry on the same subcode.

Why a denial still shows after the plans were approved

The Review tab is an append-only log. Entries are never edited or overwritten, and the Status column next to each subcode button always shows the latest entry. If a subcode was denied and the corrected plans were later accepted, the denial stays in the history and keeps showing as the current status until a new entry is added. To clear it, click the subcode button and add a new entry with the Decision set to Approved. The Status column then shows Approved, and the denial remains in the log below as part of the audit trail.

If the new entry does not change the status, check that it was saved against the same subcode, and on the same control number, as the denial. An approval entered on a different subcode or on an update record will not clear it.

What you can change and what to send our support team

Adding and saving subcode sections, recording review entries and setting the main Status are all done by your staff. The list of subcodes, the Decision options and the review email template are set up by our team. If something in that list needs to change, reach out to our support team with the module name, the control number, which subcode or decision is affected, what it shows now and what it should show.

✅ Pro Tip: Before you look for a missing subcode on the Review tab, glance at the subcode checkboxes in the top-right corner of the permit. If the box for that discipline is not ticked, the fix is on the Subcodes tab, not the Review tab.

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