Opening a report from the link in a builder's email

Report emails from Buildsnapper 2.1 and later hold one link — "Open the report and photos", "Open the report" or "Open the photos", depending on what the builder sent — and nothing attached. The link opens the report's page.

Opening it

Click the link in the email.
The page asks for an email address. Enter the one the email was sent to, and choose Continue.
The page shows the plot, project and builder, with Open the report (the PDF) and Download the photos (a ZIP of every photo as its own file, named by plot and item, each recording where and when it was taken).

The report opens in your browser, where you can read, save or print it. The photos download as a ZIP; on an iPhone or iPad it saves to Downloads in the Files app.

Each file comes only from its button on the page. A bookmarked or forwarded link to the PDF opens this page instead, which asks for the email address in any browser the report isn't already open in.

If you are signed in to the Assessor Portal in the same browser, with the address the report was sent to, the page opens without asking.

The page remembers the address in that browser for up to 12 hours, or until you close the browser, then asks again ("For the report's security, enter your email address again."). On a shared computer, choose Close the report on this device when you have finished.

Which address works

The assessor's: the address the builder sent the report to.
A manager's: any address the builder has added to the project as a manager. Managers are copied into the email and open it with their own address, for as long as they stay on the project.

Any other address gets "This email address can't open this report. Enter the address the email was sent to, or ask the builder to send the report to this address." Check the address for typos, and that it is the one the email went to rather than another you use. A builder sends a plot's report to one assessor at a time: sending it to a different address hands the report over, and the first assessor's link stops working.

When the link is not working

"This report link isn't working" — the builder has sent the plot's report to a different assessor or deleted it, or only part of the link was copied. Try clicking the link in the email again. If you have an assessor account, log in to see every report sent to you; otherwise ask the builder to send the report to you again. See the report lifecycle for why a report is withdrawn.
"The report can't be opened just now" — something went wrong on our side. Choose Try again in a few minutes; if it keeps happening, contact us through the support page.
"Too many tries" — after several tries the page pauses, to keep reports safe. Wait a few minutes, then try again.
"The report's PDF is missing." — ask the builder to send the report again.
"The photos for this plot haven't been sent yet." — the builder has sent the report without the photos. They will be on the page when the builder sends them.

The link has no expiry date

It works while the report is current. If the builder sends you the plot's report again, the same link opens the new version. It stops working only when the builder sends the plot's report to a different assessor, or deletes the report, plot or project.

Emails from versions before 2.1, and the rare 2.1 email sent when the link couldn't be made, are different: they carry the report PDF attached and a separate photo download link that works for 7 days from the send — see the photo download link has expired.

An account, for assessors

For the report's assessor, the page also says whether the report is in their assessor account. Without one, it offers Apply for a free account: every report builders send to that address, before and after the application, is in the account once it is approved. We check every application by hand, usually within one or two working days. Managers see Buildsnapper Manager instead: every plot's progress on the projects they manage, with links to the App Store and Google Play. Sign up with the address the builder added you with, and your projects are there.