Contracts: signing, details and history
On this page
| Where | List: project sidebar Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители), /projects/{project}/costs. Contract page: /projects/{project}/costs/evaluatedTaskList/{contract}/contract. Your own contract with your client: sidebar Contract with client (Договор с възложител), /projects/{project}/budget. A past version: /projects/{project}/contracts/{list}/contract-proposal-preview. |
|---|---|
| Who can | Project permission Execution (Изпълнение) to see contracts; Contract changes (Промени по договор) to open the change history; Reports (Отчети) to open payment applications. Paid plan or trial. |
| Related | Contract proposals, Change orders and extensions, Payment applications, Financial dashboard: committed, certified, margin |
How a contract gets signed
A contract in BuildColab is signed in exactly one of these ways. All of them are binding at once and cannot be undone.
| Way | Who clicks | Button | Notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accepting a contract proposal | The contractor | Accept (Приеми) on Contract preview | The client gets an in-app notification and an e-mail. |
| Self-contract with a client outside BuildColab | Your company, for both sides | Turn into contract (Превърни в договор) → Create contract (Създай договор) | None. |
| On behalf of a self-managed subcontractor | The client, for both sides | Create contract on their behalf (Създай договор от негово име), or the Contract with a contractor (Сключи договор с изпълнител) dialog | None; the contractor has no login. |
See Contract proposals for the first way and Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts for the other two.
What signing changes
- The contract becomes Signed, version 1.
- The contractor's offer becomes a contract and the contractor's project moves to the Execution (Изпълнение) phase.
- The contract appears in the client's Contracts with contractors list, except for a self-contract, which is never shown as a cost.
- Each contract position becomes a commitment against the matching line of the client's budget. Positions BuildColab cannot match are listed as unlinked, and the client links them by hand with Link lines (Свържи позиции). See Financial dashboard: committed, certified, margin.
- If the contracting schedule is used, the contract is linked to its package automatically when it came from that package's request or when all its positions lie in one package. See Contracting schedule and packages.
- The offer request closes as Closed · awarded once every position is awarded and every awarded offer has a signed contract.
- Payment applications can now be created against the contract. See How a payment application works.
Signed contracts are locked
A signed contract cannot be edited directly, so both sides always work from the same numbers. If someone tries to edit a signed contract's BoQ, BuildColab refuses with "A signed contract's quantity list cannot be edited directly — change it through a change order." To change quantities, prices, positions, the deadline or other terms, make a change order. See Change orders and extensions.
The Contracts with contractors list
The project page Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители) lists every contract on which your company is the client: contracts with subcontractors on BuildColab and with self-managed subcontractors. It appears in the sidebar once your project is in the Execution phase.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Company (Компания) | The contractor. |
| Contract subject (Предмет на договора) | The contract name and Version {n} (Версия {n}). The pill Change proposal (Предложение за промяна) means a change proposal is waiting for an answer; click it to open the proposal. The pill Change draft (Чернова на промяна) means a change-order draft is in progress; click it to continue editing. |
| Reports (Отчети) | A progress bar of approved payment applications: "Reported {amount} · {percent}%". |
| Total value (Обща стойност) | The current contract value. The header shows the total of all contracts. |
Click a row to open the contract page. With no contracts the list says "No contracts yet." (Все още няма договори.).
The contract page
The contract page is titled "Contract - {name}" (Договор - {name}) and shows the contract BoQ read-only, fully expanded. The header has four buttons:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Export (Експорт) | Exports the contract BoQ through the export wizard into the File manager. See Exporting. |
| View details (Виж детайли) | Opens the panel Contract preview (Преглед на договор) with the BoQ total, Contract type, Payment method, Deadline, Advance payment and Warranty retention. |
| Reports (Отчети) | Opens the payment applications of this contract. Needs Reports (Отчети) View. See Payment applications. |
| Contract changes (Промени по договор) | Opens the change history and the change actions. Needs Contract changes (Промени по договор) View. See below and Change orders and extensions. |
The open panel is remembered in the address, so the back button returns you to the same panel.
- The title "Contract - {name}" (Договор - {name}).
- Export (Експорт) exports the contract BoQ.
- View details (Виж детайли) opens the terms.
- Reports (Отчети) opens the payment applications.
- Contract changes (Промени по договор) opens the change history.
- The Contract preview (Преглед на договор) panel with the five terms and the total.
- The contract BoQ, read-only.
The contractor's view
The contractor opens its contract from Contract with client (Договор с възложител). The page shows the contract BoQ read-only. Its action bar groups the actions: View (Изглед) holds View details and Categories (Категории); Related (Свързани) holds Reports (Отчети) and Contract changes (Промени по договор), plus Outgoing bid requests and the schedule; Exchange (Обмен) holds the export. An investor sees its accepted budget here under Budget (Бюджет), and the change panel is called Budget changes (Промени по бюджет).
Contract history and versions
Every contract has a version number. It starts at 1 when the contract is signed and goes up by 1 each time a change order is accepted or finalized, including each partial finalization. Before a new version is written, BuildColab keeps a snapshot of the previous one, so every earlier version can be opened with the terms and the BoQ that applied then.
The history lives in the panel Contract changes (Промени по договор), section Contract change history (История на промените по договор), newest first. Each entry shows the date, the two companies, and where relevant the description, the version and the Total value.
| Entry | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Contract - Version {n} (Договор - Версия {n}) | A signed version of the contract. Review (Разгледай) opens it. |
| Contract proposal (Предложение за договор) | The original proposal was sent. |
| Accepted contract (Приет договор) / Declined contract (Отказан договор) | The contractor's answer to the original proposal. |
| Contract change proposal (Предложение за промяна по договор) | A change order was proposed. Review opens it with the changes marked. |
| Accepted contract change (Приета промяна по договор) / Declined contract change (Отказана промяна по договор) | The answer to a change proposal. |
| Update request (Заявка за актуализация) | The client asked for a change, with its Description (Описание). |
| Superseded (Заменена) | A label on a change proposal that closed because another change was accepted first. |
For an investor's budget the entries read Budget - Version {n} (Бюджет - Версия {n}) and the section is Budget change history (История на промените по бюджет).
How to review an earlier version
- Open the contract page and click Contract changes (Промени по договор).
- In Contract change history find the version or change and click Review (Разгледай).
- The page Contract preview (Преглед на договор) opens on that version. For a change, click Show changes (Покажи промени) to mark added, changed and removed positions against the previous version; Hide changes (Скрий промени) turns the marks off.
- Click View details (Виж детайли) to see the terms that applied in that version.
- The panel title Contract changes (Промени по договор).
- The main action: Request update (Заяви актуализация) for the client, Make a change (Направи промяна) for the contractor.
- A version entry "Contract - Version {n}" with Review (Разгледай).
- A change entry (here Accepted contract change, Приета промяна по договор) with its version and the company that made it.
Statuses
| Contract status | Meaning | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Created when a contract panel opened, or a change order in progress. Terms can be edited while no proposal is pending. | Send it as a proposal, or sign it (self-contract, or on behalf of a self-managed subcontractor), or finalize it (change order). |
| Signed | Accepted by the contractor or signed for both sides. Active and locked. Its package in the contracting schedule becomes Contracted (Договорен). | Payment applications; change orders. |
| Deactivated | The proposal was declined, or a change draft was superseded by another change. The contracting schedule shows a replaced contract as Replaced (Заменен). | Nothing; kept for the record. |
The contractor's project phases around a contract
| Phase | When |
|---|---|
| Contract proposal (Предложение за договор) | A contract proposal was received and waits for an answer. |
| Execution (Изпълнение) | The contract was accepted or signed. Payment applications and change orders are possible. |
| CONTRACT DECLINED (ОТКАЗАН ДОГОВОР) | The contractor declined, or every position was awarded to someone else. |
The phase is kept separately for each company on the project. Change orders do not change the phase.
Draft contracts
A draft contract is created the moment a contract panel opens on an offer, not when you send. At the same time the offer's priced positions are awarded to it if nobody else holds them.
- A draft blocks Revise the request, Undo choice on that offer and moving its positions on the award screen.
- On the bidder's Offers page the offer carries the badge Contract being prepared (Договор в подготовка); after signing it shows Contracted (Договорена).
- There is no button to delete a draft contract. Open a contract panel only when you are ready to contract.
E-mails and notifications
| Event | Who is told | In-app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract proposal sent | The contractor | "{partnerName} sent you a contract proposal for {contractName}" | No |
| Proposal accepted | The client | "{partnerName} accepted the contract proposal for {contractName}" | "{company} accepted the contract proposal" |
| Proposal declined | The client | "{partnerName} declined the contract proposal for {contractName}" | "{company} declined the contract proposal" |
| Change proposal sent | The other party | "A change order was submitted for {contractName} ({amountDelta})" | "{company} sent a contract change proposal" |
| Change accepted / declined | The party that proposed it | "{partnerName} accepted the change order for {contractName}" / "…declined…" | "{company} accepted the contract change proposal" / "…declined…" |
| Change superseded | The party whose proposal was replaced | "{partnerName} replaced the change order for {contractName} with a newer one" | "Your contract change request was superseded" |
| Update request | The contractor | Banner You have a contract update request on the project page | No |
| Self-contract, signing on behalf of a self-managed subcontractor, finalizing a change | Nobody | No | No |
In-app notifications about contracts are in the category Contracts (Договори). See Notifications and their settings.
Permissions and plan
| Action | Needs |
|---|---|
| See Contracts with contractors and open a contract | Execution (Изпълнение) View, project level |
| Turn into contract | Execution (Изпълнение) Edit; without it the button is gray with "You do not have permission to create contracts on this project." |
| Open Contract changes | Contract changes (Промени по договор) View |
| Open Reports | Reports (Отчети) View |
These permissions are not in the Free plan. See Permission reference and Subscription, plans and billing.
Common questions
Where do I find a contract after it was signed?
As the client: Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители). As the contractor: Contract with client (Договор с възложител).
Why can't I edit the signed contract?
A signed contract is locked so both companies keep the same numbers. Make a change order instead. See Change orders and extensions.
I get "A signed contract's quantity list cannot be edited directly — change it through a change order." What does it mean?
You tried to change the BoQ of a signed contract. Open Contract changes and use Make a change (contractor) or Request update (client).
How do I see what the contract looked like before a change?
Open Contract changes, find the earlier version in Contract change history and click Review.
Why doesn't my self-contract appear under Contracts with contractors?
A self-contract is your own contract with your client. It is shown under Contract with client, never as a cost.
What is the "Change proposal" pill in the list?
A change proposal on that contract is waiting for an answer, usually yours. Click the pill to open it; if you are the side that must answer, accept or decline it there. See Change orders and extensions.