Contacts are the people connected to a property or inspection, such as tenants, landlords, agents, witnesses, or contractors.
Inventory Base lets you store Contacts against a property for future use and add separate copies of those Contacts to individual inspections. You can then use them for notifications, report delivery, signatures, and other inspection communication.
Looking for another People & Contacts guide?
This guide is part of our People & Contacts collection. You may also find these helpful:
Importing Property Contacts Via CSV [Coming Soon]
Before You Start
Contacts can currently be added and edited from the Inventory Base web dashboard.
All account users can manage Contacts except users with the Typist role.
Some Contact options, such as Reference, may need to be enabled on your account.
If you cannot see an option shown in this guide, contact our Support team or your Account Manager.
🔽 Some sections are collapsed to make this guide easier to scan. Select any heading with an arrow to expand the instructions.
Contacts And Clients
Contacts and Clients serve different purposes in Inventory Base.
Contacts | |
People connected to a property or inspection, such as tenants, landlords, agents, or contractors. | Businesses or stakeholders you manage properties and inspections for. |
Can receive inspection notifications, reports, SMS messages, or signing requests. | Can have wider access to manage inspections and reports through the Client Portal, where enabled. |
Can be stored against a property or added to a specific inspection. | Are managed at account level and assigned to properties and inspections. |
Property Contacts And Inspection Contacts
Property Contacts and inspection Contacts are stored separately.
Property Contact | Inspection Contact |
Stored against a property for future use. | Linked to one specific inspection. |
Can be added before an inspection exists. | Created when an inspection is added or when a property Contact is imported. |
Can be copied into one or more inspections. | Can receive notifications, reports, signing requests, and SMS messages. |
Changes do not update existing inspection Contacts. | Changes do not update the original property Contact. |
ℹ️ Important
When a property Contact is added to an inspection, Inventory Base creates a separate inspection Contact.
This means:
Editing the inspection Contact does not change the property Contact.
Editing the property Contact does not update Contacts already added to inspections.
Removing a Contact from an inspection does not remove them from the property.
Add A Contact To A Property
Go to Properties.
Open the relevant property.
Stay on the property’s Info page.
Find the Contacts section.
Select the pencil icon to manage the property’s Contacts.
Enter the Contact’s details.
Select Save.
ℹ️ Property Contacts can be added before any inspections have been created for the property.
Add Contacts While Creating An Inspection
When you create an inspection, the property’s existing Contacts are displayed in the Contacts section of the Add New Inspection page.
You can review the Contacts and add any additional Contact details needed for that inspection.
ℹ️ When the inspection is created, the selected Contacts become separate inspection Contacts.
Add Or Edit Contacts On An Existing Inspection
Go to Inspections.
Open the relevant inspection.
Go to the inspection’s Info page.
Find the Contacts section.
Select Manage or the pencil icon.
Add or edit the Contact details.
Select Save.
ℹ️ The Import from Property option is available after the inspection has been created.
Import Contacts From The Property
Use Import from Property when you need to add the property’s Contacts to an existing inspection.
Open the inspection’s Info page.
Select Manage next to Contacts.
Select Import from Property.
Review the imported Contacts.
Select Save.
ℹ️ Notes
The imported Contacts are copied into the inspection as separate Contacts.
Any later changes made to the property Contact will not update the inspection Contact automatically.
Retain Contact Preferences
Property Contacts are copied into new inspections regardless of whether Retain Contact Preferences is enabled.
This setting only controls whether the Contact’s existing signing and communication options are copied.
Setting | What Happens |
On | The Contact’s existing Signee, Notify, SMS, and Deliver selections are copied into the new inspection. |
Off | The Contact is still copied, but all signing and communication options start unticked. |
For example, if a property Contact has Signee and Notify selected:
With Retain Contact Preferences turned on, both options will be selected on the new inspection Contact.
With the setting turned off, neither option will be selected.
ℹ️ For more information about configuring this setting, see Contact Settings, Preferences And Data Management.
Contact Fields
When adding or editing a Contact, complete the relevant fields.
Field | What It Is Used For |
Name | The Contact’s full name. |
Type | Their role, such as Tenant, Landlord, Agent, or Contractor. |
Used for email notifications, report delivery, and remote signing. | |
Phone | Used for SMS notifications and direct Contact SMS messages, where available. |
Reference | An internal Contact, tenant, or customer reference used to identify and search for the Contact. |
Signee | Will pre-fill this contact in the Declaration & Signatures section of your report, allowing them to electronically sign against their name. |
Notify | Automatically send an appointment date confirmation, and notify when appointments are rescheduled. |
SMS | Send a reminder SMS text before the conduct date. |
Deliver | Send a copy if the final report once it is marked Complete. |
ℹ️ Notes
We recommend entering the Contact’s full name and checking that their email address and phone number are correct.
The additional options Signee, Notify, SMS, and Deliver control how the Contact communicates with the inspection.
See Contact Notifications, Report Delivery And Signatures for a full explanation of these options.
Add A Contact Reference
The Reference field is available for all Contact Types.
Common examples include:
Tenant references
Customer account numbers
Internal property-management references
External system identifiers
ℹ️ Notes
A Reference entered against a property Contact is copied across when that Contact is added to an inspection.
The Reference is for identification and searching. It does not replace the Contact’s name or email address.
Search For An Inspection By Contact
You can search for properties and/or inspections using a Contact’s:
Name
Email address
Reference
The search supports partial information, so you do not need to enter the full value.
Go to Inspections or Properties.
Select the Contact filter.
Enter part or all of the Contact’s name, email address, or Reference.
Review the matching inspections.
ℹ️ The Contact must be attached to the inspection for it to appear in the inspection search results.
What To Check If A Contact Is Missing
🔽 Select a heading below to expand the instructions.
The Contact Is On The Property But Not The Inspection
The Contact Is On The Property But Not The Inspection
Property and inspection Contacts are stored separately.
Open the inspection’s Contacts section and use Import from Property to add the Contact to the inspection.
Updated Details Are Not Showing On The Inspection
Updated Details Are Not Showing On The Inspection
Changes made to a property Contact do not update existing inspection Contacts.
Open the inspection Contact and update the details separately.
Signing Or Communication Options Are Unticked
Signing Or Communication Options Are Unticked
Check whether Retain Contact Preferences is enabled.
If it is turned off, property Contacts are copied into new inspections without their Signee, Notify, SMS, or Deliver options selected.
The Reference Field Is Not Visible
The Reference Field Is Not Visible
The Contact Reference option may need to be enabled on your account.
Contact our Support team or your Account Manager for assistance.
The Contact Search Does Not Return An Inspection
The Contact Search Does Not Return An Inspection
Check that:
The Contact has been added to the inspection.
The name, email address, or Reference has been entered correctly.
You have tried searching with part of the value.
The Reference was copied or added to the inspection Contact.
What To Do Next
Learn more about:
Importing Property Contacts Via CSV [Coming Soon]
Need Help?
If you cannot add, find, or update a Contact, contact our Support team through the chat icon in your Inventory Base account.
Please include:
The property address
The inspection address or Reference (URL)
The Contact’s name or email address
A screenshot / screen-recording of what you can see
A brief explanation of what you expected to happen