Work with an external company

Give a supplier enough context, keep internal work separate, and preserve its deliverables when the relationship ends.

Scenario: lift maintenance

A building manager works with a maintenance company that needs to review earlier work, record visits, and submit reports without seeing the community's internal notes.

The collaboration should end without losing reports that already form part of the lift's history.

1. Grant access in the right context

Invite the company or necessary people to the Place with the minimum capability they need. Do not share credentials or use a generic Account across organizations.

State which Place, period, and responsibility the access covers.

2. Separate internal coordination from shared information

Internal evaluations, quote comparisons, and negotiation notes can remain restricted to your Account. Visits and reports still live with the Place under the right audience.

This avoids copying files when the time comes to share them.

3. Publish deliverables with context

Each report should identify the event date, author or signatory, originating team, and the asset it concerns.

Sharing widens who can see it; acceptance into durable memory prevents unilateral removal later.

4. Close access when the engagement ends

End roles and access with a date rather than deleting the relationship. First review pending deliverables and information still visible only to the company.

Do not retain indefinite access just in case.

5. Preserve history without preserving privileges

Removing access does not remove authorship, comments, versions, or Place reports. The company stops acting there while the history remains understandable.

Each Account's private directory notes remain separate.