Materials — Overview
Keep one numbered register of the materials approved for your project — the manufacturer, the brand and the suppliers everyone on site is meant to use.
Every project runs on a short list of materials that have actually been signed off — the grade of concrete, the brand of rebar, the supplier the client accepted. Approved Materials is that list: numbered, kept in one place, and readable by everyone on the project.
The Three Screens
| Screen | Where | What It's For |
|---|---|---|
| Approved Materials | Sidebar → Approved Materials | The register. Read-only, open to everyone on the project. |
| Approved Materials (Admin) | Sidebar → Admin → Approved Materials | Where an approval is created and removed. |
| Materials Catalog | Sidebar → Admin → Materials Catalog | Browse your organisation's material library. |
Where the Materials Come From
Your organisation is set up with a material catalogue — 555 items across 13 CSI MasterFormat divisions plus a general-consumables group, from Concrete (03) through Utilities (33), with cement, safety gear and fuels under General & Consumables (00). You don't build that library; you approve from it.
Approving takes a catalogue item and pins the project-specific facts to it: which manufacturer, which brand, and which of your vendors may supply it. That produces a record with a submittal number — MS-001, MS-002, and so on.
Approved means approved
Creating the record is the approval. Nothing in the app submits a material for review, queues it for a reviewer or rejects it, which is why the Pending tab under Admin stays empty. An approval exists on the project, or it has been removed.
What an Approval Records
| Field | Required | Where It Comes From |
|---|---|---|
| Material, spec, unit, CSI code | — | Copied from the catalogue item you pick |
| Manufacturer | Yes | You type it — e.g. UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, JSW |
| Brand / Trade Name | No | You type it — e.g. Tiscon, UltraCrete |
| Approved Supplier(s) | No | Picked from the project's vendors |
| Remarks | No | Free text, up to 1,000 characters |
From Approval to Stock
An approval is the gate into Resources. Nothing can be stocked, delivered or consumed on the project until it has been approved here first.
Naming suppliers on the approval pays off downstream: when you record a delivery for that material, the vendor list is narrowed to the suppliers you approved.
Accessing Materials
- Approved Materials in the sidebar opens the register — every role on the project can read it
- Admin → Approved Materials is where approvals are created and removed
- Admin → Materials Catalog is where you browse the library
The Admin screens are desk work
Both Admin screens are hidden at phone width and need full material permissions. If they aren't in your sidebar, ask an organisation owner.
Next Steps
New to this? Start with the Getting Started guide for the catalogue-to-inventory round trip. Then:
- The Approved Materials register — the columns, the filters, and what each screen shows
- Approving a material — the Add dialog, field by field
- Removing an approval — what it takes with it, and what it leaves behind
- The materials catalogue — divisions, subcategories and search
Questions
Who can approve or remove a material?
People whose role has full access to materials. Out of the box that's the project's owner. The two Admin screens don't appear in anyone else's sidebar. Roles are set in Members & Roles.
Does anyone get notified when a material is approved or removed?
No. Approving or removing a material doesn't send anything. Your team sees the change the next time they open Approved Materials.
Can I work on materials from my phone?
You can read the register. In your phone's browser it shows as stacked cards. Approving and removing happen under Admin, which isn't shown at phone width, so do those on a computer.
Not a user yet? The Material Submittals feature page shows the module in context, and where to book a demo.