Using the Contractor Portal and Approval Links

Agency contractor and approval links let people act on one part of a repair without giving them access to the agency dashboard.

These links are credentials. Keep the complete URL private, send it only to the intended person and do not post it in a shared channel.

Landlord and agency boundary

Direct landlord

The contractor portal, contractor directory and quote approval links described here are not part of a direct landlord report. A direct landlord arranges contractors and approvals outside this agency workflow.

Agency staff

Owners and Admins configure the workflow and can manage every report. Members can manage contractor and quote actions within their branch access. Viewers can read accessible contractor and quote history but cannot submit changes.

The external contractor or approver is not made an agency Member or Viewer. Their link gives only the access described below.

A contractor's one-job link

When the agency chooses Appoint and notify, Lettie creates a tokenised link for that assignment. The link itself is the credential; there is no separate sign-in on the job page.

It normally lasts 14 days and opens one job only. It stops working sooner when:

  • the assignment is completed, cancelled, expired or declined;
  • the report is resolved or closed;
  • the property is archived;
  • the contractor is retired or their directory phone number changes;
  • the agency chooses Resend link, which mints a fresh job link and revokes the old one.

Only a hash of the token is stored in the database. This protects a token from being recovered from the stored session record, but it does not make a forwarded full URL safe. Anyone holding the full live URL may be able to open that job.

What the contractor sees

The job page shows the report reference, title and property address. What the tenant reported can include:

  • the summary and urgency;
  • a limited set of tenant photographs and opening conversation messages;
  • Getting in access notes held for the property;
  • View the conversation for the tenant and Lettie messages included in the job briefing.

The contractor does not receive the landlord or agency dashboard, team work notes, Private notes, unrelated reports or the tenant's portal session. The page also does not expose the tenant's phone number. Staff should still check access notes and report content before appointment because those selected job details are deliberately shared with the contractor.

Contractor choices

On a new job, choose one of:

  • I can quote from this information — no visit is needed; send the figures now.
  • I need to look at it first — offer times to attend, then quote afterwards.
  • I can just do the work — offer times for the work.

For a visit, use When can you come and look?. For the work, use When can you do the work?. Enter the date, start and end time, use Add another time for up to 10 choices, then select Send these times.

The result explains what happens next:

  • Sent. The tenant will pick one and we'll let you know. when the times were released;
  • Saved. The agency checks the times first... when an agency release is required;
  • Saved. We'll offer these to the tenant as soon as the quote is approved. when work times are held for approval.

Held times are the contractor's availability, not a tenant booking. Only a selected time is an appointment.

Send a quote

Choose Send quote and either:

  • attach a PDF, JPEG, PNG or HEIC; or
  • choose Type the figures instead, enter Total including VAT and, if useful, What is included.

An uploaded document may be read to suggest the total and scope. This is not verification. The contractor should make the source clear and the agency must open the quote and check the recorded figure before relying on it.

After submission, the page says Quote sent. We'll come back to you once it has been reviewed. Depending on the agency's bands, the quote may be checked, routed for approval or approved automatically. A contractor can offer work availability while approval is pending, but those times remain held until approval finishes.

Decline or stop attending

Use I can't take this job, I can't take this job any more or I can no longer attend this visit, depending on the current stage.

Choose Too busy, Not my trade, Too far away or Other. An Other reason can be entered under Tell us why. Choose Confirm.

The report records the decline and reason straight away, changes the next step back to the agency and adds an internal workflow note. If the contractor declines a booked visit, Lettie also tries to add a tenant-visible update explaining that the agency will arrange somebody else; the decline still stands if that courtesy message cannot be sent. Declining ends that contractor's live job link and prevents further submissions against the closed assignment.

Sign in to all contractor jobs

A contractor can use the agency's Copy jobs link, or open See all your jobs and sign in.

  1. On Sign in to your jobs, enter the phone number the agency has on file.
  2. Choose Send verification code.
  3. Enter the 6-digit code and choose Verify & sign in.
  4. If the number belongs to contractor records at more than one agency, use Choose your agency. Each agency shows only its own jobs.

The jobs-hub link lasts 30 days. Needs your attention can show Waiting for your availability, Waiting for the tenant to pick a time, Booked in, Quote with the agency or Approved, needs a work date. Finished can show Completed, Cancelled, Expired or Declined.

The hub is scoped to the contractor and agency in its token. Archived properties are removed from both live and finished lists. Retiring the contractor or changing their phone revokes live hub and job links.

The landlord approval link

When an approval band reaches a landlord stage, the intended approver may receive a link headed A quote needs your approval. It can show:

  • the report reference and Property;
  • Contractor and Work quoted for;
  • Total;
  • Open the quote document when a source file is available.

The approver should open the quote document and check the scope and total before deciding.

Choose Approve to record approval. Choose Reject, enter Why are you rejecting this?, then choose Confirm rejection. A rejection reason is required so the agency knows what to do next.

An approval link is one-use and includes a secret nonce tied to that specific approval. It does not ask the person to sign in, so possession of the complete URL is what authorises the decision. Do not forward it. If it was sent to the wrong person or exposed, ask the agency to let the request expire or replace it and send a fresh request through the appropriate workflow.

The link stops accepting a decision when it has already been decided, its deadline has passed, the report is resolved or closed, or the property is archived. An expired page sends the matter back to the agency rather than silently approving anything.

Agency recording an off-channel decision

If the landlord answered outside the link, agency staff can use Record landlord approval or Record landlord rejection on the report. This records that response in the workflow.

Approve without the landlord is different: it is an agency override and the audit note identifies the agency as standing in for the landlord stage. It should only be used by somebody with the authority to make that financial decision.

Completion and closed access

After a booking, the contractor sees Booked in to take a look or Booked in to do the work. When the agency chooses Mark completed, the assignment is closed and its one-job link is revoked. The completed job can remain in the jobs hub's Finished history while the hub is valid.

Completing the assignment does not automatically mark the maintenance report resolved. Agency staff should check the work, add the correct note and then use Mark resolved when the reported issue is complete.

For agency setup, thresholds and dashboard actions, see Contractors, quotes and approvals.

Last Edited: August 10, 2026