Get Started With Fieldwire

Set up your first project

Five easy steps to set up your Fieldwire projects

It's easy to get started with Fieldwire. To create your first project, just follow the five steps on this page to sign up for an account, create your project, upload plans, create categories, and invite your team.

Want more? We also have a simple guide to Fieldwire on Mobile and one for core uses of Fieldwire.

Still haven't found what you're looking for? Search our Help Center or email Support.

Step 1: Sign up

Sign up for free on the Fieldwire homepage. Once your Fieldwire account is created, you can also download our iOS or Android app on your mobile device.

If you have received a project invite, just open the email and follow the link to create an account.

Step 2: Create your project

Create new projects by clicking on the + New Project button on the Project Dashboard.

Cloning an existing project

You can copy the settings and set-up from an existing project by choosing to “Clone Existing Project”.

Using a company Template Project

If you will be creating new projects on a regular basis, consider setting up a Template Project which can be cloned every time you create a new project.

This allows you to standardize your company's projects and will save time on project set-up.

Step 3. Upload your plans

To add your plans to Fieldwire press "+ New Plan" in the Plans tab. There are a couple of options for uploading plans:

Upload from your computer: either as single sheets or as a multipage document.

2-way sync with Box / Dropbox: a premium feature, available to Fieldwire Business and Enterprise customers. Check out this tutorial video for a quick overview of the 2-way sync.

Important note: Naming plans

It is important to check that your drawing sheets have been named correctly for a number of reasons:

  • Callout hyperlinks: Fieldwire will automatically activate all section, detail, and elevation callouts, so that you can jump between drawings very quickly.

  • Version control: New versions of sheets are automatically detected by Fieldwire and slip sheeted on top of previous versions.

  • Searching for plans: You can easily search for plans by the sheet number and description.

How do I fix incorrect sheet names?

If Fieldwire has incorrectly named your drawings, you can scan the title blocks (in bulk) by using the Scan Name/Description function within the "Actions" menu. This allows you to rename your sheets in bulk, without any manual data entry.

Step 4. Create categories

Categories are an important way to manage Fieldwire tasks, and are used to filter information when you:

  • Generate reports.
  • Filter tasks displayed on your plans.
  • Manage tasks on the task dashboard, calendar view, or Gantt view.
  • Monitor progress on the Graphs page.

Tip: Categories can be copied from an existing project by using Fieldwire's "Clone" function.


Want to learn more about how to create tasks, including punch lists, inspections, and QA/QC? Check out our guide about Core Uses of Fieldwire.

Step 5. Invite your team

Within the "People" tab, select "+ Invite new members", and enter the email addresses of the people you'd like to invite. When adding people to your project, take care to designate the appropriate permission level:

  • Admin: Anyone who will set up projects (i.e. upload plans, invite people, create categories), or verify tasks. Note that Admins can delete plans and tasks, so we strongly recommend the list of Admins is kept as limited as possible.

  • Member: The bulk of the team. Members can view and mark up plans, create and complete tasks, and see the entire project. However, they cannot verify tasks or delete/edit other people's work.

  • Follower: Many Fieldwire customers choose to designate the "Follower" status to clients or speciality subs, since a Follower can only see tasks that have been assigned to them (or were assigned at some stage). Followers can view all documents, but cannot mark up plans.

Refer to "User count and billing questions" for more information about managing your team.

Congratulations, your project is now ready to go!

Want to learn more about how to create tasks, including punch lists, inspections, and QA/QC and how to markup your plans? Check out our guide about Core Uses of Fieldwire.

In the following section, we will outline the advanced project set-up options.

Complete your project set-up

Managing plans

  • A folder structure can be set up in your Plans tab to organize and sort your plans. Folder names are customizable, and we typically advise that folders are set up for different disciplines, e.g. Structural, Civil, Architectural, etc.

  • Scale your plans in bulk, using the “Actions” tab.

  • Plan tags can be used to manage your plans and allow you to search them very quickly.

Tip: The folder structure can be copied over from an existing project by using the “Clone” function.

Tip: Number your folders to match your index sheet.


Add files

  • Fieldwire supports a range of file types (such as PDFs, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, images, etc), which can be uploaded using the “Files” tab.

  • A folder structurecan be set up in your Files tab for different types of documents, e.g. specifications, RFI’s, cut sheets, design reports, etc.

  • Files are limited to 25MB per file.

Tip: The folder structure can be copied over from an existing project by using the “Clone” function.


Streamline tasks

  • Checklists can be inserted into tasks, and can be managed in the “Settings” page.

  • Locations are used to filter tasks in both the task dashboard, and when generating reports. These can also be managed in the “Settings” page.

Tip: Location and checklists can be copied over from an existing project by using the “Clone” function.


Additional settings

  • Project information should be inputted for all projects, including address, time zone, and currency. This lets you customize your project to match your local standards.

  • Archive tasks allows you to customize the timeframe after which tasks will be archived. Note that only "verified" tasks are archived, and can be displayed on your dashboard view if you need to refer back to them. If you have lots of tasks, this prevents verified tasks from cluttering your plans and dashboard view.

  • Mobile storage allows you to customize how many versions of a single plan are stored on mobile. This let you set how much space Fieldwire uses on your mobile devices.

  • Your company logo will be used to customize PDF reports generated within Fieldwire. This lets your PDF reports reflect your brand so that you can directly give them to another contractor or your client.

  • Project notifications refer to email notifications that are sent to the project team. Options include:

    1. Enable "email notifications whenever a task is created or updated". The frequency of your email notifications can be managed within your individual Profile Settings. Here you can choose to receive email notifications "instantly, "daily", or "never".

    2. Enable "plan update" notifications. This will send a daily email to the team when plans are updated with new versions, markups or attachments.

  • Templates can also be managed in the Settings by Project Admins. Templates are a great way of standardizing your checklists, reports, and locations.

Tip: Checklist templates, reports and locations can be copied over from an existing project by using the “Clone” function.


User permissions set up

  • If you'd like someone to create new projects under your company's account, you should add them to your account as an Account User. Note that anyone added to these projects will add to your user count.

  • If you'd like a member of a team to be able to see every single project under your account (whether they've been invited to that project or not), you can add them to your account as an Account Manager.

User count and billing questions

Below are some frequently asked questions about inviting people to projects.

Who am I paying for?

All people invited to your projects will count towards your user count, unless they have their own (paid) Fieldwire account.

Can I add people who don't yet have a Fieldwire account?

Yes, you can! If you add people to your project who don't have a Fieldwire account, they will receive an email invitation with instructions to sign up.

How do I bulk add people?

If you have a list of email addresses in excel or in an email, try coping and pasting the entire list into the "Email address" field to add them in bulk.

What are Account Users, Account Managers, and Account Owners?

So far, we have discussed the permission levels within a project. Fieldwire also has Account Permission levels, allowing you to manage who can view and create projects under your account.

Do I need to pay for a license for every single person on my project?

If you would like people to download the app, mark up plans, create tasks, and communicate in real time, they will require a Fieldwire license. However you can distribute your project information to any non-Fieldwire users by:

  • Exporting plans as PDF files, which will include all markups and live links to attachments (files and photos).

  • Generating reports in PDF, which will contain a timestamped, formalized history of the project tasks. Within the reports, you can include all task information (photos, checklists, crop plans, communication, etc.), allowing you to accurately document inspections or general progress.

Now that your project is ready to go

let's learn about core uses of Fieldwire

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