Document Management & Release Control

Registers new documents in IFS Document Management by capturing title-level metadata (document class, number, revision, title, responsible person) and classifying them so they can be located, controlled and connected to business objects. Registration creates the document title and its initial revision in Preliminary status.

Routes document revisions through a sequenced (optionally parallel) electronic approval process using approval templates, and optionally applies digital signatures/certificates so all required approvers electronically sign before a document can be released. Steps must be approved in sequence and cannot be altered once approved.

Governs the document revision status lifecycle (Preliminary, Approval In Progress, Approved, Released, Obsolete, Expired) with rule-based status transitions, ensuring release only occurs when predefined title requirements are met, and manages creation of new revisions and obsoletion of superseded revisions.

Connects document revisions to business objects (folders, work orders, engineering parts, projects, invoices) so documentation can be located from the object and vice versa, and controls how connections track revisions via Update Revision type (Fixed, Latest Revision, Latest Released Revision) and lock status. Connections can also drive object-controlled document access.

Manages secure electronic storage and retrieval of document files through EDM (check-in/check-out, view, edit, print) and controls who can access each revision via access templates, access levels (View/Edit/Admin), object-controlled access, restricted access and person/group/object priority rules.

Distributes copies of documents to internal and external recipients using the Document Distribution Assistant (subscriptions, e-mail or hardcopy) and tracks receipt/read/approval status via Distribution History and My Incoming Documents, and formally controls document exchange with external parties through transmittals.

Maintains the record of what was actually built and, on higher-risk buildings, the golden thread of building safety information that must be kept digitally and handed on. In IFS Cloud this runs on IFS Document Management - revision control, approval routing and object connection - with as-built documents linked to the Project and to the physical assets they describe. The output feeds commissioning and handover (E3.C65) and the operational asset record, and must be transferable to the accountable person in a format they confirm they can use.

IFS Cloud Document Management provides a genuine and well-documented access model - View/Edit/Admin levels per document revision, access templates per document class, person and person-group access with person access taking priority (and therefore usable as an explicit deny), Restricted Access to hide a document from anyone without at least view access, and object-controlled access inherited from Projects, Work Orders, Quotations, Invoices, HR and CRM objects. That model can be configured to support ITAR/EAR technical-data controls, but IFS supplies no export-control logic inside Document Management: there is no citizenship or nationality attribute, no deemed-export test, no automatic distribution-statement or classification marking, and no watermarking or digital-rights enforcement on files once downloaded. IFS separately sells IFS Unified Support for ITAR, which is a support and hosting service with US-person staffing on Azure Government, not a product feature.

The single controlled release point for statutory compliance evidence: it assembles, approves, versions, issues and publishes gas safety records, F-gas leak-check records, legionella logbooks and results, fire damper inspection reports and LOLER thorough examination reports to the client, occupier or dutyholder, and evidences that issue happened inside any statutory window. It also applies per-regime retention and protects records from unauthorised alteration so a written copy can be produced on request. Issue windows and retention periods are jurisdiction-specific and configured per regime.

Controls the lifecycle of the service procedures, work instructions and reference measurements that engineers use on marketed devices, so the revision in an engineer's hand is always the approved one. IFS Cloud Document Management holds the controlled revision and its attachment to work task templates and objects; approval routing, obsolete-copy withdrawal and training assignment are enforced as part of release. The driver is usually a CAPA action, a design change or a regulatory update.