Client portal
They see the job going up, instead of texting you to ask.
Each job gets a private page for the client: progress, photos, the schedule, documents, choices to make, messages, change orders to sign and invoices. They get in with their email address. There is no password, and no app to install.
How the client gets in
A portal is set up for the job automatically when a client signs a proposal online, or from the job’s Portal tab in a click. Send the invitation from Ridgepole and the client gets an email from your company name, and their replies come to you.
At the portal they type their email address and get a sign-in link. The link works once and expires in an hour, and after that they stay signed in on that device for 30 days. Only the email address on the job can sign in, so a forwarded email does not let anyone else in.
What they see is your call
Four switches on the Portal tab decide what the client sees, and each one holds on every page of the portal, not only the first.
- Budget summary: the original contract, approved changes and the revised contract, all before tax
- Schedule: milestones, the estimated finish, and a flag when the job is running past it
- Photos: only the ones you mark as visible to the client
- Documents: only the ones you share, downloaded through a link that expires in minutes
What they can do
Whatever the switches say, the client always sees what is waiting on them, and can act on it from the same page.
- Choose between the finishes and fixtures you offer, and see what each adds
- Message you, in one thread kept with the job, not buried in texts
- Open and sign a change order waiting for their signature
- Download each invoice as a PDF, and pay it online if you take online payments
What they never see
Your cost, markup and margin, what you pay your sub-trades, and your internal notes are never sent to the portal. That is enforced by an allowlist of what the portal may carry and by tests that fail if anything else gets through, not by hiding it on screen.
Your name on it
The portal carries your logo and your brand colour. When a job is archived its portal closes at once, including for a client who was already signed in, and you can switch any portal off from its tab.
Built for how it works in Canada
Signed extras, not remembered ones
In Ontario, payment under the contract, including for change orders, was the subject of 72 of 143 adjudications in the year to 31 July 2025 (ODACC 2025 annual report). A change order the client signed in their portal is the record that settles it.
Paper clients are respected
Mark a job as paper and Ridgepole asks before emailing the client anything, including the portal invitation.
Pay by card or bank debit
If you take online payments, the client pays an invoice from the portal by card, or by Canadian pre-authorized debit from their bank account where you have that turned on.
Questions builders ask
Does the client need to download an app or remember a password?
No. It is a web page that works in any phone or computer browser. They sign in with a link sent to their email.
Will the client see what I paid for things?
No. The budget summary shows the contract, approved changes and the revised contract, before tax. Cost, markup, margin and sub-trade amounts never reach the portal.
Do all my site photos go to the client?
No. Only photos you mark as visible to the client appear, and only if the photos switch is on for that job.
Is the portal on every plan?
Yes. Starter, Growth and Enterprise all include the client portal, at no extra cost per client.
What happens to the portal when the job is done?
It stays open until you archive the job or switch the portal off. Either one closes it straight away, even for a client who is already signed in.
The rules behind it
Works with
- SelectionsTile, fixtures and finishes offered, chosen and approved in writing, with a due date on each.
- Change ordersLog the go-ahead, price the extra, send it for a signature. The contract sum moves when the client signs.
- Online paymentsClients pay by card or Canadian pre-authorized debit from the invoice link, into your own Stripe account.
- Daily logsThe day on site, written from a phone, with or without signal.
- ScheduleMilestones and tasks on every job, and every job on one screen.
- DocumentsDrawings, permits and contracts in folders on the job, with every version kept.
See it on your next job.
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