For remodeling contractors
The scope changed Tuesday.The plan on the wall didn't.
New construction has an empty lot and one set of plans. A remodel has a family living around the work, a scope that shifts every time a wall opens up something unexpected, and a rotation of subs who each spend one or two days in a house they've never seen before and won't see again.
- Permits: Building & electrical permit
- Approved plans: Approved plan — rev. 3
- Engineering: Beam calc — header at load wall
- Approved plans: Change order — moved bath vent
- Inspections: Framing inspection — passed
↑ What one scan puts in a phone. Example content — your job page shows your files.
A job site that's also someone's kitchen
Why remodels are differentA remodel's paperwork problem isn't volume, and it usually isn't complexity either — it's that the job is live inside a house someone is still cooking dinner in, and the plan on file at the start is rarely the plan by the end. A wall opens up old wiring nobody permitted, a homeowner decides mid-job to move a vent or widen a doorway, and now there's a revised sheet that has to reach a framer who was handed the original one two weeks ago.
Layer onto that the sub rotation: framer, electrician, plumber, insulation, drywall, tile — each one on site for a day or two, each one meeting the homeowner for the first time, and each one needing to know not just what the plan says but which version is current. A permit box works when it sits untouched in a garage for months. It works badly when the document inside it needs to change three times before drywall goes up.
A QR placard by the front door — or wherever the posted permit already sits — gives every sub and every inspector the plan as it stands today, and gives the homeowner a straight answer to 'is this what we agreed to' without a text to the office.
Where the paper falls behind the job
Four failure modesThe framer has last week's sheet
A load-bearing wall comes down and the engineer's beam calc arrives Thursday. The framer started Monday from the drawing that didn't have it yet, and nobody told him it changed.
The homeowner asks and nobody has an answer
"Is the vent supposed to be there?" is a question every remodel gets, usually from someone standing in the kitchen while a plumber is mid-cut. The office is the only one who knows, and the office is not standing in the kitchen.
A sub who's never been here before shows up
The tile sub arrives for a day and a half, has no history with the job, and needs the current plan and permit number fast — not a call to a project manager juggling four other houses.
The change order exists, but not where anyone can see it
A scope change gets agreed by text or over the phone and never makes it onto a document anyone on site can find. Six weeks later nobody can say whether it was ever approved, or by whom.
One plan, four revisions, five weeks
A representative revision logThis is the part of a remodel that a static permit box can't keep up with: the plan on file changes while the job is in progress, not before it starts. Each row below replaced the one above it — and on the actual job page, only the current revision is ever the one a sub or an inspector sees.
| Revision | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Rev. 1 | Mar 3 | Original approved plan — kitchen reconfig, no structural work |
| Rev. 2 | Mar 19 | Load-bearing wall removed; beam calc added after demo exposed it |
| Rev. 3 | Mar 27 | Bathroom vent relocated at homeowner's request |
| Rev. 4current | Apr 8 | Outlet layout updated to match final cabinet order |
The drywall crew arriving after Rev. 4 doesn't need to know the history — they need the current sheet. The placard shows them that one, while the log itself stays available if anyone ever needs to answer for what changed and when.
What a remodel placard carries
What actually changes hands- P — PermitsPermits, as issued
- Building, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical permits, whichever apply. Many jurisdictions still require the physical permit card posted and visible at the site — keep doing that; the placard is what everyone actually reads.
- A — Approved plansApproved plan, current revision
- The plan as approved, and every revision after it. Upload the new sheet when the scope moves and hide the old one — the framer on site Thursday sees the version with the beam calc, not the one from Monday.
- A — Approved plansChange orders
- Whatever documents the agreed change — a signed change order, an email, a marked-up sheet. Putting it on the page the homeowner can also read turns "I thought we agreed" into something everyone can check.
- E — EngineeringEngineering and structural letters
- Beam calcs, header sizing, and any structural letter triggered by an opened-up wall. This is the document most likely to arrive after the crew that needs it has already started.
- I — InspectionsInspection results
- Framing, electrical and plumbing rough, insulation, and final. The next sub through the door can see what's already passed instead of guessing whether it's safe to close up a wall.
How it fits a remodel
Three steps- 01
Create the job at permit issue
Permit, approved plan, and any known structural letters go up before the first sub arrives — usually the same day the permit comes through.
- 02
Placard goes up at the door
Post it where the permit is already displayed, or somewhere every arriving sub will see it. One sheet, sleeved, there for the length of the job.
- 03
Update it the day the scope moves
New revision, new change order, new inspection result — upload it as it happens, so the sub arriving tomorrow isn't working from what was true last week.
General notes
This does not replace a required physical posting
Many jurisdictions require the permit card itself to be physically posted and visible for the duration of the work, and some expect a printed set on site during inspection. Keep doing that. DryPlans replaces the folder of plan revisions and change orders that has to stay current underneath it — requirements and expectations vary by jurisdiction, so confirm what yours expects with your building department.
Remodeling questions
Straight answers- Our scope changes almost every week. Is this worth setting up for a short job?
- The more the scope moves, the more this earns its keep — the setup is one-time, at permit issue, and every revision after that is a two-minute upload instead of a round of calls to whoever's on site. If a job genuinely won't change after the first sheet, a page still helps subs and the homeowner find the current plan without asking.
- Can the homeowner see the plan and change orders too?
- Anyone who scans the placard sees the page — homeowners typically do, and for a remodel that's usually a good thing, since it turns "is this what we agreed to" into something they can check themselves. Anything you'd rather they not see, like pricing, has its own visibility toggle and stays hidden.
- A sub is only on site for a day. Do they need an account?
- No login, for anyone. They scan the code by the door and read the current plan and permit number on their phone — the same page whether they're a two-day tile sub or the framer who's been on the job since week one.
- How do we show a change was actually approved?
- Upload whatever you use to document it — a signed change order, an approval email, a marked-up sheet — as its own document on the page. It's not a legal record on its own, but it puts the agreement somewhere every sub and the homeowner can both see it, dated.
Other trades
Same placard, different paperworkPost it by the door.Update it the day the scope moves.
First job site is free and stays free. Put a placard on the next remodel and see how many "is this what we agreed to" calls it takes off your week.