Setting up Buildscout takes a few minutes: you make your account, tell us about your business, invite the people you work with and choose a plan. Then Buildscout opens on the part of the app your plan is for.
Go to the sign-up page. Click Continue with Google, or type your address into Work email.
Tick I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Click Create account.
With your work email, we send you an email to confirm it's you. Open it and click Verify email address. You come back to sign-up on the next step.
If you carried on with Google, there's no email to confirm.
Fill in First name, Last name and Company name.
Add your Phone number, so we can reach you.
Choose a password under Create a password. It needs at least 8 characters. If you signed up with Google, you aren't asked for one.
Type your Office postcode and pick it from the list. It centres your map, your search area and your letters.
Check the Timezone. It's picked up from your browser, and your site times and reminders use it.
Under How many people work with you?, pick Just me, 2–5, 6–20 or 20+.
Click Continue.
On a computer, once you've added your postcode, the right of the screen shows the real planning applications within 5 miles of your office from the last 90 days.
Office staff and site managers each get their own login, so everyone works from the same jobs.
Type their addresses into Their email addresses. Separate them with commas, or paste a list.
Click Send invite (or Send 3 invites, and so on).
Once every invite has gone, you move on to the next step by yourself.
They join as members, and you can make anyone an admin later in Settings → Members. Rather do it later? Click Skip for now. "How to invite your team" explains inviting people any time.
Anything that isn't an email address turns red: remove it to carry on. If someone can't be invited, their address turns red and the reason shows under the box, for example when they already belong to another Buildscout account. Click Continue to move on without them.
Every plan runs your projects, with unlimited subcontractors.
Choose Monthly or Yearly at the top. Yearly shows how many months you get free.
On the plan you want, click Try free for 14 days.
Under Your card, add the card the plan is paid with.
Click Start free trial.
Nothing is taken from your card today. We email you 3 days before your trial ends, and if you cancel before then you won't pay. Some plans are set up with you by our team: they show Contact us instead of a price, and clicking it gets our team in touch.
Buildscout opens on the part of the app your plan is for: Planning data for planning applications, Letter campaigns for letters to homeowners, or Projects. After that, signing in takes you to Letter campaigns if your plan has it, then Planning data, then Projects.
The sidebar takes you everywhere: Letter campaigns, Sending today, Saved leads, Planning data, Projects, Portfolio and Team. You only see the parts your plan includes.
The top of the page shows the team you're working in. Next to it are help, the bell for your notifications, and the menu under your initial, with Settings, Billing (for the people who look after billing) and Logout.
Getting started, on the right, walks you through your first steps one at a time. Click Show me to be taken to the next step, or Skip this step. You can tuck it away, and it's all still there when you want it.
Give it a minute or two, then check your spam folder. On the Check your inbox screen, click Send it again for a new email. The link in it works for 12 hours. If it says This verification link is invalid or has expired, start again on the sign-up page with the same email and we'll send a new one.
"An account with this email already exists. Please log in instead." means someone has already finished signing up with that email address. Log in instead, or use Forgot password? on the login page if you don't know the password.
There's no free plan, so every team chooses a plan before its workspace opens. The card starts the trial, and nothing is taken from it until the trial ends. Each billing account gets one free trial.
