Signing in
1
Go to the dashboard
https://bfam-fulcrum.centralus.cloudapp.azure.com
2
Click "Sign in with your Microsoft account"
A Microsoft login popup will appear.
3
Use your BFAM email and password
Same credentials you use for Outlook and Teams — no new password needed.
4
You're in
Your name appears in the top right. You stay signed in until you click Sign out.
If the popup is blocked by your browser, look for a popup blocker icon in the address bar and click "Allow popups from this site."
Your daily workflow
Start each day on the Board — it shows everything that needs attention across all projects.
1
Open the Board
Click "Board" in the header. Filter by your name to see only your tasks.
2
Check for flagged tickets
Use the "Flagged only" toggle. These need attention first — open the ticket and add a note explaining what's needed.
3
Work through In Progress tickets
Click a card to open the ticket drawer right there. Update its status when it moves forward.
4
Add notes as you work
Log calls, emails, and decisions in the activity log. Date and your name are added automatically.
Every status change is logged automatically with your name and a timestamp. You don't need to document separately in Teams or email.
Click the Fulcrum logo in the top left of any page to jump straight back to the dashboard.
Checking permit status across all projects
The Permit dashboard (linked from the main dashboard) gives a one-screen view of where every project stands on its building permit and mural approval, without opening each project individually.
1
Open it from the dashboard
Look for the Permit dashboard link in the header.
2
Read the Building column
Progress bar showing how many of the Building Permit track's tickets (Due Diligence, Contractor Reg, Submittal, Plans) are Done.
3
Read the Mural approval column
Shows the actual submission state — Not submitted, Submitted, Under review, Approved, Rejected, or Expired — not a percentage.
4
Read the Construction column
Follows the project's schedule Gantt automatically: In progress once any task is started, Complete when every task is done, Critical if a task is Blocked. Not started if the project has no schedule yet.
5
Click Details
Jumps straight to that project's detail page to dig in or make updates.
6
Hide columns you don't use
Click the gear icon in the header and untick a track. It's the same "What you see" setting as the main dashboard, so it sticks everywhere. That only changes your own view — to actually take a track off a project (say, Electrical on a job that needs no electrical permit), open the project and click Remove on that track's header. That deletes its tickets and notes for everyone and can't be undone.
Updating construction progress
You don't set a project's Construction status by hand anymore — it follows the schedule Gantt. Mark tasks as you go and the dashboards, the permit dashboard, and the project page's Construction badge all update themselves.
1
Open the project's Construction Updates page
Project detail → "Open Construction Updates →", then the Schedule section.
2
Mark a task In progress or Complete
Click the task in the Gantt and change its status. The project's Construction status becomes In progress the moment any task is started or done.
3
Finish every task
When the last task is Complete, Construction flips to Complete everywhere — no separate step.
It only moves forward. If a project's schedule has nothing started yet, whatever status you set by hand stays. But once tasks are being marked, the Gantt wins — a project set to Complete by hand with unfinished tasks goes back to In progress until those tasks are done.
Every automatic change is written to the project's Activity Log under the name of the person who changed the task, so you can always see why a status moved.
Planning orders for upcoming projects
The Upcoming page (header link) lists every project with a construction start date and tells you when each long-lead item has to be ordered: sheet metal 10 business days before the start, materials 5, graphics 2. (Brackets are built on site, so they aren't tracked here.) Business days are Monday to Friday.
1
Open Upcoming
It opens on today (the red line). Switch between Timeline, Calendar and Map at the top left — the calendar shows the same dates on a month grid (clicking an item there marks it ordered just like the timeline), and the map puts a dot on each site: red if it's in progress or starts within two weeks, yellow within a month, green further out. Click a dot for the start date, permit status and order dates. The default view is scheduled projects plus the ones in progress; use the Show dropdown for Complete or Everything, and the State dropdown for OH / FL / IN.
2
Read a row
Left side: the project, its start date, its building type and a BOM ↗ link when a sheet-metal BOM exists for that type (Master BOM, at the top, is the all-projects workbook), the Building and Electrical permit status (green = approved, yellow = not yet; the block turns yellow-bordered when the start is a month out and a permit is still open, red at two weeks), and the three items with their order-by dates. An order-by date that has passed shows in red; the tiles at the top count overdue and due-this-week orders.
3
Tick an item when you order it
Tick the checkbox or click the diamond on the timeline — either one fills it in and records who ordered it and when. Click again to undo.
4
Mark an item n/a if the job doesn't need it
Hover the item and click n/a — no mural on this job, so no graphics. It drops off the timeline. Click undo if you change your mind. Rere projects only show Materials; the rest are already n/a.
5
Hide what's done
Tick "Hide fully ordered" to see only projects that still have something to order.
Someone outside BFAM who only needs the graphics dates (the installer) can be given a read-only view of this page: Admin → Client organizations → tick "Can view Upcoming" on their organization. They see only their projects and only the Apply-by date.
Start dates come from the Reimage Schedule in Smartsheet (rows marked "sheet week"), or from the project's own schedule in Fulcrum once one exists. If the Smartsheet changes, ask for it to be re-imported — it's a one-command refresh.
Working a ticket
Each track has a handful of tickets — Building Permit has Due Diligence, Contractor Reg, Submittal, and Plans; Pre-Con, Construction, and Financial each have their own list too, and every project gets all three automatically. Click any ticket row on the project page (or any ticket card on the Board) to open its drawer and work it.
To Do
Haven't started this piece yet
In Progress
Actively working on it
Int Blocked
Stuck on something internal
Ext Blocked
Waiting on the AHJ or another outside party
Done
This piece is finished
Flag is a separate dropdown at the top of the drawer, not a status — Critical (red), At Risk (amber), or Resolved (green). It outlines the ticket everywhere (board and project page) until you set it back to "No flag" — a Resolved outline clears on its own after 14 days. The ticket's fill color is its track, not its flag.
Each ticket has its own notes document with a checklist — tick off lines as you go, or click Edit to add bold/italic/strikethrough/color and new lines. Use the toolbar's checklist button, or Tab/Shift+Tab to nest an item.
Don't see a track's tickets, or the track at all? Click the gear icon in the header → "What you see" and check your settings for that track — permitting staff default to tickets only on permit tracks, site supervisors default to tickets on Pre-Con/Construction. Anyone can turn any track's tickets on.
Adding notes
Notes replace the timestamped entries you were keeping in the Email Transfer spreadsheet and Teams threads. Add a note any time something happens on a project.
1
Open the project
Click the project name on the dashboard.
2
Scroll to Activity Log on the right
All previous notes are listed newest first.
3
Type your note and click Add note
Your name and the current date/time are added automatically.
Good notes to add: "Called Charlotte County — reviewer is out until Monday," "Submitted revised plans via portal," "AHJ approved Option 2 mural — permit expected in 3-5 days."
Notes on a specific track
Each permit track (Building, Mural, Electrical, etc.) also has its own Notes button — separate from the Activity Log above. Use it for loose, scratchpad-style detail about that one track that doesn't belong in a status field: "I called the permit guy and he is on vacation for the next few days," "they don't have a published guide for colors, but the permit office doesn't like red," "spoke to Jason, he said to just email the plans." It never shows up on any dashboard and a client never sees it.
1
Click "Notes" on the track
Next to the permit status, on any track. A panel slides in from the right.
2
Type your note
Use the toolbar above the text box for bold, italic, bullet/numbered lists, or color — handy for flagging something important. Inside a list, press Tab (or click the indent button) to nest an item under the one above; Shift+Tab un-nests it.
3
Click Add note
It appears above with your name and the date.
4
Edit or remove a note later
Hover over any note for Edit and × (remove). Any team member can edit or remove any note here, same as everywhere else in Fulcrum.
This is different from the Activity Log: Activity Log entries are plain text, dated project-wide events, and can be shared with a client. Track notes are richly formatted, scoped to one track, and are always internal-only.
Entering a permit number
1
Open the project detail page
2
Find the permit track (Building, Mural, etc.)
3
Click "Add permit #" in the track header
It turns into a text field.
4
Type the permit number and press Enter
Saved immediately. Shows in the track header going forward.
Adding a new project
1
Click "+ New project" on the dashboard
Top right, next to the Board link.
2
Fill in the site details
Store number, address, city, state. Store number must be unique.
3
Select project type — Rere or Remodel
This determines which permit templates are available.
4
Check which permits are needed
Building, electrical, mural — check all that apply.
5
Click Create project
You land on the project detail page with each track's 3 tickets ready, pre-filled with the standard checklist.
The mural approval process
Mural permits follow a set order. The 4 options live as checklist lines inside the Mural track's Submittal ticket — open that ticket and work down the list.
1
Mural on both sides
Start here. If approved → check it off. If rejected → edit the line (strikethrough it, note why) and move to the next.
2
Mural on one side
Try this if the first option was rejected.
3
Chevron painted
Try this if one side was also rejected.
4
Parallelogram painted
Last option. If this is rejected too, escalate to Checkers corporate.
Check the Submittal ticket's notes (and the track's Notes drawer) before submitting — previous research on what each jurisdiction accepts is usually recorded there from past projects.
Quick reference
Update a ticket
Click any ticket row (project detail) or card (Board) to open its drawer
Flag a ticket
Ticket drawer → pick a color from the Flag dropdown
Add a note
Project detail → Activity Log → type and click Add note
Add a note to one track
Project detail → "Notes" button on that track
Edit a ticket's checklist
Ticket drawer → tick lines directly, or click Edit to add/format lines
Enter permit number
Project detail → click "Add permit #" in track header
Add a contact
Project detail → AHJ & Contacts → + Add contact
Upload photos, add a daily log, save a quote
Project detail → "Open Construction Updates →" link
Assign a ticket
Ticket drawer → Assignee dropdown
See your tickets only
Board → filter by your name in the dropdown
Filter to one kind of work
Board → "All tickets" dropdown → pick a ticket name (e.g. Submittal)
Change what tracks/tickets you see
Gear icon in the header → "What you see"
Add a one-off ticket to a track
Project detail → "+ Add ticket" under that track's tickets (rename/delete it from the drawer)
Check permit status across all projects
Dashboard → Permit dashboard link
See what to order and when
Upcoming (header) → tick the item or click its diamond once ordered
Drop an item a job doesn't need
Upcoming → hover the item → n/a (undo to bring it back)
Update construction status
Mark tasks on the schedule Gantt — the status follows on its own
Archive a project
Project detail → Archive button next to status badge
Dark mode
Click the sun/moon icon in the header
Sign out
Click "Sign out" in the top right header
Common questions
What happened to the Email Transfer spreadsheet?
All the data from it — addresses, portal credentials, notes, contacts — has been imported into Fulcrum. You'll find everything on each project's detail page. You no longer need to update the spreadsheet.
Where do I find the AHJ portal login?
On the project detail page, scroll to AHJ & Contacts. The portal URL and username are there. Passwords are stored securely — click "Reveal" to see them.
I made a mistake on a ticket's status. How do I fix it?
Open the ticket drawer and just pick the correct status from the dropdown — it saves immediately, no confirmation needed.
How do I delete a note?
Hover over any note you wrote — a small × appears on the right. Click it to delete. You can only delete notes you wrote yourself.
I set Construction to Complete but it went back to In progress. Why?
Construction status follows the project's schedule Gantt. Some of its tasks aren't marked Complete yet — finish them on the Construction Updates page and the status flips to Complete by itself.
A project is done — what do I do?
Click Archive on the project detail page. The project disappears from the dashboard but all its data is saved. Nothing is ever deleted.
Will I still get Teams notifications?
Yes — Fulcrum automatically sends Teams messages when tickets are flagged, permits are issued, and projects are ready for construction. You don't need to post updates manually.
Can a client contact see my internal notes?
No. A client sign-in (an external contact invited as a guest, e.g. Checkers corporate) lands on the Construction dashboard and, per site, sees only Photos and the schedule Gantt (tasks marked client-visible) — nothing else. They never see tickets, the project detail page, the Activity Log, AHJ & Contacts, documents, daily logs, or quotes, on any page, and only for the specific projects their organization has been granted — not the full portfolio.
Something isn't working — who do I contact?
Contact Ted Peterson. For urgent issues, the system can also be accessed directly on the server by Ted or Chad.