Help & Documentation

Haunch Docs

Guides and reference for every part of Haunch — from setting up your workspace to reading the audit trail.

Getting started

Overview: Haunch is project management built specifically for structural and civil engineering practices in the UK and Ireland. Every module is shaped around how engineers actually work — not how generic project tools assume you work.
Setting up your workspace: Your Haunch workspace is the container for your entire practice — all projects, team members and settings live inside it. This page covers the essentials to get started.
Inviting your team: Add your engineers, technicians and any other practice staff to the workspace. Each person gets their own login, and you control what they can see and do.

Creating a project: Each job in your practice is a Haunch project. Creating one sets up the workspace — tasks, files, meetings, fees and the audit trail all attach from the start.
Project overview: The project overview is the home screen of a project workspace. It gives you a snapshot of everything happening in the job and quick access to key actions.
Project status: Every project has a status that reflects where it is in its lifecycle. Status drives filters in the Projects table and the practice dashboard.

Creating tasks & RFIs: Tasks are the core work-tracking unit in Haunch. Each task is numbered, assigned and tracked within a project — the way GitHub issues work for code, Haunch tasks work for engineering work.
Labels & categories: Labels categorise tasks by the type of work they represent. The default set reflects typical UK and Irish engineering workflows — but you can customise them for your practice.
Checklists & sub-tasks: Break larger tasks into trackable steps using checklists, or create true sub-tasks that can be assigned and tracked independently.

Uploading files: The vault is where all project files live — drawings, calculations, reports, correspondence and anything else you want to keep against the project.
Version control: Every file in the vault is versioned. When you upload a new version of an existing file, the previous versions are kept and can be viewed or downloaded at any time.
Transmittals: A transmittal is a formal record of documents issued to a third party. Haunch generates a numbered transmittal register automatically whenever you issue files from the vault.

Scheduling meetings: Haunch meeting records link directly to a project and feed into the audit trail. Create a meeting record before or after the event — the important thing is that the record exists.
Minutes & actions: After a meeting, record the minutes, decisions and actions directly in Haunch. Decisions are automatically added to the project audit trail.

Managing enquiries: The pipeline is a kanban board for tracking incoming work — from first contact through to signed appointment. Each card is an enquiry moving through stages.
Stages & probability: Pipeline stages reflect where each enquiry is in your sales process. Probability weightings let the practice dashboard show a realistic forecast of expected income.

Tender register: The tender register tracks all tender submissions your practice has made — deadlines, fees, results and follow-up. It gives directors a single view of competitive work in progress.
Tracking submissions: Once a tender is submitted, Haunch helps you track it through evaluation to a result — and record what you learn for future bids.

Team utilisation: The capacity view shows, week by week, how loaded each person on the team is. It helps directors see where space exists to take on new work and where people are over-committed.
Booking time off: Time off bookings reduce a team member's available hours in the capacity view. This keeps utilisation figures accurate and makes scheduling more reliable.

Reading the trail: The audit trail records every significant action in a project — in order, with the author and timestamp, in a chain that cannot be edited or deleted.
Exporting records: The audit trail can be exported as a sealed PDF or CSV file. Sealed exports include a verification hash so the recipient can confirm the record hasn't been altered after export.

Raising issues: Issues are defects, non-conformances or items requiring action found during site visits or design reviews. Each issue is numbered, assigned and tracked through to resolution.
Site inspections: Site inspection records link directly to a project and capture what was inspected, by whom and what was found. They form part of the project audit trail.
CDM register: The CDM register helps practices meet their obligations under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It records hazards identified during design, the mitigation applied, and the residual risk.

Managing contacts: Contacts is a shared address book for your practice — clients, contractors, certifiers, consultants and anyone else your team works with regularly.
Linking to projects: Contacts can be linked to projects as the named client. This replaces the free-text client field with a proper record — making it possible to see all projects associated with a contact and keeping names consistent across the app.

Workspace settings: Workspace settings control how Haunch is configured for your practice — your name, task labels, billing and member management all live here.
Account & profile: Your account settings control your personal details — the name that appears on tasks and audit entries, your avatar, and your login credentials.
Notifications: Haunch sends notifications when things need your attention — tasks assigned to you, mentions, approaching deadlines and more. You control what you receive.