Reviewing & Approving

This guide covers the complete document review process for approvers and co-approvers — from initial review through markup, stamping, and revocation.

Review Workflow

When an applicant uploads a document, the item status changes to In Review. Here is the recommended review process:

1. Check AI Results First

If the item has document checks, review the AI results before opening the document:

• Pass — the AI found the document satisfies the check criteria
• Fail — the AI identified specific issues
• Warning — potential concerns that need manual verification
• Unclear — the AI could not determine compliance

AI results include a detailed explanation and confidence score. Use these to focus your manual review on areas of concern.

2. Review the Document

Open the document in the built-in PDF viewer:

• Navigate through pages
• Zoom in on details, signatures, or stamps
• View fullscreen for a distraction-free review experience
• Compare against the item description and requirements

3. Make Your Decision

Choose one of the following actions:

Satisfied

The document meets all requirements for this item.

• The item status changes to Satisfied
• You can now stamp the document with your professional credentials
• The applicant is notified

Request for Info

The document needs changes or you need additional information.

• Add a comment explaining exactly what is needed
• The item status changes to Request for Info
• The applicant is notified and can upload a revised document

Not Applicable

This item does not apply to this project.

• The item is removed from the active review queue
• Useful when project scope changes or an item was included from a template but isn't relevant

Document Actions

Beyond reviewing and setting statuses, approvers have several document-level actions available:

Marking Up Documents

You can annotate and mark up a document to highlight areas of concern or add notes:

1. Open the document in the viewer
2. Use the markup tools to annotate the document
3. Save your markups

When you mark up a document, a new version is created with the Marked Up status. The original document is preserved with Superseded status — it is not deleted or lost.

Downloading Documents

You can download any document for offline review:

• Click the download button on any document
• The original uploaded file is downloaded (or the PDF conversion)

Replacing Documents

If a document needs to be replaced (e.g., the applicant uploaded the wrong file and the approver wants to correct it):

1. Upload a replacement document to the same item
2. The new document becomes the active version
3. The previous document is preserved with Superseded status

Stamping Documents

Once you have marked an item as Satisfied, you can apply a professional stamp:

1. Click Stamp Document on the satisfied item
2. Configure stamp options:
   • Pages to stamp — select which pages receive the stamp
   • Reference number — an optional reference (auto-generated if not provided)
   • Custom text — additional text for the stamp's top zone
   • Include unstamped pages — choose whether pages without a stamp are included in the output
3. Click Apply

The stamped document is created as a new file with Stamped status. The original document is preserved with Superseded status.

info

Make sure to set up your stamp details in Settings before attempting to stamp. You need at minimum your full name and approver registration number.

Revoking a Stamped Document

If a previously stamped document needs to be withdrawn:

1. Navigate to the stamped document
2. Click Revoke
3. A "REVOKED" watermark is applied diagonally across every page at 40% opacity
4. The revoked document is created with Revoked status
5. The original stamped document is removed

Revocation is a significant action and creates a permanent audit trail entry.

Document Statuses

Every document in ApprovIQ has a status that reflects its current state in the review lifecycle:

Status	Description	How It's Set
Accepted	The document has been uploaded and is the current active version	Automatically on upload
Marked Up	The document has been annotated by an approver	When markup is saved
Stamped	An approval stamp has been applied to the document	When the approver stamps the document
Superseded	A newer version of this document exists (replaced, marked up, or stamped)	Automatically when a new version is created
Revoked	A previously stamped document that has been withdrawn	When the approver revokes a stamp

Document Version Preservation

A key principle of ApprovIQ's document management is that no document is ever lost. When an action creates a new version of a document, the previous version is preserved with Superseded status:

Action	New Document Status	Previous Document Status
Markup	Marked Up	Superseded
Replace	Accepted	Superseded
Stamp	Stamped	Superseded
Revoke	Revoked	(stamped version removed)

This means:

• You can always access previous versions of a document
• The complete history of changes is preserved
• The audit trail records who made each change and when

Immutable Documents

Documents with Stamped or Revoked status are immutable — they cannot be edited, marked up, or replaced. This protects the integrity of approved documents. To make changes to a stamped document, you must first revoke it, then work with the underlying document.

Working with Co-approvers

If you have invited co-approvers to your project:

• Co-approvers can review documents and change item statuses independently
• They can stamp documents with their own credentials
• All actions are recorded in the audit trail
• Use comments to coordinate review responsibilities

Review Best Practices

1. Review AI check results first — they highlight key areas to focus on
2. Be specific in Request for Info comments — vague requests lead to back-and-forth
3. Use markups — annotate documents to visually highlight concerns before requesting info
4. Stamp documents promptly — once satisfied, stamp the document while the review is fresh
5. Use the audit trail — if co-approvers are involved, review the trail to see what has been reviewed
6. Check register search results — when AI checks search professional registers, verify the results match the document's claims