Here's what we'll cover:
What is owner approval?
As a Property Manager, you can request that an owner approve a cost (or expenditure) associated with a repair or replacement at one of their properties. This article outlines the process for initiating an owner approval for a Meld.
To see how to process an approved (or denied) owner approval, refer to Managing Owner Approvals.
NOTE: It is recommended that you add additional Dashboard Filters discussed in View Owner Approvals and Acknowledgements so that you can quickly filter Owner Approvals before you initiate your first approval request.
Requesting Owner Approval
Step 1:
From a Meld, click Request Approval.
Step 2a:
If desired, click CHOOSE FILES to send one or more files already uploaded and associated with the Meld.
NOTE: All currently shared files will be listed, with the option to share additional files.
Step 2b:
Check the checkboxes next to the files you wish to share and click ADD SELECTED
Step 3:
Change and/or add information to the message as needed.
To change the default Owner Approval Message, see How to Customize Owner Email Notifications.
Step 4:
Enter the Owner Approval Dollar Amount you are requesting the owner approve and click REQUEST APPROVAL.
NOTES: The owner will receive an email or a notification within the Owner Hub that approval is required at one of their properties, depending on the owner’s notification access level.
To view the owner instructions for approving requests, refer to Approving Work Request or Approving or Rejecting Work Requests in Owner Hub - Owner depending on the owner’s notification access level.
View Owner Approvals and Acknowledgements
Filters exist for Owner Approval Status and Acknowledgement. For more information on creating and saving filters, refer to Customize and Manage Filters.
Step 1:
From any Meld list, click FILTER and select the Owner Approval statuses and Approval Acknowledgement options you want to view.
Managing Owner Approvals
Manually Document Owner Approval
In addition to an Owner approving or not approving a request, as a Property Manager, you are able to manually document the approval or non-approval.
Step 1:
From a Meld and under Owner Approval, click Mark Approved.
Step 2:
Enter applicable notes into Note field and select APPROVED (or NOT APPROVED, if applicable).
Cancel Owner Approval
A Property Manager can only cancel a pending Owner Approval request if that approval request has not been completed by the Owner.
Step 1:
From a Meld and under Owner Approval, click Cancel.
Step 2:
Click YES to confirm you are canceling the approval process.
NOTE: Cancelling an Owner Approval will send a cancellation email notification to the Owner(s).
Edit Owner Approval
A Property Manager can only edit a pending Owner Approval request if that approval request has not been completed by the Owner.
Step 1:
From a Meld and under Owner Approval, click Edit. 
Step 2:
Make changes as necessary and click REQUEST APPROVAL.
NOTE: Owner will receive an email notification with new approval information.
Acknowledge Owner Approval
From a Meld, review Owner Approval information and, be aware, the Approval Note will also show as a Chat Message within the Meld.
Under Owner Approval, click Acknowledge to confirm that you have seen Owner submission of approval. This action keeps you organized as it relates to knowing the current Owner Approval process stage.
NOTE:
- Any time prior to a Meld being completed or canceled, you can click Restart Approval to restart the entirety of the Owner Approval process.
- You may also view all of the additional information pertaining to the request by clicking Request Details.
Step 1a:
Request Details view:
Step 1b:
Click CLOSE to exit the Request Details view and return to the Meld:
Step 2:
Confirm by clicking ACKNOWLEDGE.
NOTE: You can select Acknowledge if the Owner has not approved the request as well.
Best Practice
In many maintenance operations, Owners need to approve maintenance requests (or Melds) that breach a preset $ threshold per property. Currently, the spending limit is contained in the Maintenance Unit Notes, so this article will describe the best practice for interacting with an Owner to gain approval for the threshold-based expenditure.
Step 1:
Refer to the Unit Maintenance Notes where a $ threshold has been agreed upon with the Owner of the Unit. This is visible to maintenance coordinators, internal technicians, and vendors.
See the following steps as a generalized example of the communication that happens between a Property Manager, Vendor, and Owner.
Step 2:
The following conversation depicts the Vendor stating the cost of the repair will surpass the threshold $ amount as well as the Owner requesting an estimate.
Step 3:
The following conversation depicts the Property Manager requesting an estimate from the Vendor. Additionally, the Property Manager messages the Owner that the estimate provided by the Vendor will be shared.
Step 4:
At this point, the Vendor has uploaded an estimate to the Meld. The Property Manager will now share that estimate file with the Owner.
From the Meld, find the estimate under Vendor Files, click 
, and click Share.
For more details on sharing files from a Meld, refer to How to Upload, Share, and Manage Files.
Step 5:
From the Share Files dialog presented, click the Owner(s) and click SHARE. The selected Owner(s) will be sent an email notification with the estimate file attached.
