Capturing site intel on a visit — the 4 Realms flow
The 4 Realms flow is Draftly's on-site capture tool. When you're standing on the lot, it walks you through exactly what to record about each part of the build — and turns it into a package your drafter, engineer or certifier picks up with nothing re-asked and nothing re-typed.
You open it inside the site research step. It's built for a phone: one card at a time, big buttons, and your camera for tagged photos.
The one decision you make
The only choice in the whole flow is which building elements you're touching — Structure, Roof, Water, Power, Groundworks, Interior, Climate. Tick what applies to your job. If you chose a structure type when you started the project, Draftly pre-ticks the usual suspects for you (a pergola starts with Structure, Roof, Water and Power) and says so — change them freely.
The four realms
Each element you ticked then walks the same four cards, in the same order:
- Context — what exists here? The current state, with photos and notes.
- Connection — how do we tie into it? The integration point, method and distance to whatever the new work joins.
- Construction — how do we build it? Materials, method, sequence.
- Handover — what does the next person need? Drawings required, engineering tags, final notes.
Nothing ever branches or surprises you: every element, same four questions of the site. Cards show who your answers travel to (engineer, certifier, draftsperson), so you always know why a question is being asked.
Skip anything, block nothing
Not sure of an answer on site? Skip for now. Skipped cards go into Pending items (top of the screen) as reminders — they never stop you moving forward, and you can resume any of them later with one tap. Pending items travel with the package, clearly flagged, so the next person knows what's still open rather than finding out on the day.
Photos and resume
Photo questions use your camera directly and each photo is tagged to the exact card it belongs to. When you're signed in, photos sync to the project as you go (a small note on each card says whether they're synced or still on your device). You can close the flow at any point — everything is saved, and you resume on the exact card you left, on any device.
What happens at the end
The flow finishes with the Handover Package: your tagged photos and notes, the drawing checklist you requested, your engineering tags, and any pending items. Send to Drafting hands the whole package to the drawing step, where it opens automatically for the drafter — including the photos.
You can also flip through the role-based views before sending: the same captured answers, filtered for the site manager, the electrical engineer, the draftsperson, or a one-screen owner summary. Everyone reads the same truth; nobody re-enters it.
Related
- The site research steps, one by one — where the capture flow sits in the wider sequence
- Your projects — how everything saves and syncs
- Your submission package — where the drawings end up