# Working drafts and issued instructions for a contractor

Example: A contractor sees a draft layout in a shared folder. The owner-approved layout remains different.

By Righthand Team · 2026-10-22

Source: https://www.righthand.ai/blog/working-drafts-and-issued-instructions-for-a-contractor

Use drafts for development. Use issued instructions for accepted work, and identify versions explicitly.

This article is from Righthand. The story and result are illustrative.

## Two records with different meanings

A working draft contains proposed information.

Issued instructions identify the owner's approved directions for the task.

## The customer's situation

A contractor sees a draft layout in a shared folder. The owner-approved layout remains different.

The owner gives the Righthand the identified source material and relevant contacts. A Righthand is an assistant with email, text, phone, and Slack communication. [Introduction](https://docs.righthand.ai/introduction).

## The request to the Righthand

> Compare the supplied draft and issued layout references.
>
> Contact the contractor about the approved source.
>
> Send any conflict to the owner.
>
> Send the owner the result in this conversation.
>
> Get approval before you change an accepted commitment.

The assistant reads the sources for their different meanings. It compares the relevant facts and sends the difference to the owner.

If the request permits contact, the assistant sends the identified question to the supplied recipient. Send the reply to the person responsible for the decision.

## An illustrative result

> The contractor used the draft reference. The issued layout remains the accepted instruction.

The owner gives confirmation of the correct source before work continues.

## Set access and authority for the actual task

Supplied source material can be sufficient for the first procedure. For direct account access, a connection with the applicable operation and Righthand access is necessary. [Connections](https://docs.righthand.ai/guides/adding-your-first-connection).

For an external action, identify the recipient and task. **Ask** uses an explicit instruction or approval. Connection tool permissions are another required control. [Communications Policy](https://docs.righthand.ai/security/external-communications).

## Try the difference with one case

1. Give the assistant one example of each source.
2. Include a difference that affects the task.
3. Compare the returned difference with both sources.
4. Make sure that the test recipient receives a permitted message.
5. Examine the work in [Activity](https://docs.righthand.ai/guides/working-with-your-righthand).

A satisfactory result must keep the difference and identify the next owner decision. It must not silently replace one source with the other.

## When another approach is sufficient

A direct record or a human review can be sufficient when it gives the answer and no further conversation is necessary. A Righthand is an alternative when you want responsibility for the next information request and decision handoff.

[Compare plans](https://www.righthand.ai/pricing). [Get a Righthand](https://teams.righthand.ai).