Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about ShadowQS.

ShadowQS is a commercial risk monitoring tool that quietly watches your project-related email and flags issues before they cost you money. It helps contractors surface commercial risk without replacing existing workflows or tools.

ShadowQS connects to your work email (Outlook or Gmail) and reads project-related correspondence (valuations, RFIs, instructions, completion notices, retention, etc.) in the background. It then identifies and highlights meaningful commercial events so you can act before money is lost.

No. ShadowQS only processes project-related emails. Personal emails, finance, HR, marketing, family, spam, and anything outside your construction projects are filtered out before analysis. See the Security page for full detail.

You can connect any work inbox that contains commercial project correspondence (e.g., personal work inbox, shared addresses like accounts@, site@, commercial@). You control exactly which mailboxes are connected. Every team member connects their own work inbox. The more inboxes connected, the more complete the picture across your projects.

No. ShadowQS does not replace your quantity surveyor, your commercial team, or tools like Aconex or Procore. It supplements your existing workflow. Your QS decides what to do. ShadowQS makes sure they see the commercial events in time to act.

Yes. ShadowQS works with the email accounts you connect, so it surfaces relevant commercial events regardless of whether you use desktop or mobile email apps. There’s no separate mobile app required.

No — ShadowQS does not access or read WhatsApp, SMS, Teams, or other private messaging tools.
However:
  • If decisions, instructions, or outcomes from those tools are later referenced in email, ShadowQS will pick them up.
  • You can screenshot a WhatsApp or message conversation and email it to yourself — ShadowQS will capture it once it’s in email.

No. ShadowQS flags issues only. It never sends emails, reminders, or communications on your behalf. You remain fully in control of every message.

ShadowQS works with what it can see in the inboxes you connect. If something isn’t connected or available in email, ShadowQS will not speculate — it will only surface commercial events based on available data. This avoids false confidence.

ShadowQS uses enterprise-grade security and read-only access wherever technically possible. It does not modify or delete your original emails/files. You can request full security documentation if needed.

Yes. ShadowQS automatically detects whether you’re the contractor or the subcontractor on each project — based on email patterns, contract language, and direction of correspondence. The same product works on both sides, project by project.

Most of our customers are. ShadowQS handles both in the same inbox. On jobs where you’re downstream, we catch variations, instructions and payment risk coming from your client or main contractor. On jobs where you’re upstream, we catch the same things coming from your subs.

Yes. Whether you’re an M&E, civils, drylining, roofing, fit-out or groundworks specialist, the commercial risks that land in your inbox are the same. ShadowQS catches them before they cost you money.

No. ShadowQS only processes email. If a conversation later appears in an email thread, it becomes part of the project record — but the underlying messaging platform is never accessed.

Screenshot the conversation and email it to yourself or a colleague. ShadowQS reads image attachments, extracts the text, and files it as project evidence — timestamped and linked to the right project. No app needed. Just screenshot, send, done.

Your team

Yes - and it works best when they do. Every team member who connects expands what ShadowQS can see. Your QS inbox shows the commercial trail. Your site manager inbox catches instructions you would never see. Your PM inbox reveals programme pressure. ShadowQS joins the dots across all of it. There is no cap on team size, and pricing is per company, not per person.

You get one invite link for your company. Send it to your team by email, WhatsApp, or whatever works. They click, authenticate their work email (Outlook or Gmail), and they are done in under 60 seconds. No account creation, no passwords, no training. They do not need to learn the product first - they connect and forget about it.

That is up to you. Notifications can be on or off per person. Some people (QSs and commercial managers) usually want alerts. Others (like site managers) are mainly there for inbox coverage - their email feeds the system, but they do not need notifications. The admin controls who gets what.

The admin can remove a user at any time. Their inbox stops being scanned immediately. Evidence already captured from their emails stays, because it belongs to the project, not the person. No project data is lost.

Yes. The admin dashboard shows every project across the business - which ones are healthy, which ones need attention, and where evidence is building. You do not need to be on every email thread to see the full picture.

Everyone connects their inbox - that part is the same. Admins can also manage the team (invite and remove people, control notification settings, correct project details, and upload contracts). Most companies have one or two admins (usually the MD or commercial director), and everyone else is a user.

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