ARC Request Action Item

This article explains how to review and process ARC Requests by using the ARC Request action type.

Note: The Action Item can be created when a homeowner submits the request from their portal, or can also be created manually by clicking + New Action Item on the Homeowners Action Items.

How is the ARC Request Created?

The ARC Request can be created in multiple ways. 

Homeowner's Portal

Homeowners can Submit a Request for several types of Action Items. If they select ARC Request, they choose their property, their Area of Work, add details, project dates, and add any attachments. 

In the Home Portal, click Requests in the navigation menu, New Request, and then Architectural Request. 

Manually

The Action Item can also be created manually by clicking New Action Item on any Action Item page. Typically, this will be created on a Homeowner's account.  

How is the Action Item Built?

Default Configuration

Application Received

The Application Received step will route to Manager's My Action Items with attachments and details provided by the Homeowner as described above. The Manager will review the details and attachments provided and see if there is enough information to pass to the ARC Committee. The Manager will then Approve or Decline, and send to the following steps. 
 

Approve

• 3 - Notify ARC Committee

• 30* - Approved

• 40* - Approved with Conditions

Note: The Approved or Approved with Conditions steps should only be used is the Association does NOT have an ARC Committe.

Decline

• 41* - Denied Application

• 90* - Request More Information

Notify ARC Committee

This step sends a templated message to the ARC Committee via email, letting them know they have a new ARC request to review, and encouraging them to visit their portal to review the item. This Action Item will then automatically move to the Notify Homeowner Step.

Notify Homeowner

This step sends a templated message to the Homeowner letting them know the ARC Committee has been notified and that their time period to review, if any, has begun. This Action Item will then automatically move to the ARC Review Step.

ARC Review

While in this step, the Action Item is viewable by both ARC Committee and Chair, and they have the ability to review, message, and Approve/Decline the request. This is determined by their Role. See more details about the ARC Committee/Chair by visiting Vantaca Home - ARC Committee and the ARC Portal Items.

The ARC Committee may only message on the Action Item. This allows committee members to vote on the issue, while remarking their desire to approve/decline in writing on the Action Item. 

The ARC Chair is the only one that is able to Step this Action Item to the following steps:

• ARC Decision - Approved

• ARC Decision - Approved with Conditions

• ARC Decision - More Info Needed

• ARC Decision - Denied

An example of the ARC Chair selecting Approved with Conditions would show this display in their portal:

It is important to include what conditions need to be met for approval. 

ARC Decision Steps

Any step that begins with ARC Decision is built to come back to the Manager. These steps do not go directly to the Homeowner by design. As the Management Company, it is important to be the arbiter of what information oes into legally-binding documents and letters, and so it is left to the Management company to interprety and edit any replies and responses coming from the ARC before they are put in writing to the Homeowner. 

In these steps, the ARC Request will once again populate in the Manager's My Action Items with the internal note and communication on their selected Next Step:

The Manager would then step the ARC Request to the corresponding final step based on the Committee's decision:

This will send email communication with an attached Approved or Declined letter to the Homeowner, as well as updating their request in the portal while closing the action item.

Final Decision Steps

These steps are configured with the Final Approval/Denial letters. After the Manager confirms the ARC decision, stepping to these steps will email and attach the appropriate Letter Template, as well as close out the Action Item. 

Owner Response

If the Homeowner replies to an email received, or replies via the portal while the Action Item is closed, it will re-open in this step. This will appear in the Manager's My Action Items, allowing them to review the response and act appropriately.

Response to Owner

This step will send a response back to the Homeowner. This can answer any additional questions, but not not generate new letter templates or change a decision. It will close the Action Item.

Request More Information

This step will send the below email communication to the owner, while updating their ARC request in the portal, closing the action item until owner responds or submits another request:

Be sure to include the missing items as a Note when stepping to this step, as this will pull into the templated message the homeowner receives. 

Any responses to this message will re-open the Action Item in the Owner Response step.

Complete

This step will close the Action Item with no communication, such as if the Homeowner replies with "Thank you." and no further communication is needed. 

Void

The Void step will close the action item, as well as hide it from the Homeowner Portal entirely. This should be used for items created in error, or duplicate requests. 

Troubleshooting

Q: Why can I move an ARC action item to any step instead of the designated Next Step?

A: This happens when you have a Role/Responsibility that's listed in the Administrator Role setting for that action type.

Users with an Administrator Role can advance action items to any step in the workflow, bypassing the standard Next Step if Yes/No order.

To check the Administrator Role setting:

1. Go to Settings > Action Types/Steps
2. Locate the action type in question and click Edit
3. View the Administrator Role field

Example: If you have the System Administrator Role/Responsibility and it's listed as the Administrator Role for the action type, you can step the action item to any step at any time.

For more information about this setting, see our Adding A New Action Type article.

Q: An ARC Request action item on the ARC Review step cannot advance any further. Why?

A: The ARC Review step is missing required workflow configuration. To allow the action item to progress after approval or denial, you need to specify which steps come next in each scenario.

To fix this:

1. Go to Settings > Action Types/Steps
2. Locate the ARC Request action type
3. Click the caret (▸) next to the Category to expand its steps
4. Find the ARC Review step and click Rules
5. In the Rule Configuration tab, locate the Conditional Settings section on the right side
6. Add approval steps to the Next Step if Yes field
7. Add denial steps to the Next Step if No field
8. Click Save Rule Configuration

Once these next steps are configured, users will be able to approve or deny the request, and the ARC Request will continue through the workflow accordingly.

Q: Why isn't ARC Request appearing as an available selection when starting a new action item?

A: This can happen for a few reasons:

1. Your role isn't listed as a Default Follower. Navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps and locate the ARC Request action type. If your role doesn't appear in the Default Followers field, click Edit, add your role to the Send To (Default Followers) field, and click Update.
2. Block Creation is enabled. Click Edit on the ARC Request action type and verify that the Block Creation setting is checked. If it is checked, uncheck it to disable the setting.
3. No ARC Model is assigned to the association. Navigate to Association > Settings > ARC and confirm a model is listed in the ARC Model field. If multiple ARC action types are needed for the association, add them to the Additional ARC Models field as well.
    

Q: How do I turn off the ability to submit an ARC Request for an association?

A: To disable ARC Request submissions for a specific association, mark the ARC Request portal page as Not Used.

1. Go to Association > Portal Pages.
2. Select the desired association and ensure you are on the Association Portal Pages tab.
3. In the Web Page column, search for ARC Request.
4. Once located, click Not Used on the right-hand side.
5. When prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete this record?", click OK.

This does not delete the portal page — it simply moves it to the UnUsed Portal Pages tab. To re-enable it in the future, navigate to that tab and click Use. In the event that the portal page needs to be turned off for all associations, go to Settings > Portal Pages and locate the ARC Request portal page. Once located, click Disable to have the portal page be removed from all associations.