How do I share markups with an owner who isn't on Procore?

Key facts

Option 1: Invite the dentist into Procore

Procore's pricing page says annual contracts include unlimited users, "including not just your employees, but all other collaborators like clients, subcontractors, and vendors" (Procore). Adding the dentist doesn't cost a seat. What matters is the permission level:

• Read Only on Drawings: enough to add personal markups (Procore).
• Personal vs. published: new markups go to the user's Personal layer. Only Standard or Admin users can publish them so everyone sees them (Procore, Procore).
• What that means for you: with Read Only, the dentist can mark up but not publish. Their comments stay private until they tell you about them. Either set a routine ("download from the Viewer and email us your markups") or give them Standard on Drawings only.

Procore also notes that markups carry forward when a new drawing revision is uploaded, except sketches (Procore). That helps when the dentist's comments are on revision 2 and you issue revision 3.

Option 2: Send a PDF with markups

Many dentists will never log in to anything. For them, export. Procore's download options (Procore):

• From the Drawings log, choose With Markup to include published markups and linked items, such as RFIs and punch items, as hyperlinks.
• From the Viewer, download a single drawing with both personal and published markups.
• A download with markup is delivered as an emailed link, and drawings with sketches come as a .zip.
• You need Read Only or higher on Drawings.

Keep it simple for the owner: one PDF, the sheets that matter, and a short list of the decisions you need with due dates. Ask them to return comments on the same PDF, with any reader's comment or highlight tool, rather than in a long email. A comment pinned to the sheet is much harder to misread than "move the outlet in the second op." When markups come back, keep the returned PDF with the revision it applies to, so the decision record stays with the drawing.

Option 3: A Bluebeam Studio Session

If you live in Bluebeam, Studio Sessions are built for this. Bluebeam says a teammate who doesn't own Revu can join using Revu 20 in View mode, Revu 21 in Read-only mode, or Bluebeam on web and mobile, which needs a free Bluebeam ID (Bluebeam). In a Session, everyone sees markups in real time, there's an activity record by user, and markups can only be edited by the person who made them (Bluebeam).

Bluebeam's two support articles differ on tool access. The collaboration article says View or Read-only users in a Session have access to markup features normally reserved for licensed users (Bluebeam). The subscription article lists a smaller set for non-subscribers: text box, callout, pen, highlight, line, arrow, dimension, cloud, cloud+ and stamp, with appearance properties disabled (Bluebeam). Either way, a dentist can circle and comment. Test with your actual account setup first.

Which option to use when

• Design review with many comments: Bluebeam Session or Procore invite. Comments land on the drawing, attributed.
• Quick approval of one sheet: PDF.
• Long build with ongoing RFIs and punch: Procore invite, so the owner sees linked items too (Procore).
• Technology layout: keep drops, screens and cameras on a Studio plan the dentist already understands. Studio gives them an interactive view with every device placed and a device schedule with rooms, ports and cable lengths (FloorStack).

What the dentist actually needs to review

A full permit set overwhelms most owners, so send the sheets where their input changes the build:

• Floor plan and operatory layout: chair orientation, handedness, and assistant and doctor zones.
• Casework elevations: cabinet heights, sink locations and where monitors and keyboards sit.
• Finish schedule: flooring, wall finishes, countertops and upholstery.
• Reflected ceiling plan: operatory lights, exam lights and any ceiling-mounted monitors or cameras.
• Equipment rough-in sheets: confirm the selected chair and delivery system match what was ordered. See dental chair rough-in specs.
• Low-voltage and device locations: every data drop, TV and camera, ideally from the owner's technology plan.

Mark each sheet with the decision you need ("confirm chair handedness in Ops 1–4"), not just "please review." Owners answer specific questions faster.

Close the loop

Markups only help if someone resolves them. For each round:

1. Send the sheets with a review deadline.
2. Collect markups in one place, whether Procore's published layer, the Session, or one returned PDF.
3. Log each comment as accepted, rejected or "needs pricing."
4. Reissue the revision with a short change summary.
5. Track any design change that affects permits or inspections.

See managing dental design revisions and tracking construction progress remotely.

Keep the owner-facing pieces simple

The permit & inspection tracker (free tool, coming soon) will give the dentist a plain-English view of approvals and inspections, so a markup that changes the permit set shows up there too. Studio is free for every dental practice and takes about ten minutes (FloorStack), so the owner can bring their own technology plan to your review.

How FloorStack helps

FloorStack is a dental build-out platform made for owners who don't live in construction software. Studio gives the dentist a technology plan they can read without Procore or Bluebeam, and the permit & inspection tracker (free tool, coming soon) will show approvals in owner terms. See the Dental Office Construction hub, choosing a dental office contractor, dental build-out delays and the dental office inspection checklist.

Free tools for this step

• Studio (live, free plan): a technology plan the owner can read without construction software.
• Permit & inspection tracker (free tool, coming soon): approvals and inspections in owner-friendly terms.