How comment and task data transfers during a homeowner handoff

When a home is handed off to a homeowner, the Project Manager can choose "Share all layers with homeowner." This option copies the project's Comments and Tasks into the homeowner's new project, where they're saved as archived data. Archived data isn't shown in the day-to-day Comment and Task views; it's still there, just not front and center.

This works exactly as you'd expect when the recipient is a standard Collaborator: everything copies over, and they can see everything. It gets more nuanced when a recipient is a Limited Collaborator, because a Limited Collaborator's visibility was already restricted before the handoff. This article covers what actually gets archived and who ends up able to see it.

As background, a Limited Collaborator only sees a Comment or Task if they're assigned to it or ‘@mentioned’ in it. If you need the full explanation of that role, See also- Using Limited Collaborators and Titles together efficiently

One more piece of context matters here: in the new project created by the handoff, every included recipient becomes a Project Manager. That's a full-access role with no restrictions on Comment or Task visibility, regardless of what role that same person held in the original project. The filtering described below happens at the moment data is copied into the archive, not afterward; once something is archived into the new project, every recipient can see it, because every recipient is a Project Manager there.

Handing off to a single recipient

If the home is handed off to one person, and that person is a Limited Collaborator, "Share all layers with homeowner" respects their existing visibility. Only the Comments and Tasks they were already assigned to or ‘@mentioned’ in get archived into their new project. Anything they didn't have access to before the handoff is left out. Even though they become a Project Manager in the new project, with full visibility into whatever exists there, that doesn't expand what gets copied in the first place. It isn't copied over just because it's now their project.

Handing off to more than one recipient

Handoffs aren't always to a single person. Sometimes two homeowners (co-buyers, spouses, and so on) are both included. This is where it gets more involved.

If every recipient included in the handoff is a Limited Collaborator, the same filtering principle still applies, extended to the group: the archive includes any Comment or Task that at least one of the recipients was assigned to or @mentioned in. Something only visible to recipient A still gets copied in, and recipient B will be able to see it too, because both recipients are Project Managers in the new project and a Project Manager sees everything in their project. Only the Comments and Tasks that neither recipient had access to are left out entirely.

If even one recipient in the handoff is not a Limited Collaborator (a standard Collaborator, for example), that changes the outcome for everyone in the group. The system defaults to copying everything, full data amount, no filtering. This is because the standard Collaborator already has the right to see all of it, so there's no reasonable subset to filter down to. And since every recipient in the handoff becomes a Project Manager in the new project, once that full data set is archived, every recipient can see all of it, including any recipient who was a Limited Collaborator in the original project. Their prior restriction doesn't carry forward, because their role in the new project isn't Limited Collaborator; it's Project Manager as the Homeowner.

Quick reference

Frequently asked questions

What does "Share all layers with homeowner" actually copy? Comments and Task data from the project. If the option isn't selected, none of that history transfers to the new project.

Why doesn't a Limited Collaborator's restriction carry over when other recipients are involved? Because their role changes. Every recipient in a handoff becomes a Project Manager in the new project, a role with full visibility into everything in that project. Limited Collaborator status doesn't travel with them into the new project; it only applied to their role in the original one. So once data is archived (following the rules above for who's included in the handoff), every recipient sees all of it.

If a Limited Collaborator later gets excluded from something in their own project, does that remove their access to already-archived data? No. Once data is archived into the new project, it stays there. Archiving is a one-time copy at handoff, not an ongoing sync, and the recipient's role in that new project is Project Manager regardless of what happens back in the original project.

Where do I find the archived Comments and Tasks after a handoff? They're saved in the new project but aren't shown in the standard Comment and Task views. A home owner needs to open the Project settings and turn on Archived Comments. Please note that turning this on will make them visible to all users.. EXCEPT .. you guessed it, Limited Collaborators.

Does this affect Titles at all? No. Titles are unrelated to what copies during a handoff. They're a label only and don't influence archiving behavio