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Milestones — what completes automatically and what doesn't

A milestone marks a concrete event in your build — "Architect engaged," "Permit received," "First invoice paid." Some complete on their own when Hemma sees the right signal. Others need you to confirm. Here is how to tell them apart.

01Milestones that complete automatically

Hemma watches the project for specific events and marks milestones complete when it sees them. The kinds of events it looks for:

  • A contractor is linked to the project in the right trade (e.g., linking an architect completes "Architect engaged")
  • A document is uploaded of the expected type (e.g., a soil survey report completes "Soil survey completed")
  • An invoice arrives from a contractor in a specific trade
  • An invoice is paid for a specific trade or line
  • A quote is chosen from a specific trade
  • A calendar date passes for a time-based milestone

When Hemma detects the right event, the milestone moves to completed and the timestamp is recorded automatically.

02Milestones that need your confirmation

Some milestones have no automatic signal — they require a judgment call only you can make. "Preliminary design approved," "Soil conditions accepted," "Handover of keys." These stay incomplete until you mark them yourself.

To complete a manual milestone:

  1. Open the phase card containing the milestone.
  2. Click Mark as done next to the milestone.
  3. It moves to completed with today as the date.

03Overriding an automatic completion

If Hemma auto-completed a milestone too early — say it detected a document upload but you think the milestone is not really done — you can unmark it.

  1. Open the completed milestone.
  2. Click Mark as incomplete.
  3. The milestone returns to open. Hemma will not automatically re-complete it until it sees the triggering event again.

04Marking an auto-completion milestone manually

If Hemma has not seen the triggering event yet but you know the milestone is done — a contractor was agreed by phone and no invoice has landed yet — you can mark it complete yourself. Click Mark as done on any incomplete milestone, regardless of how Hemma normally detects it.

05Why a milestone might be stuck

  • The triggering event has not happened: an invoice is expected but has not arrived yet, or the document upload is still processing.
  • The document was uploaded but classified differently: Hemma classified it as a different document type than expected. Check the document detail and correct the classification.
  • The contractor is linked but to the wrong trade: Hemma matches contractors to milestones by trade. If the trade is wrong, the milestone will not trigger. See picking the right trade.

06Common questions

Do milestones affect my project timeline? Yes. Milestones are what determine whether a phase is active or done. A phase does not move to "done" until its required milestones are complete.

Can I delete a milestone? You can delete milestones you created yourself. Built-in milestones from the Belgian construction template cannot be deleted — but they can be marked complete or left open without consequence.

Can I add my own milestone? Yes. At the bottom of any active phase, click Add milestone and give it a name. Custom milestones always require manual completion.