Manage Approved Permits
This article explains what happens after a permit has been approved, including how to monitor its status and manage common next steps such as placing work on hold or closing the permit. Use it to keep your site’s active permits accurate, current, and aligned with the work taking place on site.
What this means
- An approved permit is a permit application that has passed review and is now in an active lifecycle state (commonly Open or On Hold, depending on site setup).
- Managing approved permits means keeping the permit status current as work starts, pauses, finishes, or expires.
When you’ll use this
- A permit has been approved and work is about to begin.
- Work has paused and the permit needs to be placed on hold.
- Work is complete and the permit needs to be closed out.
- A permit has expired and needs to be closed or corrected.
Step-by-step
Common issues
Permit shows approved but is On Hold instead of Open
What to check
- Whether your permit configuration sets the status after approval to On Hold (some sites do this)
What to do
- Follow your site workflow: when the work is ready to begin, open the permit (and complete any “Open” form if your setup requires it)
Can’t close an approved permit
What to check
- Whether your role has permission to close permits (in many setups, only hosts / GC site team can close)
- Whether the permit closure policy requires the permit to be On Hold before it can be closed
What to do
- If closure requires On Hold first, place the permit On Hold and then close it
- If you don’t have the ability to close, escalate to the site manager / GC site team to close it out
Expired approved permits still appear active
What to check
- Whether the permit end date has passed
What to do
- Close the permit out following your site process
- If you are closing permits on behalf of a customer/site team, make sure you document that it was closed by support/site admin per request and follow your internal process for remote closure
Too many old permits still open
What to check
- Whether site managers are regularly closing permits at the end of the day/shift
What to do
- Agree a date range and which sites/permits should be closed
- Close the permits out using the site’s normal workflow, and ensure notes are added where required to explain why the permit was advanced/closed
Why this matters
- Keeps the live permit list accurate for safety oversight and compliance audits
- Reduces risk by ensuring permits don’t remain active after work has finished or dates have expired
Need help?
If you can’t update permit status (open/on hold/close) or you’re unsure which close-out rules apply for your site, contact your site admin to confirm your permissions and the permit closure policy being used.
If you require any assistance or have a question, please contact our Support Team on +44 7400 977 382 or email us at support@breadcrumb.co, and we'll be happy to help.