Take control of who can do what in Higharc! ✨ The updated User Management system introduces a fully redesigned permissions experience — complete with default roles for common job functions, the ability to build custom roles from scratch or by duplicating existing ones, and a flexible three-state permission model (Allow, Deny, and Defer). Whether you're managing a large team with varied access needs or fine-tuning permissions for sales staff across specific locations and home plans, the new system gives admins the precision and confidence to set up every user with exactly the right level of access from day one.
Expand for Custom Roles & Permission Settings Info
Expand for Custom Roles & Permission Settings Info
Overview
The User Management system controls access across the platform through:
Users: individual accounts
Roles: permission sets assigned to users
Each user has one role. You can also add user-level permission overrides for extra flexibility.
Understanding Roles
Roles are used to group permissions by job function within your organization and are then assigned to individual users. This ensures that users have the right level access from the moment their account is created. The updated User Management menu includes both Higharc’s default roles and the ability to create new custom roles.
Default Roles
Higharc’s default roles are pre-configured and cannot be edited directly. They are a direct copy of the existing roles usually selected during new user creation.
Custom Roles
Create custom roles by:
Clicking Create Role on the Roles tab
Duplicating an existing role and editing the permissions
Tip: To reduce setup time, start by duplicating the role most similar to the custom one you want to create, then add or remove permissions as needed for the custom role.
Permission System
Each permission within a role/user can be set to one of three states:
Allow: User can perform the action (unless denied at the user or role level)
Deny: Action is blocked; Deny always overrides Allow
Defer to Other Policies: Uses other role/user policies to decide
How Permissions Are Evaluated
Any Deny blocks the action
Allow only works if nothing else denies it
If no policy covers the action (e.g. the role/user have it set to “Defer”), it defaults to Denied
Important: You cannot override a role’s Deny with a user-level Allow.
Permission Categories
Permissions are grouped into categories like:
Builder Settings & Admin
Locations
Home Plans
Lots
Sales & Marketing
Studio Files
Estimate
etc…
How Sales Staff Permissions Work
Sales roles combine role permissions with resource assignments (such as assignment to a specific home plan or location).
Default Sales Roles
Sales Manager: full sales access, can assign agents, manage settings, download plan sets
Sales Team Lead: manages plans within assigned locations
Sales Agent: limited to assigned home plans
Home Plan Assignment
Sales agents are auto-assigned when creating new home plans
Permission Assign Sales Agent to Home Plan controls reassignment
Some permissions apply only if the user is assigned to the plan
Location Assignment
Sales team leads can be assigned to locations
Permission Assign Sales Agent to Community controls location assignment
Plan Set Downloads
Plan set downloads are controlled by:
Role permissions (Download Plan Sets / Download Built-In Plan Sets)
Assignment-based access (Download Plan Sets If Sales Staff)
Per-template controls in Studio (Allow / Deny / If Assigned)
Best Practices
Least Privilege: grant only the access needed to do the job
Audit Regularly: review roles and permissions periodically
Use Roles Over Overrides: prefer role-based access over user overrides
Tutorial: Create a "Drafting Manager" Role
Goal
Create a custom role called Drafting Manager based on the default Drafter role and tailor its permissions.
Step 1 — Open Roles
Go to User Management
Open the Roles tab
Step 2 — Duplicate the Drafter Role
Find the Drafter role in the default roles list
Click Duplicate
Name the new role: Drafting Manager
Step 3 — Configure Permissions
In the permissions editor, review categories and adjust as needed:
Allow drafting-related work (e.g., Studio Files, Home Plans)
Deny admin or sensitive actions not relevant to drafting
Defer anything handled by other policies
Step 4 — Assign the Role to Users
Go to Users
Select a user
Assign Drafting Manager as their role
✏️ For Design & Drafting
Add Elevation View Notes directly from Facade Finishes
Added the ability to add an elevation view note directly to a facade finish. Manual Annotation no longer required!
Instance Overrides for Doc-Referenced Option Sets
You can now override properties on doc-referenced option sets and options directly in the Option Inspector — no need to create Option Templates for per-plan adjustments.
Override key fields in-place: Name, Default Value, Category, Sales Category, Description, Disabled, Locking Conditions, and Remap configuration can all be edited locally on doc-referenced options.
Familiar blue-dot pattern: Overridden fields show the blue-dot indicator, with one-click reset back to the CDM source value.
Survives CDM re-syncs: Your local overrides are preserved when the CDM updates. Non-overridden fields continue to track upstream changes automatically.
Elevation View Updates
New Realistic Render Style
We now have a new realistic render style for realtime elevation views in Studio.
Select the View Style of
Realisticin the Elevation View
New Smooth Camera Transition between Elevation Views
When you switch between Elevation Views in Studio, there is a smooth transition from one view to the other. Multiple open views are no longer needed for each Elevation View.
Ability to customize exported PDF names from Config
Added the ability to customize the exported PDF file name for plan sets from the Config Documentation modal.
Split Patio System Parameters for better reporting
Split the Covered Patio system parameter into separate parameters for breezeways and rear porches, including a new takeoff and system parameter. These are no longer included in a single Covered Patio/Porch parameter.
Fixes!!
Resolved substantial performance lag when using the Mirror command on home files with a large number of drawings and groups.
Fixed a crash ("Maximum update depth exceeded") that occurred when clicking on a facade assigned to a room edge.
Fixed subtle visual artifacts appearing on some materials around texture borders.
Fixed viewport alignment to include bounding box annotations so elevation notes no longer appear outside viewport bounds.
Global parameters referenced in elevation and section view annotations now automatically update when their values change.
🧾 For Estimating
Create and edit Measure Groups directly in the global measures view
Create and edit Measure Groups directly in the global measures view without explicitly having a plan opened. Higharc will show you sample data based on the latest plan you have opened to help you set up the filters and breakouts. Upon finishing the measure group, it will return you back to the global measures page.
Add Roof Material Attribute to Existing Roof Edges Category
The
Roof Edgescategory now includes aRoof Materialattribute, allowing roof edge lengths to be broken out by the material of the roof they comprise.
Fixes!!
Fixed an issue that caused the
Room Name&Room Typeattributes of theInterior Finish with Openingscategory to be reported incorrectly under certain Circumstances.Resolved the missing bottom surface of tray ceilings from Estimate ceiling components.