Every contract in Retention Track has its own list of subscribers — the people on your team who should be kept in the loop about that specific contract. Subscribers are the people Retention Track emails when it's time to send a claim, and the people who see replies from the contractor come back into their inbox.
In this article we walk you through:
What a subscriber is
Who can be added as a subscriber
Where to manage subscribers on a contract
Subscribing or unsubscribing yourself
Adding and removing other subscribers
Which emails subscribers receive
How subscribers differ from the Outbound Email CC list
Common questions
What a subscriber is
A subscriber is a member of your Retention Track workspace who has opted in (or been opted in by a teammate) to receive notifications about a single contract. Subscriptions are per contract — being subscribed to one contract has no effect on any other contract.
Note: Workspace owners are always subscribed to every contract in the workspace, automatically. There is no need to add them, and they cannot be removed from a contract's subscriber list.
Who can be added as a subscriber
Subscribers must be members of the same workspace as the contract. You cannot add an external email address (for example, a contractor's email, an accountant outside the workspace, or a generic distribution list) as a subscriber.
If you need to copy an outside email address on outbound claims sent to the contractor, use the workspace-level CC list instead — see Outbound Email CC Settings.
Any workspace member — owner, admin, or member — can add or remove subscribers (with the exception that owners cannot be removed).
Where to manage subscribers on a contract
Subscribers are managed from the contract detail page:
In the left sidebar, click Contracts.
Click the contract you want to manage.
In the action bar at the top of the contract page, find the Subscribe button (with a bell icon). It is a split button — the main left side toggles your own subscription, and the chevron on the right opens the full subscriber list.
Note: The Subscribe button is only shown on active contracts. Draft contracts and contracts that have been closed do not display the button.
You can also pre-fill the subscriber list when first creating a contract — see the Subscribers section of Creating a Contract.
Subscribing or unsubscribing yourself
The fastest way to toggle your own subscription is to click the main body of the Subscribe button on the contract page. The label changes to Subscribed with a filled bell icon when you're subscribed, and back to Subscribe when you're not.
If you're a workspace owner, the toggle is disabled — you remain subscribed to every contract automatically.
Adding and removing other subscribers
Click the chevron on the right of the Subscribe button to open the subscriber panel. The panel has two sections:
Workspace Owners — listed at the top, greyed out. Owners are always subscribed and cannot be removed.
Subscribers — workspace members who have been opted in directly. Hover over a row and click it to remove that person from the contract.
Adding a subscriber
Open the subscriber panel from the chevron on the Subscribe button.
Click Add Subscriber at the bottom of the panel.
In the dialog that opens, choose a workspace member from the dropdown. Members who are already subscribed appear with "(Already Subscribed)" next to their name and can't be selected again.
Click Add. The new subscriber appears in the list immediately and will start receiving notifications for the contract from that point on.
Removing a subscriber
Open the subscriber panel from the chevron on the Subscribe button.
Find the person you want to remove in the Subscribers section.
Click their row. They are removed from the contract straight away.
Note: Removing a person from a contract's subscriber list only stops notifications for that one contract. They keep their workspace access and any subscriptions on other contracts.
If a member is removed from the workspace entirely, their contract subscriptions are cleaned up automatically — there is no need to remove them from each contract first.
Which emails subscribers receive
Subscribers (and workspace owners, who are always treated as subscribers) receive two kinds of contract notifications:
Retention claim reminders
When a contract reaches a date when a retention claim can be sent — Practical Completion or the end of the Defects Liability Period — Retention Track sends an email reminder to every subscriber. The email summarises the contract, the type of release (PC or Defects), and the amount outstanding, with a link straight to the contract.
Reminders only fire when there is retention still to claim. If the outstanding balance for that release is zero — for example, because you've already invoiced the full amount manually — Retention Track skips the reminder for that contract.
Forwarded contractor replies
When you send a payment claim, payment reminder, or adjudication notice to a contractor and the contractor replies by email, the reply is routed back through Retention Track and forwarded to the contract's subscribers and the workspace owners. This way the right people see the response without you having to chase it down or forward it manually.
Note: Subscribers do not receive a copy of the outbound payment claim itself when it's sent to the contractor — those emails go to the contractor's contacts (with the Outbound Email CC list copied in). Subscribers see the inbound reply, not the outbound claim.
How subscribers differ from the Outbound Email CC list
It's easy to confuse contract subscribers with the workspace-level Outbound Email CC list. They are two different concepts that solve two different problems.
Contract Subscribers | Outbound Email CC |
Configured per contract, on the contract detail page. | Configured once per workspace, on the Workspace Settings page. |
Must be a member of your workspace. | Any email address, including external addresses and group aliases. |
Receive internal reminder emails about that contract, and forwarded replies from the contractor. | CC'd on outbound payment claims, payment reminders, and adjudication notices sent to the contractor. |
Used for keeping your team in the loop on a specific contract. | Used for keeping a shared mailbox (e.g. [email protected]) on every contractor-facing email. |
In short: subscribers are inward-facing (Retention Track emails your team about a contract); the Outbound Email CC list is outward-facing (your team is copied on emails going out to a contractor).
Common questions
Why can't I remove a workspace owner from the subscriber list?
Workspace owners are always treated as subscribed to every contract — this is a deliberate safeguard so that the people accountable for the workspace can never accidentally miss a claim reminder or a contractor reply. If an owner shouldn't be receiving notifications for a particular contract, they would need to be moved off the owner role on the workspace.
Can I add an external email (an accountant, a client, a generic inbox) as a subscriber?
No. Only workspace members can be subscribers. If the external address needs to be copied on outbound claim emails sent to the contractor, add it to the Outbound Email CC list instead. If they need to see what's happening on the contract more broadly, invite them to the workspace as a member.
Will subscribers get a copy of the payment claim I send to the contractor?
No. Outbound payment claims go to the contractor's contacts, with the Outbound Email CC list copied in. Subscribers only see the reminder beforehand and any reply the contractor sends back.
Do changes take effect immediately?
Yes. Adding or removing a subscriber takes effect straight away — no save step. The next reminder or forwarded reply uses the current subscriber list.
The Subscribe button isn't showing on a contract — why?
The Subscribe button is only displayed on active contracts. If you're looking at a draft contract or a contract that's been closed, the button is hidden. Once the contract is activated, the button will appear in the action bar.