Review & Approval
Understand how to review documents, annotate PDFs, submit your verdict, and manage the approval flow in Document Ocean 360 workflows.
/projects/:id/workflows/:workflowId/review When a workflow is submitted, each assigned reviewer and approver receives a task to evaluate the attached documents. The review and approval process is where the real quality control happens — reviewers examine drawings and deliverables, leave precise annotations, and render their verdict. Document Ocean 360 provides a purpose-built review interface that keeps everything in one place with a full audit trail.
Workflow Statuses During Review
As a workflow progresses through review, its status updates automatically:
Submitted Waiting for reviewers to begin. No one has opened the documents yet.
Under Review At least one reviewer has opened the workflow and is actively reviewing.
Approved All reviewers and approvers have submitted positive verdicts.
Approved with Comments Approved, but reviewers have flagged items that should be addressed in the next revision.
Rejected One or more reviewers have rejected the document. Revision and resubmission required.
Returned The document was returned to the originator for clarification before review can continue.
The Review Interface
The review interface opens the document in Document Ocean 360’s built-in PDF viewer with a full annotation toolbar. You can zoom, pan, and navigate multi-page drawings without leaving the app. Your annotations are saved in real time and visible to other reviewers (in parallel mode) or to subsequent reviewers (in sequential mode).
How to Complete a Review
Open Your Review Task
Navigate to 'My Tasks' in the sidebar or click the notification link in your email. Find the workflow and click 'Start Review' to open the review interface.
Examine the Document
Use the PDF viewer to inspect every page of the document. Zoom into details, compare against previous revisions if available, and check for compliance with project standards.
Add Annotations
Use the annotation toolbar to add markups directly on the document — arrows, rectangles, text callouts, freehand drawings, and cloud markups. Each annotation can include a comment explaining the issue.
Write Review Comments
In addition to on-document annotations, you can add general comments in the review panel. Use these for high-level feedback, questions to the originator, or cross-references to standards and specifications.
Submit Your Verdict
Choose your verdict from the action menu: Approve, Approve with Comments, Reject, or Return. Add a summary comment explaining your decision, then click 'Submit Review'.
Make your annotations count
When annotating drawings, be as specific as possible. Pin your annotation to the exact location of the issue, reference the relevant specification clause, and describe what needs to change. Vague comments like “fix this” slow down the revision cycle. A clear annotation like “Column grid line B3 — reinforcement detail does not match Spec §4.2.3, reduce bar spacing to 150mm c/c” saves everyone time.
Review Verdict Actions
Verdict Options
The document meets all requirements and is cleared for use without changes. The workflow advances toward final approval.
The document is acceptable for its current purpose, but the reviewer has noted items that should be incorporated in the next revision. The workflow still advances, but comments are flagged for follow-up.
The document has significant issues that prevent approval. The originator must revise the document and resubmit it through a new workflow cycle. All annotations and comments are preserved for reference.
The document is returned to the originator for clarification without a formal rejection. Use this when the submission is incomplete, the wrong revision was uploaded, or additional context is needed before a proper review can take place.
Permissions: Who Can Do What
Reassignment
Sometimes a reviewer is unavailable — they may be on leave, have left the project, or simply be overloaded. Project Admins can reassign a review task to a different team member without cancelling the entire workflow.
Reassignment audit trail
When a review task is reassigned, the original assignee’s partial work (annotations, draft comments) is preserved in the audit log. The new assignee starts fresh but can view the previous reviewer’s notes if needed. All reassignment actions are logged with timestamps and the reason provided by the admin.
The reassigned reviewer receives the same email and in-app notification as the original assignment. The workflow due date remains unchanged unless the admin explicitly extends it.
Approval Flow
Once all reviewers have submitted their verdicts, the workflow transitions to the approval stage. Approvers see a consolidated view of all reviewer feedback — every annotation, comment, and verdict — before making their final decision.
If the workflow has multiple approvers, they all must sign off before the workflow reaches Approved status. A single rejection from any approver sends the workflow back to Rejected .
After approval, the document’s status in the register is updated automatically, and the originator is notified. Approved documents can then receive digital stamps and signatures to finalize them for distribution.
What Happens After Rejection?
When a document is rejected, the originator receives a notification with all reviewer and approver annotations compiled into a single markup PDF. They revise the document, upload a new revision, and initiate a new workflow. The system automatically links the new workflow to the previous one, creating a continuous revision history that auditors and quality managers can trace end-to-end.