Docs/Workspace Setup

Clients and Properties

Clients and properties form the hierarchy in Manifold that checks, records, portals and reporting all depend on.

For: Office teams and owners4 min read5 sections

Property exampleCustomer-safe walkthrough

A property that knows its own compliance story

A well-formed property carries its client, appliance register, last record, status, and open defects so anyone can read its compliance at a glance.

What you see

A property under a client, with type, address, and access notes.
An appliance register listing each unit to be tested.
Compliance status and the next renewal date rolled up from the latest record.

How to use it

Create the client first, then the property, then the appliance register.
Use the address exactly as the landlord recognises it; it prints on the record.
Add access notes (key safe, tenant contact) so engineers are not locked out.
Keep historical properties in place; there is no delete or archive for a property that records reference.

Property detail

12 Oakwood Road, Leeds

Northgate Lettings - flat

due soon

Next check due 15 Jun 2026

Appliance register

Worcester Greenstar 30i

Boiler - Kitchen

registered

Valor Black Beauty

Gas fire - Living room

registered

Decision guide

SituationRecommended actionProof it worked

New landlord with several propertiesCreate the client, then import properties and appliances.Each property shows under the right client with a register.

Property has an HMO licenceSet the property type to HMO and capture access notes.Scheduling and records reflect the correct type.

A unit was replacedUpdate the appliance register before the next check.The engineer tests the new appliance, not the old one.

Troubleshooting path

1If a property is missing from scheduling, confirm it belongs to the current organisation.
2If the route looks wrong, correct the property address and postcode; Navigate uses the address, and drive-time estimates need coordinates that Manifold support can add.
3If a client cannot see a record, confirm delivery and portal visibility.

Property import rows

CSV sample

Safe example data

address_line1,address_line2,city,postcode,property_type,client_name,tenant_name,tenant_email,last_check_date,next_due_date,notes
12 Oakwood Road,,Leeds,LS6 2AB,flat,Northgate Lettings,J. Patel,j.patel@example.com,15/06/2026,15/06/2027,"Key safe by side door, code on file"
3 Mill Court,Flat 2,Leeds,LS1 4PQ,hmo,Northgate Lettings,,,,,"Call tenant 30 min before arrival"

Import clients before properties so the client_name column resolves.

Keep postcodes accurate; they print on the record and disambiguate addresses on later imports.

Client Management

Clients and properties are the hierarchy everything else in Manifold sits under: a client (the landlord, letting agent, or property manager) owns one or more properties, and each property holds the appliance register a check tests. Get this hierarchy right first, because checks, records, portals, and reporting all read from it.

Create, edit, and view client records with client type (landlord, letting agent, property manager, housing provider), contact details, address, notes and an active flag.
Use clients to group properties, records, portal access, and analytics.
Invite client portal users from Settings, then Team, with the Client / agent role, so landlords and letting agents can self-serve their records.
Control who sees each client from its Access card: leave it open to all office staff, or restrict it to named office and portal users at view-only or manage level. A portal user sees the properties, checks and records of the clients they are granted.

Property Management

Create properties with an address (search fills the address fields), the client, and tenant contact. Property type (house, flat, HMO, maisonette, commercial, other), key arrangement, access notes and check dates sit under More details.
Hold an appliance register per property so checks know what to test.
Keep the address and postcode precise. Directions and the engineer route list are built from the address.
Use property pages to review check history, current compliance status, and open defects.
Add property from a client page prefills the client, and Add appliance and Schedule check from a property page prefill the property. The tenant email on a property is where the tenant copy of a CP12 is sent.
Each property page also holds practical notes, accessibility prompts, a history thread and attachments of up to 20 MB.

Best Practices

Create the client first, then the property, then the appliance register.
Use the address format clients recognise, because it prints on records and appears in the portal.
Keep historical properties in place when old records reference them. Mark a client inactive rather than deleting it, and leave its properties where the records can still find them.

Troubleshooting

Property does not appear for scheduling: confirm it belongs to the current organisation and is not filtered out.
Client cannot see a record: open the client and check the Access card grants their portal login access to that client, and that the record has been generated.
Map or route looks wrong: correct the property address and postcode, then reopen the route.

Data Quality Standard

Setup records are not just admin. They become the labels, filters, and certificate fields customers rely on later. A small naming or address mistake in setup becomes a compliance or delivery problem weeks later.

Use one canonical spelling for every client, property, and appliance.
Keep property addresses precise, because they drive the route planner, scheduling, and the printed record.
Keep appliance make, model, serial, and GC number accurate so PlateScan deduplicates cleanly.
Deactivate former engineers and historical records instead of deleting history that explains past work.
Run bulk imports in dependency order: clients, then properties, then appliances.

Customer-Facing Consequences

If a value can appear on a record, in the portal, or in an export, write it as if a landlord or letting agent will read it. Manifold reuses operational labels across customer outputs, so there is no separate translation step at delivery time.

Troubleshooting

If a client sees a confusing name, fix the source record so every record generated from now on prints it correctly.
If analytics split across duplicate names, choose one canonical record going forward and keep the old ones for history.
If an export does not join downstream, check names, identifiers, and relationships in setup before changing the export.

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Appliance Registers