---
id: KB-DI-014
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/documents-and-ai/documents-that-arrive-by-messaging
idioma: en
categoria: documentos-ia
subcategoria: subir
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-DI-012, KB-CC-001, KB-DI-017]
citadoPor: [KB-DI-019]
---

# Documents that arrive by messaging

_The delivery note someone sends you on WhatsApp exists, and you must decide what to do with it._

**Responde a:** they send me documents on whatsapp · documents via instant messaging · saving a pdf received in a chat · the supplier sends photos on whatsapp

Like it or not, a lot of real documentation now arrives by messaging: the photographed delivery note, the PDF certificate, the photo of damage. Banning it does not work — people will keep doing it — and accepting it as is leaves company documentation on someone's personal phone.

## The three problems with leaving it there

| Problem | Consequence |
| --- | --- |
| It is on a personal phone | It leaves with the person and the phone |
| There is no context | A loose PDF in a chat does not say which order it belongs to |
| There is no useful record | "I sent it on WhatsApp" is not a delivery record |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third causes the most arguments. Messaging shows a file was sent, but that evidence lives on two private phones and is easy to lose or dispute. It is not the same as a recorded send.

## What to do, without falling out with anyone

1. **Accept it as a notification route, not a delivery route** — "Great, now upload it here" turns a chat into documentation.
2. **If it already arrived that way, upload it yourselves** — Ten seconds. Better than losing it on principle.
3. **And for anything that matters, ask via the recorded route** — Signatures, formal submissions, deadlines. Messaging is not enough there.

> [!WARNING]
> The dangerous case is signing. An "agreed" in a chat may count as an indication, but it does not leave the evidence a signature does: identity, moment and exact content accepted. That is what a signature request is for, and it costs the same as arguing afterwards.

## When messaging is the right channel

**En corto**

- To say that something has been uploaded.
- To unblock someone who does not open email.
- And for a quick photo that is then stored where it belongs.

Used that way it is an excellent channel: it arrives, it gets read, it unblocks. The problem was never the channel, it was using it as an archive.

> [!NOTE]
> If you send requests through that channel, the recipient can still supply via the link, with nothing to install. That is how to benefit from messaging's reach without losing the record.

**Can reminders be sent there?**

Yes, and for some recipients it works considerably better than email.

**Is a delivery note photo sent by chat valid?**

As a document yes, if you upload it. As proof of delivery, no.

**What about site or team groups?**

They are good for coordinating; whatever is decided there, if it matters, goes into the file.

## Ejemplos

**A site manager receives every delivery note by chat and keeps them on his phone.**

- Uploads each to the site's file on receipt

→ Changing phones loses nothing and delivery notes can be searched by supplier.

**The document arrives on paper by courier.**

- Captures it on receipt

→ It enters the file the same day.

**The envelope is opened and the paper sits in a tray.**

- Digitises at reception itself

→ There stops being a pile waiting.

**Nobody knows whether a document came by post or courier.**

- Records the entry route

→ The history reflects what happened.

**The original must be kept as well as the copy.**

- Notes where the original is stored

→ It is located without walking the archive.

**Something arrives that belongs to no file.**

- Records it and finds who it belongs to

→ It does not sit in an ownerless tray.