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How Email Automation Works

Arkata reads certain Planning Authority and BCA emails for you and files them against the right project — no more downloading attachments and updating records by hand.

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The basics

When an email arrives at your firm’s designated Arkata email address:
  1. Arkata receives it and stores it securely
  2. Identifies the type — is it an ISR, RFI, RFI Reminder, PDR, DPA, NEDN, BCA Method Statement, or BCA Clearance?
  3. Matches it to a project — using your Internal Reference or PA Reference
  4. Extracts PDF attachments (if applicable) — and stores them as project documents
  5. Creates a task (if applicable) — so you know action is needed
  6. Notifies you — via inbox notification

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What Arkata will never do

Email automation is deliberately limited for safety:
  • It will never create a client from an email
  • It will never create a project from an email
  • It will never modify existing project data beyond adding documents, tasks, and updating lifecycle phases
  • If it can’t confidently match an email to a project, it flags it for your manual review

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Matching logic

How Arkata matches an email to a project depends on the scenario: PA emails (ISR, RFI, RFI Reminder):
  1. Looks for your Internal Reference in the PDF content (primary)
  2. Falls back to the PA Reference (for RFI and RFI Reminder only)
  3. If neither matches, the email is flagged
Post Decision Requirements (PDR) and DPA:
  1. Looks for the PA Reference (in the subject line or PDF content) first
  2. Falls back to your Internal Reference
  3. If neither matches, the email is flagged
Non-Executable Decision Notice (NEDN):
  1. Matches on the PA Reference only — from the subject line (also present in the document). These notices carry no internal reference, so there is no fallback.
  2. If it doesn’t match, the email is flagged
BCA emails (Method Statement, Clearance):
  1. Looks for the PA Reference in the email subject or body
  2. If no match, the email is flagged
If Arkata can’t confidently match to exactly one project, you’ll get a notification to handle it manually.

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Duplicate emails

Authority systems sometimes send the same email twice. Arkata spots the repeat and ignores it, so you won’t get the same document filed twice.

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PDF attachments only

For PA and BCA Method Statement emails, Arkata extracts PDF attachments only. Other file types are left alone. BCA Clearance emails have no attachment — the email itself is the confirmation, and Arkata handles it without needing a PDF.