Compare Plans overlays two sheets — either two versions of the same plan, or two different plans, such as a reflected ceiling plan against a lighting plan — showing unchanged content in greyscale and differences in red or blue. Per Fieldwire's own help center, it is available on Pro, Business, and Business Plus subscriptions; it shows where two sheets' line work agrees or disagrees, not whether the equipment, schedule, or specification behind that line work still matches.
What Fieldwire's help center describes
Per Fieldwire's own Knowledge Base article, "How to Compare Plans" (accessed 2026-09-14), and Fieldwire's subscription-feature page, Compare Plans is available on Pro, Business, and Business Plus accounts. You select two sheets to compare — two versions of the same plan for change control, or two different plans, such as a reflected ceiling plan overlaid on a lighting plan, for coordination. Content that matches shows in greyscale; differences show in red or blue. Markups and tasks added on the comparison view save to the primary or top sheet, and a later product update added the same comparison to Fieldwire's mobile app.
An overlap on the page is not proof of a resolved support condition
Fieldwire's own marketing for Compare Plans highlights overlaying two different disciplines' sheets — exactly the coordination use case a document reviewer cares about. What the overlay shows is where two sheets' geometry sits in the same place on the page, not whether the design intent behind that geometry is adequate.
In Groundbook's published hotel review, the exhaust-support finding was a commercial kitchen exhaust fan shown on a wood platform with no documented clearance or noncombustible-support condition. Overlaying the mechanical equipment plan on the structural framing plan could confirm the fan's footprint sits within the platform's outline; it would not tell a reader whether that platform's material and clearance actually meet the fan's installation requirements — that reading has to come from the referenced notes and standards, not the overlay.
Overlay for position, review for adequacy
Use Compare Plans for what its own use cases describe: change control between two versions of a plan, and a quick coordination check of where two disciplines' sheets occupy the same space. For whether the equipment, support, or clearance shown actually satisfies its own installation requirements, that verification needs the specification and reference standards read alongside the drawing — see cross-discipline coordination and drawings vs. specifications review.
If your project runs on Procore instead
Procore's Drawings tool overlays two versions of the same drawing number rather than two different plans — a narrower comparison than Fieldwire's. See how Procore's Compare Drawing Revisions feature works, and its stated size limit.