Contact Field Builder [Kontaktfeldbaukasten]: managing different types of contacts

The screenshots in this article show the German interface. The English label is given first, with the German label in square brackets.

Your benefit

Cleanly structured contacts make every later contract analysis more precise: suppliers can be filtered by whether an IBAN is present, customers can be segmented by industry, and private individuals can be addressed by salutation. Instead of maintaining a catch-all of free-text notes, you gain a consistent data basis on which AI extraction, reporting and compliance checks can build reliably.

How it works

1. Open the Contact Field Builder [Kontaktfeldbaukasten]

Navigate to Settings [Einstellungen].

Navigate to Field Builder [Feldbaukasten] → Contact Field Builder [Kontaktfeldbaukasten].

You will see the three-column layout:

• Your contact types [Ihre Kontakttypen] (left) — all contact types in your account (default: Service provider [Dienstleister], Customer [Kunde], Supplier [Lieferant], Person [Person], Company [Unternehmen]).
• Preview of your contact [Vorschau Ihres Kontaktes] (centre) — how a contact of this type will later look: first the Title [Titel] card (contact header [Kontakt-Kopfzeile]), and below it the thematic sections (e.g. General [Generell], Location [Standort]).
• Your fields [Ihre Felder] (right) — an alphabetical list of all fields in your account, with a search box.

2. Select a contact type

In the left-hand column, click a contact type (e.g. “Customer [Kunde]”). The centre column shows the fields and sections assigned to that type.

3. Create a new contact type

Click the green “+” to the right of “Your contact types [Ihre Kontakttypen]”.

In the dialogue, give it a name (e.g. “Cooperation partner”, “Broker”, “Public authority”) and choose a colour. If required, you can also use an existing contact type as a template [Vorlage] in order to adopt its structure — this saves time when building similar types.

4. Title card [Titel-Karte]: designing the contact header

Right at the top of the centre column you will see the “Title [Titel]” card with the note: “Contact header: add up to two single-line text fields here that will be shown at the top of the contact page, e.g. a name field.”

This is how you define which information appears prominently at the top of the contact. For a private individual, first name + surname makes sense. For a company: company name + legal form. Drag the appropriate fields from the right-hand column into the Title card [Titel-Karte].

5. Designing sections and fields

Below that come the sections (e.g. General [Generell], Location [Standort]). As in the Contract Field Builder [Vertragsfeldbaukasten], you drag fields into the appropriate section. Use the green “+” next to “Preview of your contact [Vorschau Ihres Kontaktes]” to add new sections.

Fields that occur in several contact types (e.g. Address [Adresse], Email [E-Mail], IBAN) only need to be maintained once in the right-hand column — ContractHero uses them per contact type according to the assignment.

6. Save

Do not forget to click “Save [Speichern]” in the top right — otherwise drag-and-drop changes will be lost when you leave the page.

Frequently asked questions

How do the default contact types differ?
ContractHero starts with five preset types — Service provider [Dienstleister], Customer [Kunde], Supplier [Lieferant], Person [Person], Company [Unternehmen]. They are generic templates that you can adapt to your own circumstances or extend with your own types.

What is the difference between a contact type and a contract category?
A contract category [Vertragskategorie] describes a type of contract (tenancy agreement, NDA, employment contract). A contact type [Kontakttyp] describes the nature of the contract partner (private individual, GmbH, public authority). There is one category per contract and one contact type per contract partner. Each controls its own fields.

Can different contact types share the same fields?
Yes — fields live in the account, not in the contact type. If you create an “IBAN” field and assign it to both “Supplier [Lieferant]” and “Service provider [Dienstleister]”, it is technically the same field. Values are stored separately per contact.

Can I change contact types later on?
Yes. You can change the contact type of an existing contact — the structured fields are then displayed according to the new schema, and existing values are retained (provided the field also exists in the new type).

Who is allowed to manage the Contact Field Builder [Kontaktfeldbaukasten]?
By default, only members with owner status [Eigentümer] or a role for which the Field Builder [Feldbaukasten] permission has been explicitly enabled. Regular members can see the fields on the contacts but cannot change the schema.

How many contact types make sense?
Rule of thumb: 5–8 clearly delineated types are enough for most organisations. More than 10 becomes confusing — it is better to keep types generic and to reflect differences via list fields or tags.

Good to know

• Use the Title card [Titel-Karte] cleverly. The contact header determines what is prominently visible when creating a contract and in lists. If the wrong value is at the top, you will spend longer searching later on. For companies: company name + legal form. For private individuals: first name + surname.
• Do not create IBAN twice. One of the common mistakes is maintaining an “IBAN” field and a “Bank details [Bankverbindung]” field in parallel. It is better to have one central field per piece of information — that saves maintenance and avoids inconsistency.
• A contact template saves setup time. If your new type resembles an existing one (e.g. “Cooperation partner” to “Service provider [Dienstleister]”), use the template when creating it — structure, fields and sections are copied and you only adjust the differences.
• Contract Field Builder [Vertragsfeldbaukasten] first, then Contact Field Builder [Kontaktfeldbaukasten]. For a consistent data model it is worth thinking both field builders through together — certain fields (e.g. “Internal account manager”) can make sense on the contract as well as on the contact.
• Do not forget to save. Structural changes (moving fields, adding sections) are only saved when you click “Save [Speichern]” in the top right.

Related articles

• How do I create contacts? How do I edit contacts?
• Field Builder – how do I create and manage fields?
• Field Builder – how do I create and edit categories?
• How do I merge duplicate contacts?

Updated on: 08/26/2026