Getting started

Install the app, learn the four colors, and make your first project. About five minutes.

1. Install

RateCaddy is an iPhone and Android app. Get it from the App Store or Google Play and open it. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to configure before the first project.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play Coming to the App Store and Google Play.
Everything is on the phone.The app, its fonts and its PDF tools install together, so it works the same in a basement with no signal as it does in the truck. Updates arrive through the store; the version prints at the bottom of Settings.
Data lives in the app.Deleting the app deletes its database, including every photo. Before you delete it or switch phones, back up from Settings.

2. Read the colors

The first Home screen shows a card called How RateCaddy reads. It is the whole design in four lines and it is worth thirty seconds.

How RateCaddy reads: the four-color key shown on first launch12
  1. 1
    How RateCaddy readsYellow is when. Blue is shoot. Green is done. Red needs attention. Black is a button or an instrument. Nothing else on any screen is colored.
  2. 2
    Got itblackDismisses the card. It is always available again under Settings, Help.

3. Make a project

Tap the blue New project tile on Home. The first time, the App Store or Google Play asks you to start the free month (yearly or monthly, nothing charged until the month ends); after that the form opens straight away. Everything else in the app works without a subscription, so you can look around first.

Subscribe sheet with Yearly and Monthly plans, Start free month button and Restore purchases12

The free month

  1. 1
    Pick a planYearly ($299.99) or Monthly ($29.99). Either way the first month is free.
  2. 2
    Start free monthblackConfirms with Face ID or your store password. Change or cancel later under Settings, Subscription.
New Project form with Project Type picker, address, dates and builder fields1234567
  1. 1
    Project TypeEnergy Rating for a two-stage inspection with photos. Performance Testing for a blower door or duct test on its own. Any visits list you have made (Home Inspection, say) is listed here too and becomes the project type.
  2. 2
    Measure ListWhich rating list of measures the project starts with. Default is preselected. Visits lists are picked under Project Type instead, and this menu hides.
  3. 3
    ENERGY STAR JobAdds the Rater Field Checklist to the project and the checklist photo tiles to each stage.
  4. 4
    Project NameOptional. Left blank, the name is built from the builder and address.
  5. 5
    AddressStreet, city, state. Feeds the Maps link, Up Next, and the weather town lookup.
  6. 6
    Stage datesyellowPre-Drywall and Final Inspection date and time. Either can be blank and set later from the stage screen.
  7. 7
    BuilderCompany, contact, phone, email. Pick a saved builder to fill all four. Saved automatically for next time.

Save, and you are on the project screen. Tap the Pre-Drywall card to open the photo wall. From here on, the photos tutorial takes over.

4. Know your way around Home

RateCaddy Home screen with the yellow Up Next card, New project button, week strip and project list12345
  1. 1
    Up nextyellowWhere you are going next. Tap it to open that stage.
  2. 2
    New projectblueThe form above.
  3. 3
    ActiveThe full project list with Active, Waiting and Completed tabs. A search box appears once a tab has more than five projects.
  4. 4
    Week stripyellowSeven days of dots. Tap a day for the schedule.
  5. 5
    SettingsDo this once: code requirements and report info. See the settings reference.
Getting back.On every screen other than Home the house sits top-right. Tap it to go Home from any depth. The link at top-left goes up one level and is named for where it goes.