zInspector continues to be the most powerful yet affordable inspection solution on the market. Some notable features absent from many other platforms include:

• iOS & Android support
• Take Photos & Videos
• Mark-up Mode – Draw on your photos!
• Move-In / Move-Out Comparison – even when performed on different devices by different users!
• Custom Documents — filled out on the mobile app!
• Searchable Cloud Storage
• User Permissions Control
• Fair Pricing
• and much more!

Sign Up & Download the App

• Follow this link to register and create an account: no credit card required for sign-up.
• Download the zInspector app from the Google Play Store and/or the Apple AppStore.
•  Sign in to the app (and site if you wish) with your new login info (email address and password).

Video Introduction & First-Time Use

• Watch this brief video to learn how to create a property and perform a move-out inspection.
• Create a Property on the mobile app or website while you follow along with the video.
• Try out Photo Inspection (quick photos/videos) or Property Management Inspection (full Move-In / Move-Out / Annual).

Also take a look at the Quick Start (Basics) walkthrough.

zInspector is designed to be flexible to your approach, whether you need to get fully set up fast or prefer to ease in gradually.

• To start off slowly, just add properties as you go.  Most users who go this route create their properties on-site using the mobile app.
• To dive in, with all of your properties / units in zInspector from the beginning, multiple creation tools on the website can help you set up.  You can even import your units automatically by syncing with a property management accounting software such as Appfolio (See Chapter 11 on Integrations in our knowledge base). You may want to create a few manually first, just to get started.
• Most companies start with 1 or 2 employees using zInspector, then roll out to all their employees after a few inspections.  You can change the number of inspectors at any time (in the website’s Group tab).

Absolutely. zInspector offers tons of customization options:

• The zInspector 3 app (iOS and Android), released in Fall 2019, provides unparalleled inspection customization!
• Modify all Details within specific Areas to accurately specify your properties and guide your inspections. 
• Customize inspection reports with your company logo.
• Create your own custom document templates.
• And much more!

• In zInspector, creating Properties—not inspection templates—is the first step. Why? Because a 5-bedroom template is not actually that useful for inspecting a 2-bedroom house.
• When you create a property in zInspector, you build it with the specific Areas (rooms, yards, systems) associated with that property.
• Your inspection “template” will automatically configure to match each specific property/unit that you create.
• With the zInspector 3 app (released Fall 2019: iOS and Android), you can fully customize your inspection templates to suit your needs.
• When using our default inspection templates, defining the Details within an Area is as close to building an inspection template as you need to get.  A Bathroom, for example, is an area that contains all these available details: Faucet, Shower, Toilet and Walls. By specifying or changing Details within any Area, you are in effect changing the inspection template for that Area. An Admin user can specify default areas for property types and customize area details here.
• Along with default and fully customizable inspection templates, custom document templates, are another useful zInspector feature. You can create fully customized document templates for very specific activities such as City Compliance, Pet Violation, or Smoke Detector check. You can even create invoices, checklists, and other forms of documentation.  Document Templates are most effective when they are specific to a process, focused on a particular situation, used in tandem with other documents, and used consistently during particular activities—which zInspector Tasks can help to coordinate (with Task Docs, the Task Manager, and Task To-Do Lists).

zInspector is available free of charge to single users with up to five properties (meaning “units” or “doors”), with all basic functionality included.

Do you have many units or many users? Great! zInspector continues to be the most powerful yet affordable inspection solution on the market. See our pricing page for more info.

You do.

Your content belongs to you. We will never sell or publish your photos, videos, documents, or inspection results. We do, however, reserve the right to access and copy them. For example, we make low resolution copies of your photos so you can quickly browse your information from our website.

Yes, you can delete individual media (photos and videos), activities and/or properties as you require. zInspector will not retain information you choose to delete.

Delete a Photo or Video

There are several ways to delete a photo or video from zInspector:

– Go to the website Timeline, click on the associated Activity, hover over a photo or video then click on Edit? when it appears. Click Delete at the bottom of the Edit Photo window.

– Go to the Properties list, click on the associated property, and click to view the relevant photo or video. Click the Edit (pencil) icon near the bottom of the enlarged media. Click Delete at the bottom of the Edit Photo window.

– On the app, tap on the Gallery icon to see all inspection media still stored locally. Tap the Edit (pencil) icon, then tap the Delete (trashcan) icon.

Delete an Activity

Admin users can enable an option in Report Settings to allow users to delete Activities. 

Video: Deleting a zInspector Activity

Delete a Property

Fully deleting a property is a two-step process: first Archive and then Delete it. Note that this option is only available for Admin users. Go to your Properties list then click on the Admin tab to reach the Admin’s Property Page.

See this article for complete instructions.

Important note: Deleting a Property also deletes any inspection data (activities, media, documents) associated with it. For most users, it likely makes more sense to simply archive properties no longer under their management than it does to delete them. Archived properties and all associated inspection data remain stored, and do not appear in the active Properties list and Timeline, but can be restored at any time.

• zInspector software is designed to keep your personal info and inspection data secure.
• zInspector will not share or sell your personal information.
• zInspector does not own any content you generate: it’s yours.
• For detailed information, please see our Terms of Service.

zInspector has been tested and found to be compatible with most standard iOS and Android devices. You can perform an inspection on a tablet one day and do another one on your phone the next day. You can even perform a property management inspection (photos, conditions, comments), while a team mate performs a supplemental photo inspection (photos, comments) simultaneously on a different device.

We do not recommend low-end, off-brand Android tablets because they often have poor camera resolution and insufficient memory.  But most phones and tablets work very well!

Note: zInspector does not support mid-inspection device switching.  Once an inspection is started on a device, it should be finished there.

Yes, you can.

zInspector has the most powerful sync capability on the market. New devices are up and running in about 30 seconds. You can change device between inspections, or use several devices simultaneously for separate inspection activities.  We do not, however, recommend multiple users performing a simultaneous Property Management Inspection on the exact same property at the same time.  One user inspecting the property in Property Management Inspection mode and other users simultaneously taking photos and videos in Photo Inspection mode works well.

Yes, you can. We built zInspector for cross-platform collaboration.  We believe in freedom to choose your device!  This is especially important because zInspector is designed with B.Y.O.D. (Bring-Your-Own-Device) offices in mind.  When an employee does bring their own device, the zInspector app keeps company information separate from the user’s personal information.

Yes, you can.

This feature comes in handy when you want to store photos taken outside of the zInspector app in a zInspector property record or include them in a zInspector report.

Before uploading non-native photos to the zInspector website, you must download them to a computer.

On the zInspector website, click on the main menu bar Properties item and select Properties. Locate the relevant property in the list, then click on the relevant Property Name to open the dashboard for that property. 

Now click Upload and select Upload Images.

Specify tags as appropriate (i.e., those tags that the selected photos have in common). You can add additional tags to specific photos later.  Finally, click Upload.

Notes:

• To see photos in a particular report, you may need to adjust Span settings for that report.
• The maximum number of photos that can be uploaded at once is determined by your computer’s memory. If uploading a large number of photos, try a batch of 20 to start, then, depending on how that works, adjust future batch sizes.

Yes. You can edit any uploaded inspection, as long as the Group Owner of your account has given you sufficient access privileges. Of course, some report information, such as geotags and timestamps, cannot be changed. Other changes you make—for instance, to a tenant-completed move-in inspection—may require the tenant’s signature prior to re-submission.

All communications between your computer and/or mobile device(s) and our server are encrypted. In addition, all zInspector passwords are encrypted. That said, we do not encrypt your photos, videos, or inspections. Specific zInspector employees can log in to your account and view this content. In practice, however, we will only do so in order to provide you with stellar technical support.

zInspector performs a daily backup of all of your photos, videos, and information in order to prevent data loss in the event of any server issues. We utilize Amazon server resources to provide you with highly reliable and redundant storage.

Absolutely! zInspector offers the most flexible reporting options in the industry. These include:

• PDF reports to unlimited email addresses
• PDF reports to Evernote, Dropbox, Google Drive, Dotloop, and many more!
• User-specified Report Settings
• Download Zip option for all uncompressed photos

As many as you want!

zInspector offers unlimited photo & video storage plus a powerful search capability to help you find what you need with ease.

As many as you need!

Subscribed users can inspect and build a comprehensive inspection history of an unlimited number of properties / units in zInspector.

zInspector may be used to conduct property inspections for both personal and business use. Please see our Terms of Service for details.

After taking photos and/or videos in the Quick Pictures (previously Photo Inspection) mode on the app, you can easily request that a report containing the photos just taken be created and emailed to you.

Quick Pictures reports are often used by contractors and others who primarily employ Quick Pictures mode rather than a more involved or structured inspection or document template.  After taking one or more photos or videos in Quick Photos mode, tap the back arrow on the toolbar along the bottom of the screen, and (by default) the Report Request popup will ask “Would you like to process a report for [Property Name, Activity Type]?” You can select Yes, No, or Disable.

If you select Yes, a report containing the Quick Pictures will go to the email address(es) specified in your auto-report settings. The photos/videos will also appear in your website Timeline once uploaded.

If you select No, the photos/videos will appear in your website Timeline once uploaded. No report will be created and emailed. You can always create a report later  by clicking on the relevant activity in the Timeline then clicking the Edit/View Report button.

If you select Disable, you will no longer receive the Report Request popup when exiting Quick Pictures mode. You can still request a Quick Pictures report after taking Quick Photos by holding down (rather than simply tapping) on the back arrow on the toolbar along the bottom of the screen. You can also enable or disable the Report Request popup at any time. In the app, go to Settings then enable or disable “Reports Request Prompt” under Misc. Settings.

Quick Pictures (formerly Photo Inspection)

• • Take photos and videos – quickly and easily.
  • Handily document marketing activities, notice postings, construction bids and—yes—whole property inspections, among others.
  • Some businesses use Quick Pictures almost exclusively: it just works for them.

Inspect (formerly Property Management Inspection)

• • Perform a complete property / unit inspection. Most commonly used for Move-Ins, Move-Outs, and Annual Inspections, it accommodates all other user-customized inspection templates.

What is the website Timeline?

• Timeline lays out all your previous activities, including photos, videos, and reports, by date. Click on any activity icon to open the gallery view for that activity.
• You can easily search through all of your zInspector-created content here, even if that means thousands or hundreds of thousands of photos and videos.
• Type in any part of the Property Name in the search-box and/or select an activity type from the drop-down filter to quickly focus your search.

What is the app Photo Gallery?

• The Photo Gallery (formerly Previous Photos) button is available on the app’s main menu bar (at the top of the screen). It is visible and available during any inspection mode: look for a stacked photos icon.  Tap on this icon to show all inspection photos still stored on your device.
• By default, photos and videos are stored on your device for 7 days, providing they have uploaded to the server.  This period can be configured in you app’s Settings menu under Misc. Settings: “Days to keep photos on device (options are Never, 1, 3, 7, 30).

You sure can. Simply tap the Photo Gallery button on the main menu bar (at the top of the screen): it looks like a stack of photos.

The Photo Gallery shows all recently taken inspection photos and videos still stored on the device.  Tap the Share icon (three dots connected by two lines) to send the photo from your device’s standard messaging or email apps.

On site at a property, zInspector users work with the mobile app—they take photos, videos, fill out documents, and perform inspections—then upload the resulting data to the website.

Back at the office, on a laptop or desktop computer, zInspector users work on the website, or online portal. Doing what? Think “desk work”—re-running and editing reports—and managerial / administrative functions—user supervision and coordination, task scheduling, import / sync / integration setup, inspection and report customization, and enterprise customization.  Their changes on the website synchronize to all Group Members or users on the account.

Certain functions—such as Admin and other global settings—can only be performed on the website; individual app users simply do not have access to them.

Other actions—like the actual property inspections—can only be performed on the app.

Some things can be done either on the website or on the app—for instance, Creating a Property. Your method may come down to personal preference or the established practice of your business.

Of course, you can technically use your mobile device’s browser to access the website and most of its exclusive functionality (depending, of course, on your user permissions). But just because you can doesn’t always mean you should. Using the website on a mobile device browser with a small screen and no keyboard can be less convenient for certain projects—but will do in a pinch.

With User Groups, you can control which properties / units are seen and worked with by specific users.

User Groups are most commonly used when:

• You want specific users to have access to inspections and unit information only for a particular apartment building or set of properties.
• Your company primarily is organized around portfolios rather than functional groups.

When a user is assigned to a particular User Group, any new Property that user creates will automatically be allocated to that User Group.

The steps to create a User Groups:

• Step 1 – Create Users under the Group tab
• Step 2 – Create User Groups and assign at least one User to each User Group on the User Group tab.
• Step 3 – Assign properties / units to specific User Groups on the Admin’s Property Page.  Use the search and Select All tools, as needed, to select and assign multiple properties / units at once.

When you add a comment either 1) to a photo taken in Quick Pictures mode or 2) to a photo of a general Area, such as Entry or Kitchen in a condition-based inspection, the comment will be tied directly to the photo. In these cases, the comment will be viewable only in the media activity report (indicated by a camera icon in Timeline) —not on any inspection report (indicated by a magnifying glass icon) in which the photo may be included.

This is typically the reason zInspector users find they have “missing comments.”

When you add a comment directly to a Detail (such as Door/Knob/Lock in Entry) within a condition-based inspection, the comment will be viewable in the inspection report for which it has been taken. A comment can be added to a Detail in a condition-based inspection in several ways:

• Tap the camera icon for a specific Detail to open the camera interface, add a comment, and take a photo.
• Tap a Detail name to add the comment directly, then tap the camera icon for that Detail to take a photo.

Individual user permissions can be specified by an Admin user on a user-by-user basis.  For example, you can permit one employee to only Read (and not Create / Edit) content.  The user-specific settings are defined and viewable on the Group tab.

When you tap the Exclude arrow for any detail row of a Property Management Inspection (e.g., a Move-Out or Move-In inspection), that item will be marked as Excluded.  Excluded items will not appear on your final PDF report.

Excluded items will be remembered and synced across all devices.

For example, during the first Move-In inspection of a property, you might Exclude the Exhaust Fan detail in the Bathroom area because the bathroom does not have one.  Later, when you do a Move-Out inspection, that item will be pre-marked as Excluded.  If an exhaust fan is installed at some point, the Exclusion can be easily undone during a subsequent inspection by tapping on the arrow again for the Excluded row.

You can use comments for any purpose that is appropriate for your organization. Our recommendation is to use “Additional Comments” to summarize the property findings and to use “Final Comments” for text such as legal disclaimers, or disclosures.

Some examples of Additional Comments:

• Property looks great overall.  A couple of minor issues as noted.
• Property needs a a major overhaul.  Lots of damage noted, but complete remodel recommended.

Some examples of Final Comments:

• Move-In Inspection—> “Welcome to your new home.  If you have any issues with this move-in condition report, please report them within 3 days.”
• Move-Out Inspection —> “Thank you for being our tenant.  We will process your security deposit return within 21 days.”
• Inspection —> “This is a visual inspection only. We do not assess any structural or mechanical defects.”

Did you know that you can pre-populate the Final Comments for any of the Property Management Inspection report types?

Go here for more information.

zInspector uses Area Numbers to differentiate Areas of the same type, most commonly Bedrooms and Bathrooms.  Multiples of any Area type (Hallway, Side Yard, Living Room,  etc.) can be created and differentiated using Area Numbers.

zInspector will set Area Numbers automatically and, in general, you shouldn’t need to change them.  Instead, you can change the Area Description to describe the area in more detail.

For example, for a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house, a common layout could be:

[Area-Type Area-Number: Area-Description]

• Bathroom 1: Master
• Bathroom 2: Hallway
• Bedroom 1: Master
• Bedroom 2: Left down hallway
• Bedroom 3: Right down hallway

You may wonder: Do Area Groups relate to Area Numbers?  No, they are completely unrelated.

Area Groups can be used to coordinate the flow/order of an inspection or to group Areas together for a larger property (such as an estate).  For more information on Area Groups, please visit this knowledge base article.

A few steps need to be taken in zInspector to change your company name on zInspector-generated content. If/when it was initially provided during account creation, your company name automatically populated in a number of places in zInspector:

Try these steps to free up storage space:

• Check if there are any pending items in the Queue; if so, give them the opportunity to upload (Queue troubleshooting here).
• Go to the app settings and change the number of days to keep photos to zero, close the app completely (but don’t log out), then  re-open the app.
• If neither of these methods work, uninstall and re-install the zInspector app.