TenantPad — Inspection How-To Guide

TenantPad — Inspection

A step-by-step guide to every feature in TenantPad. If you’re opening the app for the first time, start at the top and work down. If you’re looking for something specific, jump to the section you need.

Getting started

When you first open TenantPad, you’ll land on the Dashboard with a welcome screen. There are three tabs along the bottom — Dashboard, Properties and Inspections — plus a gear icon in the top-right for Settings.

TenantPad is an iOS app that runs entirely on your device. There is no cloud sync, no account and no internet connection required — it works fully offline, which is ideal if you’re inspecting properties in basements, rural areas or anywhere without signal.

Before you can log inspections, you need at least one property with a unit (a unit is a lettable space within a property — e.g. “Flat 1A” or just “Main” for a whole house).

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the first screen you see. It gives you a quick overview of what needs attention.

Summary cards

Expiring Soon — inspections expiring within the next 30 days.
Total — all active inspections (excludes any you’ve archived — see the Inspections section below).
Overdue — inspections past their expiry date.

Action items

Below the summary cards is a list of inspections that are expiring within 30 days or already overdue. Overdue inspections appear first, then sorted by soonest expiry. Each item shows the type, property, unit, result and how many days until (or since) expiry (e.g. “Expiring in 3 days” or “Overdue (5 days)”). Tap any item to open it.

Global search

The search bar on the Dashboard searches across properties and inspections. It matches property name, address, unit label, inspector name, certificate reference and inspection type. Up to 5 properties and 5 inspections are shown per search.

New Inspection shortcut

The New Inspection button on the Dashboard lets you create an inspection without switching tabs. It only appears once you have at least one property.

Properties

Add a property

Tap the Properties tab.
Tap the + button (floating in the bottom-right corner).
Enter a name (e.g. “123 Oak Street”) and address.
Pick a property type — House, Flat, Apartment, Commercial or Other.
Set the timezone (defaults to your device’s timezone). The timezone is set per property, so you can manage properties in different countries.
Tap Save.

A default unit called “Main” is created automatically with every new property. You can rename it or add more units later.

Add a property photo

Open a property from the list.
Tap the placeholder area at the top of the screen (it shows a house icon and “Tap to add photo”).
Choose Take Photo or Choose from Library.
The photo appears as a banner on the property detail and as a thumbnail on the property card in the list.

To change the photo later, tap it again and select a new one. If the app asks for camera permission, tap Allow. If you previously denied permission, you’ll see a prompt directing you to enable it in your device’s Settings.

Edit a property

Open the property.
Tap the ⋯ menu (three dots) and select Edit.
Change any field — name, address, type or timezone.
Tap Save.

Search properties

Use the search bar at the top of the Properties tab. It filters by property name and address as you type.

Archive a property

Archiving hides a property from the main list without deleting it. Any scheduled expiry reminders for the property’s inspections are cancelled.

Open the property.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Archive.

Restore an archived property

Go to Settings → Archived Properties.
Tap Restore on the property you want to bring back.

The property returns to the Properties tab with all its units and inspections intact. Expiry reminders are rescheduled automatically.

Archived properties can only be restored, not permanently deleted.

Units

Add a unit

Open a property.
Tap the + button next to “Units”.
Enter a label (e.g. “Flat 1A”), the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
Tap Save.

Edit a unit

Open the unit from the property detail screen.
Tap the pencil icon.
Update the label, bedrooms or bathrooms.
Tap Save.

Units cannot be deleted from the app. If you no longer need a unit, you can archive the property it belongs to.

Tenant contact details

Tenant information is stored on each unit as contact details — there’s no separate tenant management. This keeps things simple: you record who lives in the unit so you can reach them about inspections.

Add or update tenant details

Open a unit.
Enter the tenant name, email and phone.
Tap Save.

Contact a tenant

On the unit detail screen, use the Call, Text or Email buttons to contact the tenant directly. These open the phone dialler, SMS composer or mail app with the tenant’s details pre-filled. Buttons only appear for fields that have a value — if there’s no phone number, you won’t see Call or Text; if there’s no email, you won’t see Email.

Inspections

Create an inspection

Tap the + button on the Inspections tab, or tap New Inspection on the Dashboard.
Select a property and unit. If the property has only one unit, it’s selected automatically.
Choose an inspection type:
- Gas Safety — pre-populated checklist for boiler, gas lines, pipework, ventilation, etc.
- Electrical (EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report) — pre-populated checklist for breaker panel (consumer unit in the UK), circuit testing, RCD/GFCI protection, etc.
- Smoke & CO Alarms — pre-populated checklist for per-room alarm checks, batteries, etc.
- General / Periodic — pre-populated common-items checklist. You can add extra items, but the pre-populated items can’t be renamed or removed.
- Custom — blank checklist with a name you define (e.g. “Fire Risk Assessment”).
Set the inspection date (defaults to today).
Optionally enter an inspector name and inspector contact (email or phone). Previous inspector names are suggested as you type.
Work through the checklist — mark each item as Pass, Fail or N/A. Add notes and photos to individual items as needed.
Set the overall result:
- Pass — all items satisfactory.
- Conditional — the inspection passes with caveats, typically when one or more items are marked N/A or need follow-up.
- Fail — one or more items did not meet the required standard. TenantPad suggests a result based on the checklist (Fail if any item fails, Conditional if any are N/A, otherwise Pass), but you can override it.
Optionally enter a certificate reference (e.g. the certificate number from the engineer).
Optionally set an expiry date to trigger reminders before renewal is due.
Optionally add overall notes.
Optionally capture the inspector’s signature.
Tap Save.

Available inspection types by region

Gas Safety, Electrical and Smoke & CO inspections are available for devices set to UK (GB) or US regions. If your device is set to a different region, you’ll see General and Custom only. General and Custom inspections are available everywhere.

To check your device’s region, go to your device’s Settings → General → Language & Region.

Understand the checklist

Each checklist item has a result that cycles through Pass → Fail → N/A when tapped. You can also add notes and photos (up to 5) to any individual item.

For Gas Safety, Electrical, Smoke & CO and General inspections, the checklist comes pre-populated based on your region (UK or US standards). The pre-populated items can’t be renamed or removed, but you can add extra items of your own.

For Custom inspections, the checklist starts empty and you add your own items.

Pre-populated checklist items

Type	UK (GB)	US
Gas Safety	7 items — boiler/flue, pipework, ventilation, etc.	7 items — gas line, furnace, water heater, etc.
Electrical (EICR)	8 items — consumer unit, RCD testing, circuits, etc.	8 items — breaker panel, GFCI, wiring, etc.
Smoke & CO Alarms	6 items — per-room checks, batteries, expiry, etc.	7 items — per-room checks, batteries, expiry, etc.
General	10 items — exterior, windows, plumbing, electrical, etc.	10 items — exterior, windows, plumbing, electrical, etc.

Edit an inspection

Open the inspection.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Edit.
Change any field — date, inspector, checklist, result, certificate reference, expiry, notes or signature.
Tap Save.

Property, unit and inspection type cannot be changed after creation. If you need to change any of these, archive the inspection and create a new one.

Archive an inspection

Archiving hides an inspection from the main list and cancels any scheduled expiry reminders.

Open the inspection.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Archive.

Restore or delete an archived inspection

Go to Settings → Archived Inspections.
Tap Restore to bring it back to the main list, or Delete to permanently remove it.
Deletion is permanent — the inspection and all its photos are removed.

When you restore an archived inspection, expiry reminders are rescheduled automatically.

Search and filter inspections

On the Inspections tab, use the search bar to filter by inspection type, property name, inspector name or certificate reference.

Renewed inspections

An inspection is considered “renewed” when another inspection of the same type exists for the same unit with a future expiry date. Renewed inspections no longer trigger expiry reminders.

Signature capture

Add a signature

During inspection creation or editing, scroll to the Signature section.
Tap the Capture Signature button to open the signature pad.
Sign with your finger or stylus.
Tap Done to save, or Clear to start over.

The signature is stored in a scalable format, so it looks sharp at any size — on screen and in exported PDFs.

Change a signature

Open the inspection for editing and tap the signature area to redraw it.

Photos

Add photos to a checklist item

Open an inspection for editing.
On any checklist item, tap the camera icon.
Choose Take Photo (opens the camera) or Choose from Library.

You can add up to 5 photos per checklist item. If the app asks for camera permission, tap Allow.

Add a caption

Tap a photo to open it full-screen.
Type in the caption field below the photo (up to 200 characters).

The caption is saved automatically and appears on the PDF report.

Delete a photo

While editing an inspection, long-press a photo in the checklist item’s photo grid, then confirm the deletion.

Photo persistence

Photos are saved on your device and survive app restarts. If you create a Full Backup, photos are included. A Data Only Backup does not include photos — see the warning in the Backup & restore section below.

Notes

Overall notes

Each inspection has an overall notes field (up to 2,000 characters) for general observations, recommendations or follow-up actions.

Per-item notes

Each checklist item has its own notes field (up to 2,000 characters) for item-specific observations — e.g. “Minor corrosion on pipework, monitor at next visit.”

Expiry reminders

How reminders work

When you set an expiry date on an inspection, TenantPad schedules notifications at 30 days, 14 days and 7 days before the expiry date. Tapping a notification opens the inspection directly.

Limits

The app can schedule reminders for up to 21 inspections at a time (3 notifications each, 63 total). If you have more inspections with expiry dates, the most urgent ones are prioritised.

Renewed inspections don’t trigger reminders

If another inspection of the same type exists for the same unit with a future expiry date, the older inspection is considered renewed and its reminders are not scheduled.

Reminders after archiving and restoring

Archiving a property or inspection cancels its reminders. Restoring reschedules them automatically. Reminders are also rescheduled after restoring from a backup.

Not receiving notifications?

Check that notifications are enabled for TenantPad in your device’s Settings. You can also tap Enable Reminders in the app’s Settings screen to go directly to the iOS notification settings.

PDF export

Generate a professional PDF certificate for any inspection.

Open the inspection.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Generate PDF.
The iOS share sheet opens (the panel that lets you AirDrop, save to Files, email, print, etc.).

The PDF includes:

Inspection type, property and unit
Date, inspector name and contact
Overall result
Certificate reference and expiry date
Full checklist table (item, result, notes)
Photos for each checklist item
Overall notes
Inspector’s signature
Footer with generation date

Send to Tenant

The Send to Tenant option only appears when the unit has a tenant email address on file.

Open the inspection.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Send to Tenant.
The mail composer opens with the tenant’s email pre-filled and the PDF attached.

If you don’t see Send to Tenant in the menu, add an email address to the unit’s tenant contact details first. You’ll also need a mail account configured on your device for the mail composer to open.

CSV export

Export all your inspection data as a CSV file.

Go to Settings.
Tap Export as CSV.
The share sheet opens with the CSV file.

The CSV includes: Inspection ID, Type, Custom Type, Date, Status, Inspector, Inspector Contact, Result, Certificate Ref, Expiry Date, Property, Address, Unit, Tenant, Tenant Email, Items, Photos, Notes, Created and Updated.

Only non-archived inspections are included.

Import & export reports

Export a single inspection report

Share a single inspection as a .json file that can be imported on another device. Report files contain a single inspection and are different from backup files (which contain all your data). Make sure you use the right file for the right operation — Import Report for report files, Restore from Backup for backup files.

Open the inspection.
Tap the ⋯ menu and select Export Report.
The share sheet opens so you can send the .json file via AirDrop, Files, email, etc.

The export includes the full inspection data, checklist items and photos.

Import an inspection report

Go to Settings → Import Report.
Select the .json file.
Choose a target property and unit for the imported inspection.
If a duplicate is detected (same date, type and inspector), you’ll see a warning. You can tap Import Anyway to proceed or Cancel to abort.

Up to 250 photos can be imported per report.

Backup & restore

All data in TenantPad lives on your device. There is no cloud sync. Back up regularly to avoid losing your data if your device is lost, damaged or replaced.

Create a backup

Go to Settings.
Choose one of:
- Full Backup — includes all data and photos. Larger file size.
- Data Only Backup — includes data only, no photos. Smaller file size. If you restore from a Data Only Backup, all photos will be replaced with placeholders and cannot be recovered. Use Full Backup if your photos matter.
The backup is saved as a .json file, and the share sheet opens so you can save or send it.

Restore from a backup

If your current data includes photos you want to keep, create a Full Backup manually before restoring — the automatic pre-restore backup described below does not include photos.

Go to Settings → Restore from Backup.
Select a backup .json file.
Confirm. A pre-restore backup of your current data is created automatically (data only, no photos). This backup is stored internally as a safety net but is not directly accessible from the app.
Your current data is replaced with the backup contents. Expiry reminders are rescheduled automatically.

After restoring a Full Backup, all data and photos are intact. After restoring a Data Only Backup, data is restored, but photos show a placeholder.

Move data to a new device

On your old device, create a Full Backup in Settings.
Share the .json file to your new device (via AirDrop, iCloud Drive, email, etc.).
On your new device, open TenantPad and go to Settings → Restore from Backup.
Select the file and restore.

Delete all data

If you want to wipe the app completely and start fresh:

Go to Settings.
Scroll to Danger Zone and tap Delete All Data.
A confirmation dialog appears: “This will permanently delete all properties, inspections, photos, and settings. This cannot be undone.”
Tap Delete Everything.
A second confirmation asks: “All data will be permanently erased.”
Tap Delete to confirm.

This removes all properties, units, inspections, checklist items, photos and scheduled reminders. It cannot be undone — create a backup first if there’s any chance you’ll need your data later.

Settings

The Settings screen is accessed via the gear icon in the top-right corner of any tab.

What’s in Settings

Section	Options
Backup & Restore	Full Backup, Data Only Backup, Restore from Backup, Import Report
Export	Export as CSV
Archive	Archived Properties, Archived Inspections
Notifications	Enable Reminders
About	App version
Danger Zone	Delete All Data

Dark mode

TenantPad follows your device’s display setting. To switch between light and dark mode, change the appearance in your device’s Settings → Display & Brightness. The app theme updates automatically.

Tips and limits

Property name: up to 100 characters.
Property address: up to 200 characters.
Unit label: up to 50 characters.
Tenant name: up to 100 characters.
Tenant email: up to 200 characters.
Tenant phone: up to 30 characters.
Inspector name: up to 100 characters.
Inspector contact: up to 200 characters.
Certificate reference: up to 100 characters.
Custom inspection type name: up to 100 characters.
Checklist item name: up to 200 characters.
Overall notes: up to 2,000 characters.
Per-item notes: up to 2,000 characters.
Photo captions: up to 200 characters.
Photos per checklist item: up to 5.
Scheduled reminders: up to 21 inspections (63 notifications total).
Property and unit can’t be changed on an existing inspection — archive it and create a new one if needed.
Gas Safety, Electrical and Smoke & CO types are only available for UK and US regions. All other regions see General and Custom only.
Backup regularly — your data lives only on your device. There is no cloud sync.

Contact

If you need help with something not covered here, email us at hello@appsforlife.co.uk.