Frequently asked questions
What is reportai.au?
reportai.au is Australian software in two connected parts. The ReportAI Field App is a free site documentation tool for phones and tablets: upload or sketch a floor plan, pin numbered directional findings to it, take unlimited photographs and annotate them, add written and voice notes, and export the job as an organised ZIP, a summary report or a Word file — all of it working offline. The ReportAI Report Builder then drafts an inspection report from that evidence, in your own report format, which you review, correct and export to Word. It is a documentation tool, not an inspection or certification service. For organisations running inspection programs across many assets and inspectors there is also ReportAI Enterprise (reportai.au/enterprise), a separate system.
What is ReportAI Enterprise?
ReportAI Enterprise is a separate system for utilities, councils, asset owners and engineering firms that run inspection programs across many assets and inspectors. A planner draws the area on a map, splits it into zones and assigns inspectors; inspectors follow guided steps on their phone, speak their findings and the AI fills in the form, which they check; a supervisor approves each inspection; and the results become Word reports, a condition map and a defect register exported for asset systems such as IBM Maximo. It works without signal, and data is stored in Australia. Cost depends on the program and is discussed in a demo meeting: see reportai.au/enterprise and the savings calculator at reportai.au/savings.
How is ReportAI different from other inspection report apps?
Most inspection apps are built for high-volume residential inspections: a checklist, a standard template and a report in the software's own style. ReportAI is built for engineering and forensic reports, and does four things those apps typically do not. (1) Your firm's own Word template: reports come out with your cover, letterhead, fonts, numbering and sign-off, with a separate template for court reports if you want one (Expert plan). (2) Expert-witness reports for VCAT, NCAT and the Federal Court: the report is checked against the practice note's required contents before you sign, and you can preview the questions the other side is likely to ask (Expert plan). (3) Floor levels to contour maps: record spot levels on your plan in the field app and get contours, step zones and CAD/DXF export (Pro). (4) References are suggestions marked for you to confirm; ReportAI never claims a report is "compliant". Reports are editable Word documents with three photo layouts (in the text, in a table beside the notes, or in an appendix), and the field app itself is free, works offline and has no photo limit.
Does reportai.au check my report against the Australian Standards?
No, and it does not claim to. reportai.au holds no licensed copy of any Australian Standard and cannot read one. What it does is name the Standard that governs the subject matter of a finding, explain why it is relevant, and tell you the clause number is approximate and the edition should be confirmed. It is a pointer to where to look, not a compliance finding and not a verification. The Standards themselves are sold by Standards Australia and must be purchased; the engineer confirms every reference before it goes into a signed document.
What does the "worth answering" check do before I export a report?
It lists the questions a reader of the report will ask that the text does not yet answer — whether crack widths were measured and what the maximum was, whether the sub-floor was accessed and what proportion was inspected, whether there was evidence of active moisture on the day, which rooms were inaccessible. They are questions about the document, not about the building: reportai.au cannot know what was present on site, only that a reader will expect an answer the report has not given. You answer them or dismiss them, and nothing is added to the report on your behalf. It is not a defect check and it is not a guarantee that anything has been found or missed.
Is the ReportAI field app free, and what are its limits?
Yes. The field app's documentation tools are free, and there is no photo limit and no daily limit in the app — it does not count either. Free covers floor plans and sketching, numbered directional pins with severity, unlimited photographs, sixteen annotation tools including scale, measurements, angles and areas, written and voice notes, fully offline operation, and export as a ZIP, a summary report or a Word file. Its real limits are these: one section per job, work stays on the device rather than syncing to your account, and a free account is required. ReportAI Pro adds multiple sections, indicative floor levels with contours and CSV export, detail-zoom annotation, AI job summaries, and sending jobs to your account.
What do the 3 reports a day and 5 photos per report limits actually apply to?
They apply to free AI report generation on the website, and to nothing else. They are not limits on the ReportAI Field App, which has no photo cap and no daily cap and does not consult either number. This is the point most often misunderstood about the product: the free field app and free AI reporting are two different free tiers of two different parts, reached with the same free account.
Can homeowners, builders and site supervisors use ReportAI, or is it only for engineers?
Anyone documenting a site can use the field app — nothing in it tests for a qualification. A homeowner can photograph a crack, sketch or upload the room plan, pin where it is, annotate it with the measurement tool, add a voice note and send an organised export to a builder or engineer. Builders, trades and site supervisors use it the same way for defects, incomplete works and consultant questions, and building surveyors for framing and stage observations. The report builder is built especially for building inspectors, building consultants and structural and civil engineers — the people who issue a report under their own name. ReportAI documents and drafts; it does not make professional determinations, and using it does not qualify anyone to make one.
Does one Pro membership cover both the app and the website?
Yes. There is one subscription and it unlocks both parts on the same account — there is no separate app subscription and no second purchase. Paying on the website unlocks the field app the next time it reads your account.
How much does ReportAI cost?
Free: $0 — the whole field app with no photo or daily limit, plus 3 AI-drafted reports a day on the website. Pro: $59.99 AUD a month, or $599.88 a year ($49.99 a month) — one membership for the field app and the website. Expert: $118.99 AUD a month, or $1,188 a year ($99 a month) — everything in Pro plus expert-witness reports for VCAT, NCAT and the Federal Court and your firm's own Word templates. Optional template set-up: $399 AUD one-time. Prices are the total payable; cancel any time. ReportAI Enterprise, for organisations running inspection programs, is priced per program and discussed in a demo meeting (reportai.au/enterprise).
What is the ReportAI Expert plan?
Expert is the plan for engineering practices and expert witnesses: everything in Pro, plus expert-witness reports for VCAT (PNVCAT2), NCAT (Procedural Direction 3) and the Federal Court (GPN-EXPT), with a checklist of the practice note's required contents that flags missing items (it does not determine compliance), and your firm's own Word templates — one for reports and one for court reports. It costs $118.99 AUD a month, or $1,188 a year ($99 a month). The expert writes their own qualifications, instructions and opinions; the software drafts the engineering from the site evidence. See www.reportai.au/expert.
Can you set up my firm's Word template for me?
Yes. For a one-time $399 AUD we turn one of your existing Word reports into a working template for your account, with adjustments for 30 days and a full refund if we cannot make it work. You can pay for it from the pricing page, the Expert page, or My Report Templates. Templates are an Expert plan feature.
Who is it for?
Structural and civil engineers, building inspectors, and building consultants working in Australia. Builders and property owners also use the free tier to document a defect on a plan and send the organised evidence to an engineer before a site visit.
Does it write the report for me?
It writes a draft. The AI drafts each section from the evidence you captured, then a quality-assurance pass checks for empty sections, leftover placeholder text, and non-Australian spelling. AI can and does make mistakes, so the draft is prepared for you to check and sign off — reportai.au does not certify anything.
Does ReportAI make me use its report format?
No. A professional report structure is ready from the first job, and the sections, their order, numbering and limitations wording are yours to change. It is a writing style rather than a fixed form: the AI decides which sections a particular job actually needs and how to order them, from what you recorded on site. It does not mean reportai.au certifies that any particular report complies with the Standard — that judgement is the inspecting engineer’s, and the finished report is issued under your name, not ours.
Can I map floor levels and generate contours?
Yes, on a Pro plan. You place spot levels on an uploaded plan with their elevations and a datum, and the app interpolates a smooth surface through every measured point and traces contour lines from it. You can define step zones with their own elevation offset, and export the spot levels as a CSV — label, position, elevation and datum flag — to open in Excel, or as a CAD (DXF) file with the plan attached as an image. The plan is not converted into CAD linework: it travels as the picture you uploaded.
Can I mark defects on a floor plan?
Yes, and this is on the free tier. Upload a plan or sketch, drop numbered markers where the defects are, set the direction each one faces, and attach photos, annotated photos and voice notes to each marker. Markers carry a severity, and separate numbered flags are available for items you want listed apart from the marker sequence.
Does it work offline in the field?
Yes. The field app (on the App Store, Google Play, or in a phone browser) keeps your work on the device, so capture keeps working in a basement, a subfloor, or anywhere with no signal. You can export the whole job as a ZIP with a folder per section — original photos, annotated photos, the plans and a project file — or produce a quick offline report to send on. Cloud upload and syncing a job to the website are Pro features.
Does the field app record where and when each photo was taken?
Yes, from version 1.5.0. Each photo taken with the camera in the app records the date, the time and the GPS position the phone reports, with its accuracy, and the report lists them in a Photo Evidence Log. Photos uploaded from the device are labelled as uploaded. The position is read only when you take a photo, and you can refuse location access — the photo is still taken. Times and positions are as reported by the phone and are not independently verified.
Is the field app available in Arabic?
Yes. Menu → Language switches the field app to Arabic: a right-to-left interface, Arabic voice-note dictation, AI-drafted report text in Arabic, and Arabic file names on downloads. You can switch back to English at any time. The website report builder is in Arabic too, at reportai.au/ar.
What are the free plan limits?
Three reports a day and five photos per report. Free reports are built and downloaded in your browser and stored on that device only: there is no cloud storage, no importing jobs from the field app, and no saving a part-finished report to resume later. Level mapping, the AI summary in the field app, adding a photo inside a photo, and cloud upload are Pro.
Is "unlimited reports" really unlimited?
Yes, for one inspector. There is no monthly quota, no per-report charge and no hidden cap, and you can use the subscription on as many of your own devices as you like — phone, tablet, laptop and the office computer are all the same subscription. Fair use exists only to tell one inspector apart from several people sharing a login: if a second inspector needs access, they need their own subscription. If an account looks shared we contact you first, a person reviews it, and nothing is ever restricted automatically. Clause 9A of the Terms sets out exactly how it is assessed.
How long does a report take to generate?
Typically under two minutes end to end, depending on how many photos are attached. The draft appears for review before you export, so you are not waiting on a finished file to find out whether the content is right.
What happens to my photos and site data?
Text you capture — notes, captions, transcripts and your typed findings — is sent to AI providers outside Australia to draft the report: DeepSeek, which processes in China and drafts most of the text, Z.ai in Singapore, and OpenAI in the United States. Photo files themselves are never sent to an AI provider; only the photo number, filename and the caption you write are. Voice notes are the one exception — the audio recording goes to OpenAI to be transcribed. Each provider's own terms govern whether it may use what it receives to improve its services. The Privacy Policy sets out the providers, what leaves Australia, and how to delete your account.
Can I cancel, and can I get a refund?
You can cancel any time and keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. The Refund and Cancellation Policy sets out a satisfaction refund window on a first purchase and covers billing errors, and it does not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
How do I delete my account and everything in it?
You can delete your account yourself at any time — from the menu inside the app, or at reportai.au/delete-account. Billing stops straight away and the account is scheduled for permanent deletion 30 days later, so you can sign in during that window and restore everything if you change your mind. After 30 days it is destroyed: your profile, every report, template and project stored with us, every photograph, sketch and voice recording, and any remaining subscription. Nothing is kept after that and nothing can be restored, so export your work before the date passes. Your reports remain your own record-keeping responsibility, which for most inspectors runs for years, so keep your own copies either way.
Do I need to install anything?
Not necessarily. The field app is "ReportAi – Field & Inspection" on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android, and the same app also runs in any phone browser at reportai.au/app with nothing to install. The report builder is a website. There is no plug-in for Word — reports are exported as an ordinary .docx you can edit, and save as PDF from Word to issue as you normally would. The field app can also save its summary report straight to PDF from the Print button, without Word at all.
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reportai.au is a report documentation tool. It does not carry out inspections, does not assess or certify the condition of any building, and does not provide engineering services. Reports are AI-assisted drafts prepared for the inspecting engineer to check, correct, and sign off. All professional judgement remains yours.
Aiman Salem, trading as ReportAi.au · ABN 95 973 765 172 · admin@reportai.au · Prices in Australian dollars.