For inspectors
Publish your first home inspection report
Publishing your first home inspection report means reviewing your findings, confirming the report looks the way you want clients and agents to see it, then releasing a hosted deliverable they can open on a link—without treating “complete” as the same as “client can view it.”
Educational workflow guide—not a substitute for your standards of practice, state rules, or professional judgment. Prinsto does not book inspections or list inspectors for hire.
What “publish” means (vs draft / complete)
A draft is the report you are still writing. Complete means the inspection work for that job is done. Published means the client-facing report is released on the hosted link you control.
Those are different steps. Marking the job complete does not turn the link on. Clients and their agent cannot open the report until you publish. When you do publish, the job is recorded as complete, because you are releasing finished work. A job you marked complete and did not publish still has no client link.
Stripe Connect is optional here. Connect is how a client pays a work order by card. You can publish the first report without connecting Stripe.
Shop products are optional too. Products are the services listed on your public booking page. You do not need that list before the first published report. Add it later if you want people to order from the shop.
Review checklist before first publish (safety items, photos, summary, branding)
Read the report the way the client will, before the link is live. AI-assisted notes and captions are suggestions. You stay the inspector of record, and you are the one who publishes.
- Safety items first: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, electrical hazards, active leaks, and anything you would not want discovered only on a later call.
- Photos sit with the finding they support, and captions say what you mean.
- The summary states material conditions in plain language, including what you could not see or test that day.
- Company name and contact on the report header look the way you want clients and agents to see them.
- On Free, the hosted link uses a unique address from your account ID, and public shop pages keep the Prinsto mark. A name you choose in the address, and hiding that mark, are paid branding controls. Confirm current limits on the pricing page.
Hosted report vs email PDF attachment
A hosted report is a page on a link. The client and the agent open it on a phone or a laptop. You are not attaching a large file to the email.
The message carries that link, whether you copy it into a text or email it from the job. Nothing goes out until you send it. If someone wants a file, they can download a PDF from the published page. What you send is the link, not the file.
Sharing with client and agent
Publish first, then send the same link to the client and to their agent. One link is one version. You can copy a client message and an agent message, or email the link from the job.
While the report stays published, that link shows the current report. If you revoke it, the link stops opening. Publishing again issues a new link. Send the new one so agents are not working from a link that no longer opens, or from a PDF they saved earlier.
The page they open is your written findings. What a general inspection typically includes is a separate explainer, and many buyers arrive with their own checklist.
Common first-report mistakes
The first publish is a review, then a release. These are the misses that make the client look at the wrong thing, or at nothing.
- Treating Complete as the live link. The client still cannot open the report until you publish.
- Publishing before you have read safety items, photos, and the summary.
- Waiting on Stripe Connect or a shop product list. Neither is required to publish.
- Emailing a large PDF as the only copy, then losing track of which file the agent still has.
- Changing the report after you shared a link and not saying so. If you revoke and publish again, send the new link.
- Expecting a custom company address, or a public shop page without the Prinsto mark, on Free. The first report still publishes on the account-ID address, with that mark on the shop page.
See walk-and-record if you want to see how inspectors capture the walk in the field.
Common questions
- When should I publish a home inspection report?
- After you’ve reviewed findings, photos, and summaries and you’re ready for the client (and usually their agent) to see the written report. Complete in the field is not the same as published.
- What’s the difference between complete and published?
- Complete means your inspection work for that job is done. Published means the client-facing report is released on the hosted link you control.
- Do clients need a huge email attachment?
- Not if you use a hosted report link. Many inspectors prefer a branded page clients can open on phone or desktop without downloading a large file.
- Can I edit after I publish?
- Depends on your workflow and tool. Plan to get the first publish right; if you must revise, re-share clearly so agents aren’t working from an old version.
- Does the Free plan support a first published report?
- Yes for getting started—confirm current Free limits on pricing. Upgrade when you need more volume or branding controls.
When should I publish a home inspection report?
After you’ve reviewed findings, photos, and summaries and you’re ready for the client (and usually their agent) to see the written report. Complete in the field is not the same as published.
What’s the difference between complete and published?
Complete means your inspection work for that job is done. Published means the client-facing report is released on the hosted link you control.
Do clients need a huge email attachment?
Not if you use a hosted report link. Many inspectors prefer a branded page clients can open on phone or desktop without downloading a large file.
Can I edit after I publish?
Depends on your workflow and tool. Plan to get the first publish right; if you must revise, re-share clearly so agents aren’t working from an old version.
Does the Free plan support a first published report?
Yes for getting started—confirm current Free limits on pricing. Upgrade when you need more volume or branding controls.