Frequently asked questions
40 answers across 9 areas.
The free tool
What is a plan set, and what should I upload?
A plan set is the drawing package for a solar install — the site plan, the single-line diagram and the equipment schedule. Upload the whole PDF rather than one page: the labels you need are decided by equipment that is often only named on the schedule.
What happens to my file after I upload it?
It is read to find the equipment, and the labels that equipment requires. Whether we keep the PDF afterwards is your choice, in Settings → File retention; turning retention off applies to future uploads, not to documents already held.
Why did my plan set take so long to process?
Most finish in seconds. A PDF exported from design software is text we read directly; a scanned or photographed drawing has to be read as an image first, which is slower and less certain.
Why is a label missing from my quote?
A label appears because we read the equipment that requires it. If a disconnect is drawn but never named, or the schedule is an image we could not read, the label that depends on it will not appear — add it by hand on the results page.
Do I need an account to use the label quote?
No. The free quote runs without an account and the result is yours whether or not you buy anything. An account is only needed to keep projects, lists and calendar dates.
Projects
What is a project?
One plan set and everything that happens to it: the permit, the install, the signs you order, and the authority's sign-off. Uploading a drawing creates it.
What do the four stages mean?
Permit to construct (nothing may be built before this), Install (on the roof), Signs ordered (the signs this plan set needs), and Inspection (the authority's sign-off). They are in build order, not alphabetical.
Why does a new project start at 'permit approved'?
Because a plan set reaches us when the installer is going ahead, and nobody builds before the permit is granted. The stage starts approved and is only changed to say otherwise.
Why does Install have three states and not four?
Hold, Confirmed and Complete map onto Google Calendar's own event status — hold becomes tentative, the other two become confirmed. Google has no fourth value that would survive the sync.
Do I set the 'Signs ordered' stage myself?
No. It follows the order, so the timeline and the order can never disagree about the same fact.
The same plan set was uploaded twice — is that a problem?
No, and it is common: the same job often arrives by email and again by hand. The project shows every upload of that drawing and what happened to each.
Can I get my projects out as a spreadsheet?
Yes — every plan set your company holds, one per row.
What is the difference between archive, inactive and delete?
Archive puts a project away and brings it back whenever you want. Inactive leaves it in place but out of the working list. Delete is final — there is no trash and no undo, and the uploaded document goes with it.
Calendar
What does connecting Google Calendar actually let you see?
Only a calendar this app created. The permission we request is calendar.app.created, which cannot read your existing calendars or your other events. Disconnecting removes our access immediately.
Does setting an inspection date book the inspection?
No. It records what you have arranged. The booking is still made with the authority, and the method differs by authority — check its page in the AHJ database first.
If I move a date here, does the authority know?
No. Moving an event changes your calendar and your colleagues' view of it. You still have to call the authority.
Can I get an inspection into my own calendar app?
Yes — each project offers an .ics download for its inspection. It is a one-time file, so download it again if the date changes.
Authorities and permitting
How many authorities have you actually researched?
We hold 5,478 authorities. 610 are researched in full against all 82 questions, 2,777 are partially researched, and 2,091 have not been started. California is complete at 540.
Is this authority the one that permits my install?
The authority is set by the site address, not by where your company is based. A contractor working three counties answers to three authorities, and they will not ask for the same things.
Which labels does this authority actually require?
Some authorities publish their own placard wording, and a standard set will not pass there. Where an authority adopts a code edition without adding wording of its own, the standard set for that edition applies.
Why does an authority record show a confidence score?
Because authorities are not equally clear. Some publish plainly, some contradict themselves across pages, and some answers come from an archived copy of a page that has since gone. A low confidence means ring them rather than rely on it.
What is a cut-off, and why does it matter more than a lead time?
A cut-off is the moment after which you lose a day. One authority we hold inspects a single day a week, where missing a 6 a.m. Monday window costs seven days; another's 3 p.m. Thursday cut-off buys the following Monday.
Products and materials
Which NEC edition are these labels compliant with?
Our products cite the editions named on each product page. Which edition applies to your job is decided by the authority, because the NEC is adopted locally and different authorities enforce different editions at the same time.
What are these made of, and how long do they last outdoors?
Face film, adhesive and finish are listed on each product's own specification. Where a product is reflective or engraved rather than printed, the page says so.
Can you print custom wording?
Yes. Write-in labels can arrive blank for you to complete on site, or printed with the values read from your plan set — set which you prefer in Settings.
Do you do bulk or wholesale pricing?
Trade pricing is available on a wholesale account. It is separate from invoicing terms, which are applied for and subject to a credit check.
Ordering, shipping and account
How do I change the card you have on file?
Add the new card and remove the old one. There is no page that edits a card number, because card details are held by Stripe and never reach our servers.
Who do I contact about a permit query?
Us for the labels; the authority for the permit. The authority's number is on its page in the AHJ database.
Can I re-order the same set of labels?
Yes. A past order can be put back into the basket in one action.
Can I pay on invoice?
Pay by card as standard. 7-day and 30-day invoicing is available on application and subject to a credit check, and it is separate from any trade discount.
Teams, lists and sharing
Who can see my projects?
Everyone in your company. Teams decide whose work is whose and drive the colour coding; they do not hide projects from colleagues.
Does the person I invite need an account first?
No. An invitation works whether or not they have signed up, and joins them to your company when they do.
What is a list for?
A working set — this week's installs, everything waiting on an inspector, the jobs that need battery labels. A project can sit in as many lists as you like, and deleting a list never deletes the projects in it.
Can I send a plan set to someone without an account?
Yes — share a list or your whole feed by link. A share link is a key rather than a password: anyone holding it can open it, so revoke it when they no longer need it.
For homeowners
Who approves my solar installation?
The authority having jurisdiction — usually your city or county building department, decided by your address rather than by your installer.
Do I need labels if I am not doing the work myself?
Your installer normally supplies and fits them. It is worth checking they are included: the inspection is signed off against them, and a missing placard is a return visit.
What should a good solar quote include?
An itemised breakdown rather than a single number — panels, inverter, mounting, electrical work, permitting and inspection, each priced. A quote that cannot be compared line by line cannot be compared at all.
Your data
Can I delete everything?
Yes, yourself, from Settings. It removes every project, plan set, list and team on the account and the documents uploaded with them. Orders and invoices are kept, because tax law requires records of a sale to be held for seven years.
Do you keep my plan set PDFs?
Only if you choose to. Settings → File retention decides it, and the setting applies to future uploads rather than to documents already held.
Where is my data held?
In the United States. We sell and ship within the United States only.