How to Build a Car Inspection App in Clappia

Regular car inspections are essential for safety, compliance, and vehicle maintenance. A digital car inspection app can replace paper-based records, ensuring streamlined data collection, accuracy, and easy accessibility. With Clappia’s no-code platform, you can create a car inspection app tailored to capture key details, including vehicle information, condition assessments, and photos. This guide provides exact steps and configurations needed to build a comprehensive car inspection app.

Why a Car Inspection App?

Switching to a digital app over traditional inspection methods offers multiple benefits:

• Efficiency: Real-time data entry eliminates the need for manual data transfer, reducing errors and saving time.
• Data Accuracy: Features like dropdowns, GPS location, and image uploads capture reliable, standardized information, ensuring high data integrity.
• Immediate Access for Supervisors: Digital submissions allow supervisors to review inspection records instantly, speeding up the approval and feedback process.

Features Used

• Single Line Text: For capturing essential textual information like vehicle details and inspector information.
• Dropdowns: To standardize condition assessments with predefined options.
• Slider: For specific measurements, such as tire tread depth.
• Multi-line Text: For adding detailed comments or inspection notes.
• Camera, Images & Files: To document vehicle parts with visual evidence.
• GPS Location: To record the location where the inspection is performed.
• Unique Numbering: Automatically assign a unique identifier to each inspection record, ensuring easy reference and organization of entries.

Table of Essential Fields for the Car Inspection App

The table below lists essential fields commonly found in a car inspection checklist. These fields cover key details, from general vehicle information and condition assessments to additional notes and photo documentation. This setup provides a comprehensive framework for conducting standardized inspections.

The following step-by-step guide is based on this field structure, but you can customize your app as needed. Clappia allows flexibility in app design, so app admins can modify, add, or remove fields to align with specific inspection requirements. Feel free to adapt sections, field types, and configurations to suit your organization’s inspection needs, ensuring that the app is tailored precisely to your process.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Designing the App

a. Create New App

• Log in to Clappia and click on New App. You will be directed to the Design App tab.
• App Name: “Car Inspection App.”

b. Adding Sections

• Section 1: Inspection Details
  • Click Add Section → On the right panel, name the section Inspection Details.
• Repeat: Follow the same steps for the remaining sections, naming them as follows:
  • Vehicle Information
  • Exterior Condition
  • Interior Condition
  • Engine Compartment
  • Underbody Condition
  • Test Drive Results
  • Additional Notes

c. Add Fields in Each Section

For each section, click Add Field and select the corresponding block for the field, then configure as follows:

Inspection Details Section

• Date Selector Block:
  • Label: “Date.”
  • Go to Advanced Options → Enable Default to Current Date. Disable options that allow users to change the date.
• Time Selector Block:
  • Label: “Time.”
• Unique Numbering:
  • Label: “Inspection ID.”
  • Set a prefix for the Unique ID, its minimum length including the prefix, and the starting number for the ID.
• Single Line Text Block:
  • Label: “Inspector Name.”
• GPS Location Block:
  • Label: “Inspection Location.”
  • Advanced Option: Enable Map View to visualize location on a map.

Vehicle Information Section

• Single Line Text Block:
  • Label: “Vehicle Make.” Repeat for “Model,” “Year,” “License Plate Number,” and “VIN (Vehicle ID Number).”

Exterior Condition Section

• Dropdown Block:
  • Label: “Body Condition.”
  • Options: Add choices like “Good,” “Average,” “Poor” (enter each option on a new line without spaces).
  • Repeat: Follow the same process for other dropdowns in this section, including “Paint Condition,” “Windshield Condition,” “Tire Condition,” “Lights Functionality,” and “Mirror Condition.”
• Slider Block:
  • Label: “Tire Tread Depth” to capture numeric data in mm.
  • Enter Min and Max value.
  • Set step size that increases/ decreases the value shown.

Interior Condition Section

• Dropdown Block:
  • Label: “Seat Condition.”
  • Options: “Good,” “Average,” “Poor.”
  • Repeat: Apply the same configuration for “Dashboard Condition,” “Air Conditioning Function,” “Audio System Function,” and “Odor Presence.”

Engine Compartment Section

• Dropdown Block:
  • Label: “Engine Oil Level.”
  • Options: “Full,” “Medium,” “Low.”
  • Repeat: Follow the same setup for “Engine Oil Condition,” “Transmission Fluid Level,” “Battery Condition,” and “Belts and Hoses Condition.”

Underbody Condition Section

• Dropdown Block:
  • Label: “Exhaust System Condition.”
  • Options: “Good,” “Average,” “Poor.”
  • Repeat: Configure similarly for “Suspension Condition,” “Brake Pads Condition,” and “Signs of Leaks.”

Test Drive Results Section

• Dropdown Block:
  • Label: “Steering Performance.”
  • Options: “Smooth,” “Minor Issues,” “Requires Attention.”
  • Repeat: Use the same configuration for “Brake Performance,” “Transmission Shifting,” “Engine Performance,” and “Unusual Noises.”

Additional Notes Section

• Multi-line Text Block:
  • Label: “Comments.” This field is for the inspector’s general notes or observations.
• Camera, Images & Files Block:
  • Label: “Photos of Vehicle Parts.”
  • Advanced Options:
    • Allowed File Types: Choose Camera Uploads and Gallery Uploads.
    • Maximum Number of Files Allowed: Set to the desired limit (e.g., 5).

2. Configurations Tab

Here you can set up PDFs for your car inspection based on the entries made to the app.

• Go to the Configurations tab and click Print Settings.
• On the right Panel, click on ‘Add print Template’, name it and click on the edit button next to the name.
• An editor window will appear where you can design the PDF. You can also pull field entries dynamically into the PDF. Type in @ followed by the field name.

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3. Workflows

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The below workflow configuration is used to send out email notifications every time a submission is made.

a. Configure Notifications

• Go to the Workflows tab and click Add Step → Email Notification.
• Set up an email to notify a supervisor when an inspection is submitted.
• Use @fieldname syntax to pull in dynamic data (e.g., “Vehicle Make” and “Inspection Status”) in the Subject and Body fields.

4. Analytics

a. Live Dashboard

• In the Analytics tab, remove any unnecessary preset charts and add relevant ones for real-time monitoring, such as the number of inspections and status breakdown.

b. Automated Reports

• Under Automated Reports, click Add Report to set up a scheduled report (e.g., weekly or monthly).
• Filter to include only essential fields for summary reporting.

5. Distribution

a. User Access

• Go to User Access and add users who need access to the app.
• Set roles using Clappia’s Permission Model, like Submitter Access for inspectors.

b. Access via Mobile App

• Users can download the Clappia mobile app from the App Store or PlayStore and use it  for on-site inspections.
• The mobile app supports Offline Mode, allowing data collection without an internet connection, which syncs automatically once online. No additional configurations are needed for the app to work in the Offline mode.

Once you have set up your app, for the web app, navigate to the “App Home” tab to start making submissions. The mobile app will directly open the app once the user logs in and selects the app.

How to View Submissions

You can access the submissions made through your app by navigating to the 'Submissions' tab. Here, you can review each entry, download data individually or in bulk, and make any required updates. Additionally, app admins have control over editing permissions, allowing them to restrict certain users from modifying submissions if necessary. Clappia also offers features to bulk edit, archive entries for better organization, and manage visibility settings to tailor access for different user roles. This setup ensures efficient data management and easy retrieval of information.

Additional Insights

Enhancements

Interlink with Other Apps: If you need to track vehicle maintenance or repairs, create related apps in Clappia. Use the Get Data from Other Apps block to pull in linked data or the Create Submission or Edit Submission workflow nodes to update entries in connected apps.

Did You Know?

Switching from a paper-based car inspection process to a digital app can improve data accuracy by 30% and reduce the inspection time by up to 50%. This ensures that every vehicle inspection follows the same standards, making it easier for managers to track compliance and identify potential issues across the fleet.

Conclusion

Using Clappia to build a car inspection app replaces time-consuming, error-prone paper forms with an efficient, digital solution. By following this guide, you’ll be able to set up a reliable and structured app for inspections that provides instant data access and streamlines vehicle management. Start building your inspection app in Clappia today!