Documentation & Help

Everything you need to get started with Rates Goblin

Getting Started

Set Up in Minutes

Follow these guides to go from sign-up to your first analysed quote in no time.

Quick Start Guide

Create your account, upload your first subcontractor quote, and review the AI extraction results. The entire process takes less than five minutes.

Importing Quotes

Supported formats include PDF and Excel (.xlsx, .xls). Drag and drop files directly into the dashboard or connect your Dropbox account for seamless imports.

Cost Plans

Learn how to create and manage cost plans. Map extracted line items to NRM elements so you can track budgets and compare across projects.

AI Features

Understand how AI-powered extraction works, what confidence scoring means, and how to manage your AI consent preferences before processing begins.

Key Concepts

Core Features Explained

Deeper dives into the terminology and functionality you will encounter inside Rates Goblin.

Rate Groups

AI groups similar line items across quotes so you can compare like-for-like. Units are normalised and rates are surfaced for easy cross-quote comparison.

NRM Classification

NRM (New Rules of Measurement) is the industry standard for classifying construction costs. Rate Goblin auto-classifies items with confidence levels you can review and override.

Benchmarking

Compare current rates against historical data from your accepted quotes and cost plans. TPI trends and deviation indicators highlight rates that fall outside expected ranges.

Value Engineering

Rate Goblin identifies value engineering opportunities by analysing rate spreads and flagging potential savings. All calculations are transparent and auditable.

Roles & Permissions

Four roles control access: Creator (full owner), Admin (manage users and settings), User (upload and edit), and Viewer (read-only access).

Goblin Assistant

Your context-aware AI colleague, included in the Business plan. Ask questions about your quotes, cost plans, and rates in plain English — it calculates, compares, and drills into your data live.

Data Export

Export cost plans and quotes to Excel / PDF. On Business, exporting is a bolt-on add-on (£100/mo for 10 exports, free during your trial). You can always request a full GDPR-compliant JSON download of all your data from the Settings page.

Plans & Add-Ons

Choosing Your Plan

Start with a 14-day free trial of Business — every feature and add-on unlocked. After the trial, subscribe to Business and add the bolt-ons you need from Settings → Plan.

Business Plan

£600/mo (or £6,480/yr, save 10%). Includes 50 quotes/mo, 50 cost plans, 1,000 AI queries, 1 seat · 2 devices, full Rate Intelligence, VE, Smart Import, and the Goblin Assistant included.

AI Reports & Quote Comparisons

£100/mo add-on. 20 AI analysis reports plus 20 quote comparisons per month. Start the free trial or subscribe from Settings → Plan.

Exports

£100/mo add-on for 10 Excel / PDF exports per month. Included free during your trial; add it from Settings → Plan to keep exporting on Business.

Goblin Forge (coming soon)

Automatically prices your own cost plans using the rates in your database — with confidence scoring and a full audit trail. Launching soon as a Business add-on.

Enterprise

Custom pricing for larger practices: unlimited usage and seats, all add-ons included, 2 devices per seat (no lock), custom SLA and onboarding. Contact us.

Top-Up Packs

Need more mid-month? Buy extra AI queries, quotes, or cost plans — they bolt straight onto your plan and never expire. Available in Settings → Plan.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions about Rates Goblin.

PDF and Excel (.xlsx, .xls). Scanned PDFs are also supported via AI Vision, which uses optical character recognition to extract text from image-based documents.

80%+ accuracy on well-structured documents. All extractions display confidence scores so you can quickly review and correct any items that need attention.

Quote data is processed by OpenAI GPT-4o models via the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service (UK region) for AI features. The data is not used for model training. For full details, see our AI Disclosure page.

Yes. You can manually enter data and use the benchmarking tools without enabling AI consent. AI features are entirely opt-in and can be toggled at any time.

New Rules of Measurement — the industry standard for classifying construction costs into elements (e.g., Substructure, External Walls, Roof). It provides a consistent framework for cost planning and benchmarking.

Use the "Export" button on the Quotes or Cost Plans page (Excel / PDF). On Business, exporting is a £100/mo add-on giving 10 exports a month (free during your trial) — add it from Settings > Plan. You can always request a full GDPR-compliant JSON export of all your data from Settings > Data & Privacy.

You will see a clear notification. Your existing data remains fully accessible. You can upgrade your plan at any time or wait until your quota resets at the start of the next billing month.

Rates Goblin is a data organisation and analysis tool. It does not provide professional quantity surveying advice. All outputs must be independently verified by a qualified professional.

Support

Need More Help?

Use the Support Chat inside the app for real-time assistance, or contact us at support@ratesgoblin.ai. We aim to respond within one working day.

Ready to Get Started?

Create your free account and upload your first quote in minutes.

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