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How ConstructionPal works — the calculator, feet-inch-fraction entry, units and rounding, area and volume, right triangles, projects and history, purchase, and privacy. iOS 17+, iPhone and iPad.

What ConstructionPal is

ConstructionPal is a construction dimension calculator for your iPhone and iPad. Use it for framing layout, remodel takeoffs, deck and fence math, lumber quantities, and any job where the tape gives you feet, inches, and fractions.

It is built on four promises:

  1. It does exact math — fractions stay exact until display.
  2. It never locks basic arithmetic behind a paywall.
  3. Your projects stay on your device.
  4. There is no subscription.

ConstructionPal is a free download with a 14-day trial where everything works. There is no account, no advertising, and no paywall on projects you already made. After the trial, everything you already have keeps working — visible, exportable, deletable. A single one-time purchase only unlocks starting new calculations (see Purchase & unlock).

ConstructionPal is local-first. All calculation happens on your device. The internet is never used for your measurements — the only network traffic is the App Store purchase flow and normal iCloud device backup. Everything important works offline, including in a basement with no signal.

What's included

  • Four operators on real dimensions — add, subtract, multiply, and divide feet, inches, and fractions. Invalid entries are refused with a plain-language reason instead of silently coerced. Details: Calculator.
  • Feet–inch–fraction entry — type dimensions the way the tape reads them, including fractional inches and negative results where mathematically valid. Details: Feet–inch–fraction.
  • Units and rounding your way — five-step smallest-fraction selector (1/2″–1/32″), decimal inches to four places, imperial and metric operands including mixed-unit expressions, and an explicit result unit. Details: Units & rounding.
  • Area and volume — rectangular areas and volumes from your dimensions, in the unit you choose. Details: Area & volume.
  • Right-triangle solver — rise, run, diagonal, pitch or slope angle: enter any two sufficient values and get the rest, including square-up diagonals. Details: Right triangles.
  • Project subtotals — named projects accumulate running totals across calculations. Details: Projects & history.
  • Full calculation history — every calculation kept, revisit-able, exportable, and clearable. Details: Projects & history.
  • Diagnostics — an optional support report you send yourself. It describes how the app is working but never includes your measurements.
  • Delete all data — one action clears everything the app holds, when you want a clean slate.

Requirements and limits

  • Needs: iOS 17.0 or later.
  • Devices: iPhone and iPad. iPhone is portrait-first; iPad layout adapts.
  • Offline: every calculation, project, history entry, and setting works with no internet.
  • What ConstructionPal is not: not a CAD program, not an estimating or bidding suite, not a plan markup tool, not a unit converter for non-construction units. Not legal or engineering advice about whether a structure is safe to build — it does the math you ask for; the building decisions are yours and your inspector's.

Accessibility

  • VoiceOver announces results and the exact stored value, not just the rounded display.
  • Text size scales up to the largest iPhone and iPad text settings.
  • Fraction and unit choices are shown with both symbol and words — never color alone.
  • Buttons meet Apple's recommended minimum tap size, including the calculator keys.
  • Reduce Motion is respected.

Where to go next

The table of contents on the left walks through the app section by section. Getting started is the best first stop. The FAQ and Troubleshooting pages cover the common questions, and Support is one tap away.