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Home inspections are a critical step in the home selling and buying process, yet studies have found that home buyers spend less time inspecting their future home than they spend grocery shopping for one week! Just as it is important to have a mechanic check out a used car, it is equally important to have any home inspected by a professional building inspector.
Only by being armed with a thorough home inspection, can a buyer make an "informed" buying decision.
Home sellers are required to disclose everything that affects value and desirability of their home. A professional home inspection is the best way to ensure that this disclosure covers everything, leaving no surprises post-sale that might land you in a dispute or even in court.
Home Inspections – What Is Involved?
Homes should be inspected from the “sub-area” (basement/foundation) through the roof. Quality home inspections will address the following:
• Property Site: Includes sidewalks, driveways, fences, site drainage, and other features.
• Building Exterior: Includes siding, decks, windows, and other features.
• Roof Covering: Includes flashings, gutters and downspouts and chimney.
• Building Interior: Includes appliances, floors, walls, ceilings, doors, fireplaces, garage, and other features.
• Electrical: Includes the main and sub panels, circuit wiring, and other features.
• Plumbing: Includes the drainage piping, water supply lines, water heater, and other features.
• Heating and Air Conditioning: Includes the system and ducting.
• Attic Space: Includes the framing and insulation.
• Foundations and Crawlspace: Includes ventilation, moisture infiltration, and other features.
In short, a home inspection is a visual inspection of all the major components within the home. It should also be an operational inspection of the appliances, heating and air conditioning systems, plus plumbing and electrical systems.
Licensing of Home Inspectors
Home inspectors are not required to be licensed in California. Anyone can claim to be a home inspector; therefore it is very important that you make the right choice.
Selecting a Qualified Home Inspector
A good inspector is like your family doctor.
A good way to characterize a home inspector is to classify him/her as a general practitioner. If an inspector observes an area of concern, s/he would traditionally recommend hiring a specialist for a more detailed analysis. As an example, if a hillside home is showing signs of settling or movement, the inspector would normally recommend contacting a soils or structural engineer for a more in depth evaluation as to the cause of the movement.
What factors should you consider when selecting a home inspector?
Inspector Credentials: Because there are no licensing requirements for home inspectors in California, anyone can call himself or herself a home inspector. There are a number of home inspector schools that make you a "certified home inspector" after 1-2 weeks of training. Many franchises also offer a big name and fancy reports or brochures but little in the way of training. If you can pay the bucks, you can buy the image or the title. NBI's inspectors are required to perform a minimum of 200 training inspections prior to their first solo inspection. Ask these questions when interviewing an inspector:
How many inspections has he or she performed?
What training did she or he receive?
What is his or her past construction experience?"
Put simply, who would be a better inspector? One who performs 10 inspections a month, or one who performs 60 to 70 per month?
Conflicts of Interest: Inspectors who also do corrective work to fix the problems they find have an inherent conflict of interest. Ask this question:
Does the inspector perform corrective work on the homes he inspects?
Most home inspection trade organizations absolutely forbid inspectors from performing corrective work on the homes they inspect because of this built-in conflict of interest. Our trade association, CREIA, recommends that you never hire an inspection company that performs corrective work on the same homes they inspect. Doing so could cost you thousands of dollars in extra repairs.
Size of Company: Many home inspectors are one-man operations working out of their homes. Others are small independently owned and operated franchises. The questions to ask are:
How many inspectors are employed?
How long have you been in business?
Are you financially strong enough to stand behind your inspection if there is a dispute?
A termite inspection should address only those item that have caused damage or are deemed likely to cause damage to the wooden structural members of the building due to infestations of pests (primarily termites and beetles) or infections of wood destroying organisms (fungus).
NBI RECOMMENDS THAT:
You thoroughly understand the scope and requirements of termite inspection reports (See Understanding California Termite Inspection Reports).
NBI is a Branch 3 licensed pest control company: California Structural Pest Control Board License # PR 5739
All of NBI's inspection reports are completely un-biased which is GUARANTEED by the fact that we do not perform corrective work or chemical treatments on any home we inspect.
In addition, in each report we offer recommendations on how best to fix problems we find.
Click on Termite/WDO Frequently Asked Questions to see how wood damage repairs can be performed.
Useful links for understanding Termite Inspections
Understanding CA Termite Reports | Understanding Section 1 & 2 Items | Termite FAQs
NBI’s professional property inspectors have performed thousands of commercial property inspections on buildings of all types and sizes. Our professional reports deliver the information needed by our clients to make sensible business decisions. Understanding the condition of a building and its components can be critical to determining the economic viability of a property. Our commercial property inspectors understand the complex issues resulting from deferred building maintenance, design flaws, poor workmanship, or just simply outdated building components. NBI is a well-established and well-respected resource for commercial inspections and strives to be one of the most methodical and comprehensive commercial inspection companies around.
Commercial Standards of Practice
Our Commercial Property Inspections are based upon the CREIA (California Real Estate Inspection Association) Commercial Standards of Practice, which is available upon request and can also be viewed and downloaded by visiting www.creia.org
What’s included in our Commercial Property Inspections?
The duration of the inspection will depend largely on the scope of the inspection and the condition of the property. Upon completion, our inspector(s) will report all significant findings to you in a professional report covering:
• Property Site: Includes sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fences, site drainage, and other features.
• Building Exterior: Includes siding, decks, balconies, elevated walkways, windows, and other features.
• Roof Covering: Includes flashings, gutters and downspouts and chimneys and flue systems.
• Building Interior: Includes appliances, floors, walls, ceilings, doors, fireplaces, garage, and other features.
• Electrical: Includes the main and sub panels, circuit wiring, and other features.
• Plumbing: Includes the drainage piping, water supply lines, water heater, and other features.
• Heating and Air Conditioning: Includes the system and ducting.
• Attic Space: Includes the framing and insulation.
• Foundations and Crawlspace: Includes ventilation, moisture infiltration, and other features.
Commercial Property Inspection and
Termite Inspection Performed at the Same Time.
We understand that coordinating inspections on commercial properties is often difficult because of because of tenant occupancy. To eliminate the need for multiple visits, NBI is able to perform both the property and the termite inspections at the same time. Therefore a 24-hour tenant notice only needs to be given once for us to complete our inspections.
HOME INSPECTIONS
TERMITE INSPECTIONS
COMMERCIAL INSPECTIONS
NBI (National Building Inspectors) is one of California's largest known privately owned
Residential and Commercial Property Inspection companies.
National Building Inspectors | 3189 Danville Blvd, Ste 260, Alamo, CA 94507
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