2 years ago I got a furious call about how I had missed something about the foundation.
I went over, and they had gutted the kitchen and removed everything. There were signs of water entry on the back wall. Clearly not visible at the time.
Looking back through my report, sure enough, I had called out the patio slab for leaning toward the house, right to the place where they discovered the moisture intrusion. I was able to successfully point out the problem they had discovered was indeed in their report.
Right, an illustration that helps the client better understand the problem. Which is the purpose of all my photos in a report. I know you did not need a laser, but the client may appreciate the visualization.
I am curious if we need to disclaim use of these tools. Such as; “This was not a technically exhaustive inspection. Photo’s of special tools or measuring devices are intended to further illustrate the observed condition of the home at the time of inspection.”
General disclaimer should suffice. Why would you need to disclaim certain tools but not others? what about your receptacle tester, what about moisture meter, why are they different? It should be very clear from the begin the inspection is none exhaustive, not all defects will be discovered, etc… I carry a 6 inch level in my side pouch and that is all I need. If something is that out of level I just draw it up using straight lines when I edit the pic to create the visual. If they doubt my simple drawing they can bring their own level and verify
I have a disclaimer for my thermal imaging, stating that the environmental conditions may or may not be conducive to readings…blah, blah… But I dont have one for the other tools. I do sort of point out in my comment though, that I did not check the entire floor with the laser, just where further evaluation was recommended.
Yesterday I put a level on the floor to demonstrate that the floor slope was more than a small issue. I don’t do this often but sometimes the situation calls for a visual.
