I have an inspection to do at the end of this week, the buyers my clients sent me this information and asked if they should be concerned about the foundation walls. It says there was waterproofing and a foundation stabilizer was installed February 2019 and have had no water issue or movements since, if I look this over and it seems to look good should I be confident enough to say the leaks and movement is corrected? Is one year long enough to know that their fix has actually corrected the issue? Or is there a way I could state this that can protect myself, possibly if I said something like this: at the time of inspection the foundation repairs seem to be doing the job intended, but since the repairs are only one year old we cannot make a future judgment.
Keep it simple. All you can do is call out what you see at the inspection.
As Roy says. That information really doesn’t mean much to you.
I work with a lot of flips… I will tell you that the paperwork (yes, with license numbers), means sh1t. I would advise your clients accordingly. People, when selling, don’t want to spend money to fix things “right”. Fixing things right could be very very costly at times. They tend to select plan D which is not what should have been done to fix the issue.
You shouldn’t feel obligated to comment on those foundation repairs. Keep it simple by just commenting on what you observe on the date of inspection. No need to confirm past repairs, no need to predict future conditions. If the clients ask for more clarification on the foundation repairs you can certainly make a general verbal statement of some kind, perhaps referring to the foundation contractor’s warranty. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to confirm in writing the contractor’s warranty.
No, it is not your concern. They put it in writing but like other have said it means nothing to you or your client.
It is not part of your SOP or inspections. Just report what you see on that day. IMHO
Thank you all for your help and advice
Buyer should request documentation of repair and any warranty information from the seller. If you get there and see a problem it will be easy to say there is a problem. If you don’t, commenting on the adequacy of the repair would imply you are giving a warranty on the solution. JMO
Expanding on Aaron’s comment, I would add that it is important to point out to the client that they have “due diligence” to perform. Down here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area basements, foundation walls, and their attendant problems are rarely encountered. However, when I am made aware - by documentation or observation - of foundation repairs, I include a boilerplate paragraph in the Summary section urging the client to gather all pertinent information. That would include the area(s) where repairs were done, the warranty (if any), the structural engineers report, and whether plumbing systems were inspected after the work to determine whether they were damaged in the process. The overall idea being that the client needs to be made aware there is information you do not have access to that they are responsible for assembling and understanding.
I tell my clients that anything a Seller says/tells them about the home, weather it be bragging about upgrades or mentioning repairs, ask the Sellers to “Show me the CarFax”. If I read the SPUDS (like the one you provided), or if I suspected foundation repairs were done, I would mention foundation repairs were performed and recommend that the buyer ask about these repairs and get any and all documents relating to said repairs. These documents my include warranties, nature of repairs, etc…
Personally I love when I get to the house and the Listing tells me the home has been remolded or added on too… Just add the remolded/Addition narrative and good to go.
Greg I would reference the repair work that was done and advise my clients to contact the sellers to obtain all paperwork and a written guarantee or warranty from the company that did the job. Since you did not inspect conditions before the work was done you have no idea how the work was done and whether it will perform as intended going forward. You should report existing conditions that you observed on the date of your inspection only. You are under no obligation to speculate about future performance of that repair work.
Should I write this out in the report or is it just verbal for me to tell them to request documentation of foundation repairs and warranty information. I did tell them through a text yesterday to collect that information and they said they would get on it. I will also mention to them to collect a structural engineers report. Is this normally what a home inspector should be doing or am I going above and beyond at this point?
Greg:
Any time I ever came across this type of situation I mentioned it to the client but I made a comment in the report disclaiming any liability for the repair. Something like: " Information has been provided regarding a previous foundation repair. The inspector accepts no liability on future performance and cannot predict the future performance of the reported repairs"
Does not only apply to foundation, could be adopted to any type of repair.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Greg
That is outside of a Home inspection.
(E) “The practice of engineering” includes any professional service, such as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, design, or inspection of construction or operation for the purpose of assuring compliance with drawings or specifications in connection with any public or privately owned public utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, works, or projects in the proper rendering of which the qualifications of section 4733.11 of the Revised Code are required to protect the public welfare or to safeguard life, health, or property.
First I would comment on the condition at the time of inspection, and note the visible repairs. Second I would refer to the disclosure from the seller and refer the buyer to obtain all guarantees and warranty from the company that did the work, and if the warranty is transferable to the buyers. If the seller can’t provide the warranty, recommend the buyer contact the company to obtain any additional information on file.
I typically ask my clients before the inspection is there any specific they need me to focus on, but they brought this up to my attention asking me if the foundation will hold up without leaking issues because of the repairs the seller said was done. I kind of felt like they put me on the spot like I need to guarantee this foundation repair will hold up. It kind of made me nervous because I am the inspector and that’s going to be a big responsibility on me to make the right call. But I’m feeling more confident thanks for the help I have got on this forum.
Greg, read what Scott wrote again. Get the monkey off your back and into the buyer’s lap…Kindly! It will work out if you follow his direction. An inspection is NOT a guarantee. 
Greg, read Larry’s post.You are over thinking this.
Yes that is pretty much the conclusion I am coming to
Being that the repairs were done less than a year ago, I would advise my clients to have their Realtor look into a transferable warranty. Most reputable contractors in my area that do these types of repairs offer 5 year, 10 year, and even lifetime warranties that are transferable one time.
If you don’t feel comfortable in any way shape or form with the repairs you see, recommend a SE for further evaluation.