Pre Inspection Agreement for review

The address of the property is: _______.
The CLIENT agrees to pay a base fee of $
plus any additional fees, as mutually agreed, which are not included in the base fee at or before the time of inspection. A minimum assessment of 150.00 will be charged for each Work Order Evaluation Inspection that is requested of, and conducted by the INSPECTOR. INSPECTOR acknowledges receiving a deposit of
from CLIENT. THIS AGREEMENT made this _______________ day of
, 20
, by and between __________________________________________________________ (hereinafter “INSPECTOR”) and the undersigned (“CLIENT”), collectively referred to herein as “the parties.” The Parties understand and voluntarily agree as follows:

  1. INSPECTOR agrees to perform a visual inspection of the home/building and to provide CLIENT with a written report identifying the defects that INSPECTOR both observed and deemed material. INSPECTOR may offer comments as a courtesy, but these comments will not comprise the bargained-for report. The report is only supplementary to the seller’s disclosure.

  2. Unless otherwise inconsistent with this Agreement or not possible, INSPECTOR agrees to perform the inspection in accordance with the current Standards of Practice of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (“InterNACHI”) posted at http://www.nachi.org/sop.htm and WA State, standards of practice posted at http://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=308-408C&full=true. Although INSPECTOR agrees to follow InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice, CLIENT understands that these standards contain limitations, exceptions, and exclusions. CLIENT understands that InterNACHI is not a party to this Agreement and has no control over INSPECTOR or representations made by INSPECTOR and does not supervise INSPECTOR. Unless otherwise indicated below, CLIENT understands that INSPECTOR will NOT be testing for the presence of radon - a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that may be harmful to humans. Unless otherwise indicated below, CLIENT understands that INSPECTOR will NOT be testing for mold. Unless otherwise indicated in a separate writing, CLIENT understands that INSPECTOR will not test for compliance with applicable building codes or for the presence of potential dangers arising from asbestos, lead paint, formaldehyde, molds, soil contamination, and other environmental hazards or violations.

  3. The inspection and report are for the use of CLIENT only, who gives INSPECTOR permission to discuss observations with real estate agents, owners, repair persons, and other interested parties. INSPECTOR shall be the sole owner of the report and all rights to it. INSPECTOR accepts no responsibility for use or misinterpretation by third parties, and third parties who rely on it in any way do so at their own risk and release INSPECTOR (including employees and business entities) from any liability whatsoever. INSPECTOR’S inspection of the property and the report are in no way a guarantee or warranty, express or implied, regarding the future use, operability, habitability or suitability of the home/building or its components. All warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are expressly excluded to the fullest extent allowed by
    law. If any structure or portion of any structure that is to be inspected is a log home, log structure or includes similar log construction, CLIENT understands that such structures have unique characteristics that make it impossible for an inspector to inspect and evaluate them. Therefore, the scope of the inspection to be performed pursuant to this Agreement does not include decay of the interior of logs in log walls, log foundations or roofs, or similar defects.

  4. INSPECTOR assumes no liability for the cost of repair or replacement of unreported defects or deficiencies either current or arising in the future. CLIENT acknowledges that the liability of INSPECTOR, its agents and/or employees, for claims or damages, costs of defense or suit, attorney’s fees and expenses arising out of or related to the INSPECTOR’S negligence or breach of any obligation under this Agreement, including errors and omissions in the inspection or the report, shall be limited to liquidated damages in an amount equal to the fee paid to the INSPECTOR, and this liability shall be exclusive. CLIENT waives any claim for consequential, exemplary, special or incidental damages or for the loss of the use of the home/building. The parties acknowledge that the liquidated damages are not intended as a penalty but are intended (i) to reflect the fact that actual damages may be difficult and impractical to ascertain; (ii) to allocate risk among the INSPECTOR and CLIENT; and (iii) to enable the INSPECTOR to perform the inspection at the stated fee.

  5. INSPECTOR does not perform engineering, architectural, plumbing, or any other job function requiring an occupational license in the jurisdiction where the inspection is taking place, unless the inspector holds a valid occupational license, in which case he/she may inform the CLIENT that he/she is so licensed, and is therefore qualified to go beyond this basic home inspection, and for additional fee, perform additional inspections beyond those within the scope of the basic home inspection. Any agreement for such additional inspections shall be in a separate writing.

  6. In the event of a claim against INSPECTOR, CLIENT agrees to supply INSPECTOR with the following: (1) written notification of adverse conditions within 14 days of discovery; and (2) access to the premises. Failure to comply with the above conditions will release INSPECTOR and its agents from any and all obligations or liability of any kind.

  7. The parties agree that any litigation arising out of this Agreement shall be filed only in the Court having jurisdiction in the County in which the INSPECTOR has its principal place of business. In the event that CLIENT fails to prove any claims against INSPECTOR in a court of law, CLIENT agrees to pay all legal costs, expenses and fees of INSPECTOR in defending said claims. CLIENT further understands that any legal action against InterNACHI itself allegedly arising out of this Agreement or INSPECTOR’s relationship with InterNACHI must be brought only in the District Court of Boulder County, Colorado. No such action may be filed unless the plaintiff has first provided InterNACHI with 30 days’ written notice of the nature of the claim. In any action against INSPECTOR and/or InterNACHI, CLIENT waives trial by jury.

  8. If any court declares any provision of this Agreement invalid, the remaining provisions will remain in effect. This Agreement represents the entire agreement between the parties. All prior communications are merged into this Agreement, and there are no terms or conditions other than those set forth herein. No statement or promise of INSPECTOR or its agents shall be binding unless reduced to writing and signed by INSPECTOR. No change shall be enforceable against any party unless it is in writing and signed by the parties. This Agreement shall be binding upon and enforceable by the parties and their heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assignees. CLIENT shall have no cause of action against INSPECTOR after one year from the date of the inspection.

  9. Payment of the fee to INSPECTOR (less any deposit noted above) is due upon completion of the on-site inspection. The CLIENT agrees to pay all legal and time expenses incurred in collecting due payments, including attorney’s fees, if any. If CLIENT is a corporation, LLC, or similar entity, the person signing this Agreement on behalf of such entity does personally guaranty payment of the fee by the entity.

  10. If CLIENT requests a re-inspection, the re-inspection is also subject to all the terms and conditions set forth in this agreement and a fee of no less than $150.00 will be the fee assessed to CLIENT.

  11. This Agreement is not transferable or assignable.

  12. Should any provision of this Agreement require judicial interpretation, the Court shall not apply a presumption that the term shall be more strictly construed against one party or the other by reason of the rule of construction that a document is to be construed more strictly against the party who prepared it.

Isn’t that just InterNACHI’s standard agreement? I don’t see any difference.

Apart from the addition of the minimum assessment fee, it sure looks like it.

http://www.nachi.org/agreement/template/view/1.htm

I highly recommend taking it to a lawyer. Its worth the 500 or so dollars. Since WA has our own SOP, I would claim that you are doing an inspection based on WA SOP and delete the NACHI comments.

It looks fine (basically InterNACHI’s template).

I see that you reference your state’s SOP. That’s perfect.

My only comment is that I don’t know what this additional sentence means:

Can you explain? If you can tell me what you are trying to say in plain English, I’ll have a clause drafted for you that you can insert.

InterNACHI has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and two decades perfecting this template so I’m not sure what a local yocal attorney, unfamiliar with our industry, is going to recommend. But if he/she does make any changes, post them here first so that I can look at them.

You made a post last Friday (6/26) and had a question with regards to my additional verbiage of $150 for Work Order Evaluation Inspections. Here is my attempt to answer you in plain English:

The premise is that the fee would be assessed for any additional inspections of work performed based on inspection report recommendations.

I see. I wouldn’t include it in the inspection agreement for a few reasons:

  • It seems like more of a fee schedule, not terms that really need to be in your contract.
  • I don’t think it is a very common issue. 99+% of the inspections I’ve ever performed didn’t require me to return. You don’t need to address every possible scenario in your inspection agreement.
  • Of the few clients that ever ask you to return to inspect something again, I suspect that very few of them would expect you to do it for free.
  • I don’t like that it implies something untrue, that being that it is common for you to need to return numerous times to complete the inspection.
  • I don’t like that it implies something untrue, that being that it is in your contract to give you the ability to keep charging your client over and over above and beyond the fee your client agreed to pay for the home inspection. Looks a bit shady on its surface.

For those reasons, I wouldn’t include the line in your inspection agreement.

Great comments by all. Nick, thank you for your assistance. I look forward to using this thread and sharing with others in the future!