First ask them Please submit: papers form the licensed contractors who performed repairs
Then they freak out 'cause Uncle Billy & The Goats did it… … …
14 Likes
ndegaris
(Neil DeGaris, CMI KY License # 102167)
3
This^^^^^.
If the repairs were made by a professional/licensed contractor then they would be the expert on making the repair, thus taking on the liability as well.
I don’t do reinspections. I state in my report that all repairs are to be done by licensed contractors and proper permitting when required. After that, get all of the documentation and if something fails, call the repair person to fix it.
Way back when, Realtors had their “special handyman” who would come out to do the repairs, then the realtor expected the inspector to come out and certify the work. I did these at the beginning of my career, until something failed in a house and the realtor said “call the inspector, he said it was repaired”.
I wrote the client a check for $100, had them sign a release, and that was the last reinspection I ever did.
7 Likes
ndegaris
(Neil DeGaris, CMI KY License # 102167)
7
All of the above said in consideration of a reinspection post repairs. However, a new inspection (re-inspection) of the same property after a certain amount of time has passed would be something I would do. I would re-inspect after 30 days - or any large meteorological event - or if its a new client within any time frame.
I quit doing them several years ago. I used to charge $175.00 without a report and told the client to bring a list of what they wanted inspected, and we would go through each item one by one. After a few years of this, and 95 percent of the time finding the items were improperly repaired, or not corrected at all, I quit doing them and explained to my clients that if I were to do the re-inspection, how many times would they be willing to pay me $175.00 to inspect something that was still wrong.
I now explain this to them and tell them to get any receipts for all repairs done by the seller on the letterhead of the professional that did it.
Hate them but sometimes can’t avoid it to keep people happy. My mainland company was at $175. Here in Maui I’m at $250 but have yet to do one (yay for now!). Like everything in this biz, communication and managing everyone’s expectations are key. There’s no getting around the fact that they are higher liability for a variety of reasons.
Rick, I add the following sentence to the end of my Scope of Inspection paragraph:
If the CLIENT requests a reinspection, the reinspection is also subject to all the terms and conditions outlined in this agreement.
I added this paragraph to all my contracts:
REINSPECTION- CLIENT agrees a reinspection of repair items submitted by CLIENT or their representative is not a guarantee of work performed by others and is not a substitute for obtaining receipts, licenses, warranties, permits, etc. from qualified and/or licensed contractors that performed the repair work. CLIENT agrees COMPANY was retained to determine if some level of repair was performed and further agrees to hold the repair contractor liable for all work that was not completed, partially completed, and/or not done in a safe or workmanlike manner. A re-inspection is not a guarantee or warranty of future performance of any system, component, or structural item. The reinspection fee is $100 minimum and may increase depending on the quantity of items to be inspected. Travel time will be billed at $50 per hour. COMPANY will schedule all reinspections based on the current workload.
Here in Fla, they want the 4-point “cleared out”.
I tell all of my clients that I will need invoices and pictures from licensed companies to do that.
I also tell them to do that before submitting the 4 point to their insurance company…
I charge 75% of the original inspection fee. Most of my clients aren’t able to get on a roof or enter their attic so this is a service I often perform.
If you had the ability to call out a defect, you should have the ability to understand if that defect has been corrected and publish a report. It’s not a big deal.
If the repair was done by a competant licensed proffessional with a warranty a re-inspection shouldn’t be necessary. If they didn’t trust their contractor or the repair results; why did they hire them in the first place? Being the middle man in a repair dispute isn’t a desirable position.
This is really a good point and the main reason for re-inspections IMO. People aren’t generally going to go into attics, crawl spaces and on roofs. And the repair guys know it and sandbag it all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened a crawl space at a re-inspections to find absolutely nothing has been done. There’s always some, “misunderstanding,” and the contractor is going to come back and finish up (sure).
I hate re-rinspections. They work is never totally right. It takes up a slot on my calendar where I might miss a full inspection. I charge 1/2 of the original inspection fee in hopes of pricing myself out of the job.