Roof certification against leakage carrries a lot of liability and is not part of an inspection.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a specialty and I can’t see how you can absolutely certify a roof against leakage unless you can test it by duplicating any wind and rain conditions the roof might be exposed to. Talking more than garden hose here.
I recieved a call yesterday from a lender for a roof certification but declined. What they are asking for “certification” is not only beyond the scope of the home inspector it opens up all kinds of liability. I gave them 3 local roofing contractors phone numbers.
Ive been doing certs for over ten years and I never use a water test unless I get a call back in the winter and I cant find the leak. If yo know what your looking at you can do ok. My 2 cents if your a HI and have never installed roofs dont cert them you will loose your @ss…trust me. ALso here in CA unless your a lic. c-39 contractor they wont take your cert. If any one has any other questios on roof certs drop me a email ill be gald to help you out.
OK, all this talk about liability…
Will someone post something real about the liability of certifying a roof?
As I see it, the lender wants someone to lay eyes on the thing to insure that it is there and there is a reasonable expectation that the thing will last another 2-5 years. Unlike worthless Home Warranties that insure something sight-unseen.
There is no way to predict the future about leaks or a tornado ripping the top of the house off, but you can give an experienced opinion on the existing condition. No one has mentioned anything about “warranty” or “insurance”.
I can understand some home inspectors not wanting to certify anything…
they don’t commit to any opinion about the house in the first place.
Getting to be an all too often used home inspection tactic in my opinion.
If you can’t certify a roof after you have inspected a home, maybe you shouldn’t be a home inspector!
An “opinion” is not a “certification”. If you certify a roof as leakproof for 2 years, you’re telling them it’s not going to leak. If I Paid a lot of money for a home and the roof was certified as leakproof and then it leaked. I’d expect the certifier to pay for fixing it.
Exactly.
And the make any needed repairs, then, guarantee the roof will not leak. 
It may be different in other geographical locations
[quote=“kshepard, post:25, topic:39400”]
An “opinion” is not a “certification”.
No, but in the absence of a roof cert, wouldn’t you as a HI be liable for an “opinion” that the roof was good, then leaked during the next rainstorm?
Seems to me the liability is there whether it is an “opinion” or a “certification”
Yes, that is the point.
I’m not debating this, I’m looking for something in writing on what the cert is all about, not just an “opinion”. 
Kenton & Billy are you “certifying” your answer or just posting “opinion”?
That’s my opinification. :mrgreen:
[quote=“jhugenroth, post:28, topic:39400”]
My reports state “I do not certify roofs as leak-proof as part of the General Home Inspection.”
If it looks OK I’ll say that it “appears to be in serviceable condition”. I’m not saying that it is, just that it appears to be, because I’m not a roofer and I’m not willing to take on the liability. I don’t certify furnaces for the same reason.
So it’s… “as a non-specialist it looks OK to me but if you want to be sure get a certification from a specialist.”
I don’t see any liability if I’m not telling them anything that’s not true. I could be mostly blind and still say that it looked OK to me and it would be true.
But if I say “this roof is OK and won’t leak for 2 years” and before two years is up it leaks, then I told them something that wasn’t true and I’m liable.
I don’t know if there’s a legal definition of a roof “certification”. It seems like the kind of thing that would vary by state.
I think the root word of “certification” is “certify” which actual breaks down to the root word “certain”, which would mean that I’m certain enough to certify the roof and issue a certification. However, the only certainity from my point of view is that I’m uncertain enough to avoid appearing certain enough to certify the roof by issuing a certification that would make me appear certain when I was actually uncertain in ascertaining for certain whether the roof was certifiable.
That’s my opinion.:mrgreen:
Come on Kenton, I know your much better than that!
I have never done a certification, never plan to, but would like to know what’s expected so I can turn them down knowledgeably.
That’s my opinion. :mrgreen: