I have a client that wants me to only inspect his roof. (Outside & in the attic) He is the seller, and is not wanting to get a full pre-listing inspection. Will this cause any kind of issue with any state and/or NACHI standards? (Because I am not inspecting the rest of the house)…
imho,
Sounds too specialized, are you trading into an area where you need to be a licenced roofer?
tom
The client pretty much wants the same information about the roof that I would provide in a full inspection, but without inspecting everything else. (Electrical, plumbing, crawlspace, etc.)
Sounds like a “Chris Rock” skit.
Go expensive. Meaning a ‘specific’ inspection 2x your normal rate. He/She might be trying to negotiate you down to like nothing for a simple check.
IMHO,
tom
Just write it in the Inspection Agreement and again in the Inspection Report.
You can contract for anything, so long as all parties agree.
It’s just a limited inspection or what I call spot inspections. I do them all the time, the roof seems be of particular concern for most home sellers and buyers. Same standards just one item insted of several. I charge $99 for the roof only. Do a great job and they might hire you for their home inspection when they are buying again. Make the adjustment to the contract and spell it out clearly that the roof is the only thing you are going to look at and all other “normal” items are excluded.
Agreed…
I do Roof Inspections Only…residential $169.00 (2,000 sf)…Commercial at least $399.00 (5,000 sf) and Up.
Wish I could just do Roof Inspections, good money, simple reports.
My agreement is in MS Word, I simply type “ROOF INSPECTION ONLY” in the agreement.
I do only roofs, like Dale 175.00 for a 20 square roof.
I use Home Gauge so I just delete everything out of the report but the roof and the other necessities.
I would check with your state’s home inspection regulations before doing any specialized inspection work. For instance, here in Pennsylvania, a home inspector can not do an inspection on only one system of the house. I don’t know how it is where you are from, but here and high school dropout can be a roofer without anything more than a simple contractor’s license and a business license. There are no such things as a licensed roofer here in Pennsylvania. Look into what the laws say and CYA as much as possible.
James,
“Specific Inspections” such as roof only, HVAC only, electrical only, etc. are done all the time. I would suggest that if you live in a “licensed state” that you check with their standards of practice to see if you are obligated/required to do a “full House/full system” inspection.
If you’re not obligated and or required to inspect all of the systems and you are qualified than you are “good to go”.
One thing you should consider is that while you are out on the roof is that you could be conducting a “full House inspection” for much more money. In order not to “lose money” I suggest that you charge accordingly. I would charge a rock-bottom minimum of $175.00 for this inspection.
You might find that when you are on the job site that the client might say "oh, while you are here why don’t you inspect the this, that, and the other ……. for peanuts".
I have found that the way to get out of this is to say "I’m sorry, I only had you scheduled for one hour and that is what I am charging you for. For these additional components, I can charge our hourly rate or we can add them at increments of $XX.$$ " and then charge your normal rate plus $50 for aggravation.
Scott,
A Home Inspector can conduct single element Inspections in the state of PA. I am not sure where you have interpreted otherwise.
I completely read the law wrong Joe. I don’t know how I got that honestly. Here is what I misread from PA Act 114:
My mistake…I’ll fess up.
Thanks for pointing that out to me.
I have no clue where that come from, the law says nothing bout doing anything like this. I am in pa. I think you may have misread. Act 114 ( I believ it is)
I have been doing roofing , or electrical or anything else for ages now. Good cash and easy to do.
read the post above yours … it was an honest mistake.
James - go for it! I charge $124.00 for a roof (exterior and attic). Great way to sell yourself for a full home inspection when they start looking for an inspector 
I like my plan, double your rates!
I used to call them “spot inspections” as well, but recently I changed to “spot assessments.” I also charge $99. I also do a great job, hoping that they might hire me for their home assessment when they are buying again. I also make adjustments to my agreement and spell it out clearly that the roof is the only thing you are going to look at and all other “normal” items are excluded.
Hmmmmmm, as my wise ol’ grandmother said, “I like you.” :mrgreen:
But understand what doubling your rates really means.
For example, if I desire to gross $100 per hour for a NACHI SOP home assessment, and it takes me 4 hours, then I charge $399 (hey, my math is a little off, but The Power of Nine more than makes up for it!).
Now if I’m doing a SPOT assessment, and still desire to gross $100 per hour, but it only takes me 30 minutes, and I charge $99, then I just doubled my rate without doing anything at all other than figuring out how long it would take me to do the SPOT assessment, i.e., pricing my services appropriately.