Went up on the ladder when it felt 100% stable, and looked at any valleys and roof penetrations i could get to. also made a focus to look at the 100 year old chimney.
owners/buyers failed to inform me that the electrical is off and wouldn’t be turned on. they did tell me up front that the cabin water is shut off. now I feel like offering a discount since water and electrical couldn’t be fully inspected.
Why would you offer a discount? You are going to spend as much or more time on the report to disclaim everything that you could not inspect.
Say this to yourself as many times as needed. 
- I am an expert in my field.
- The information I submit has value beyond my inspection fee.
- Even with limitations, I have performed a valuable service.
- I must be compensated for my time. Always.
- I am not responsible for the actions of others.
What Jeff said, and you’ll be doing it in the cold. 
It’s no fun inspecting a house that has no heat in the winter, it always seems colder inside the house than outside.
yea it was 8 degrees .
Yes, unlike those commenting above, I feel your sincerity and pain.
Forward the full inspection fee to me and I will help you determine the correct amount you should be paid.
Then, I will sent that back to you! Yipee! Yay!
Larry, just tell me your routing, and account number and last 4 of your social and i’ll get some $ sent your way.
going forward I wont offer discounts because its on them and not me, but I did offer her a discount. will probably just do $50.00 since it was such a old place and every wall had a ton of defects.
I will go against the grain of the others that posted about a discount. Every situation is different and some limitation situations may warrant a discount, in my opinion. There are many factors, including client and agent relationships to be considered. At the end of the day, do what feels right.
You’re right!
For some though, the 1st couple of years an inspector does not feel fully empowered and instead of adding a value to their name, clients chew them up. I went through this in the beginning.
Soon I realized it is best to anchor yourself or the real estate world will toss you around in the sea of incompetent people.
I’ll offer a discount…but not if I were in the OP’s position. The incompetent realtor/owner etc. made his life harder.
Did your inspection go faster than normal by a significant amount of time? Sometimes inspections go faster, sometimes they are slower than expected.
Remember, you are running a business! Be happy if you made an extra $50 or $100. Do you discount if you have 20 findings vs 60 findings? I don’t remember ever offering a discount!
If you return, charge a minimum fee to cover your travel time and mileage plus re-writing your report. Minimum $100 return fee!
I understand you are a new inspector and want to go the extra mile. This can come back to haunt you big time.
Disclaim the roof. Do not clear one inch. Even placing your ladder on the eave can be difficult.
Use a camera with a high zoom rate and take images especially at critical intersections.
100% agree. First starting out, you’re all puppies & rainbows. Ten years in and you’re all grouchy like JJ.
Snow-covered flat commercial roof today. I have walked some flat roofs with snow on them in the past, as long as I can navigate a clear walking path where I know I won’t do damage by stepping on something hidden, and if I have a safe means of accessing the roof. Because a storm just rolled through, the sidewalks around the structure were covered in ice and snow, so setting up a ladder was pretty dicey to say the least. There was no interior access to the roof.
My flying camera at least got me a sneak peak though. Had there been labels above the snow line on the AC units, I’d have those mfd dates! 
Although I disclaimed the roof and AC inspection completely, there are at least two things that are visible in the below pictures from my flying camera that made me reinforce my verbal and written narrative to the client that the roof must be thoroughly inspected once the snow clears. Anyone see them?
I see a damaged membrane in the second picture and a rubber flashing for the chimney.
P.S.: I would have walked that roof.
There’s one more thing in the second picture.
Not if you can’t get on it. Unless you like to set ladders up on ice. It was 7 degrees F. today. Building is unoccupied, so not salt on the sidewalks. I prefer to keep my bones unbroken, lol.
I offer a discount to “repeat offenders.”
If I inspect a home and the buyers don’t buy based on my findings and then hire me for the next home. I’ll knock a few dollars off.
As for snow, turned off utilities etc. I I just disclaim and offer a re-inspection for a reduced fee.
Generally a third of my time for the inspection is traveling to and from.
I use that phrase all the time.
SSSHHHHUUUSSHH. Don’t let @lkage know what is heading his way… 
I had a job recently where when I arrived, there was 8"-12" of snow on everything. It was wet heavy sticky stuff. Even though I used my own “flying camera” to show how the roof was inaccessible during the inspection, for the report, I still disclaimed it. Since I had to return to pick up radon equipment a few days later, I told my client that IF it was safe to do so, I would climb up there on the return trip and check it out.
3 days later, I went back and was able to see most of the roof so I got out the ladder and went for a stroll. It took 15 minutes for the roof inspection and all of 15 minutes to complete a second report for the roof.
Never offered a discount.
Not having to deal with the roof on the first trip to the property just gave me more time to check things out on the inside…
The client ended up walking away from the house and hired me for a second time on the next house a couple weeks later.