Hi all, I am brand new to forums and have yet to do my first inspection, one question I have is it a good idea to video your home inspections? For your benefit , not so much for your client. If so should we let the client know? Or anyone else for that matter? Thanks in advance for your comments , suggestions and advice.
Welcome and good luck on your 1st inspection.
Regarding video, I never videoed mine and I would think it would be hard to keep it secret when, most of the time, your client is there with you.
I would recommend taking lots of pictures but only using the ones that are pertinent to put in the report.
You may wish to keep the others for your own reasons but make sure the pictures are dated.
I would not advertise that you have extra pictures, if you go that route, though.
Happy Inspecting! 
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look here
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I’ve done a wallaround/walkthrough video or two for clients who lived thousands of kilometers away, have never seen the place in person, and couldn’t attend the inspection. They were very grateful for it.
Thanks for all the responses, I tend to feel like the home owner/seller might not agree with someone video taping their home, but on the other hand I can see the HI using the video for their own protection. I don’t think it’s for me as of now but could be down the road.
I do “courtesy videos” if the client is not present. Want to make them feel like they lived thru it. Sometimes there’s a crazy inspection with pack-ratters & I’ll do one.
It may help out if there’s a liability issue later on to have a good record besides the pics.
Here’s a mold slum I’ve posted before. The place was a super nasty mess!
I have a HI friend who had a policy of always using a body cam, after someone accused one of his assistants of stealing an item.
I’m dragging too many tools around with me, so I don’t feel like attaching another one to my chest. However, for the last 10 years I always had a dash-DVR cam in my car and 3 times it saved my insurance deductible in arguable situations.
The legal point of inspector’s body cam? I’m shooting constantly with my main camera, pulling the thermal imager in every room + using my phone for the narrow spaces. Someone can be annoyed, but this is just an extra camera, taking few images per second WITHOUT SOUND!!! You may turn your chest sideways for courtoisie, or cover the camera with hand whenever someone is in front of you.
I rarely do video. And only if I need it to show movement for am inspected item. I take on average 200 pictures at each inspection. 30 to 50 might get to the report depending. I keep all pictures as a reference if needed. Taking 2 to 3 hours of video for each inspection would be nuts.
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Thanks for your input. I think I will pass on video too.
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Hi Larry,
Why wouldn’t you allow the client to know about all the photos? In my opinion, when the client is aware of the shear number that were taken, they have a “wow” moment. It gives them the knowledge that more than 50 pics seen in the report were taken. It also gives them a sense of the perspective that I had during an inspection. They often appreciate the process more when they have a chance to see all photos if they desire. It’s more of a customer service issue for me. This has proven beneficial many times as the client can then refer back to see many things like the previous condition or personal storage that may have been blocking something on inspection day. I look at it as though we are in the information business, the more you provide the better for all involved.
Hi Brian,
In bolded #1 above, I didn’t want to get constant calls on “Hey, Larry, can you send me all of the rest of the pictures that you took”?. That takes time and I have already given my client the best inspection report that I was able to, including the pertinent pictures. And they are very happy because I encouraged them to call me with any questions that may pop up after they get home or anytime that they own the house.
In bolded #2 above, the previous condition or personal storage that may have been blocking something on inspection day would be in the report with those pictures.
I don’t think I had a report that was more than 30 to 40 pages long. I used live links whenever it was appropriate and, when availably reasonably, high resolution pics. I didn’t want to add “filler” just to make my report longer like some assume “that the longer and more pictures makes a better report”.
In all honesty, over the years, I have had clients or their hired professionals, while doing work on their new home, attempt to throw me under the bus. The best of people can change pretty fast when $ is involved. The pictures that I did not use in the report were mine to quell such attempts at taking me and my insurance company for a ride.
Since the digital age, pictures were cheap to take and store and I only had to pull them out maybe a dozen times in 35 years of snapping pics and I was very glad that I could nip any problem in the bud.
JMHO and YMMV.
P.S. When I started doing “inspections” in the late '70s (actually a walk with the client and eventually a check list report I made with Polaroid pictures stapled to it), there was no-one doing anything of the sort. But, since I got State Licensed as a Builder/Contractor in '73, my family and friends looked to me to help the make a good decision about the house.
I hope this helps. 
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How could I NOT want to have record of this!
Pack-rat city!
think there are body cams in the inspector outlet
Now where was that fire exit? 
As a homeowner, I certainly would not. Documenting deficiencies is one thing, but I would not want someone I did not vet taking video throughout my home.
A fellow inspector wears a body cam. He was bit by an elderly dog while placing a radon test and needed stitches. The sellers claimed he must have provoked their harmless dog. But the body cam showed that the attack was unprovoked and their claim evaporated and their insurance company paid the medical.
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I do not take videos. I carry a couple of cameras and take many pictures through only a small amount will go in the report. I suppose if I felt a certain situation required a video, I would just use my phone.
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Sure. The homeowner would put maximum limitations for the inspector, if the choice was given. Best case scenario is a dumb, rich, buyer without any inspection.
Well that’s an incredibly dumb and ill-informed argument. Recording video or not has no impact on an inspector’s ability to thoroughly conduct an inspection. Where did you come up with that shit? You must have reached awfully far up your ass to produce that gem.
Contracting to sell a house and authorize a home inspection does not forfeit the homeowner’s right not of have all of their personal possessions video recorded, which has absolutely nothing to do with the conduct of a home inspection.