What is Included in a Professional Home Inspection

Top Class Air Duct Cleaning provides Professional home inspection.

* The Home Inspection: the inspector will examine (essentially visually) the physical condition of the building and its mechanical systems and at other conditions that may affect the building (such as site drainage) and will provide a written report.
* A Written Home Inspection Report: There is too much information, some of it possibly involving significant cost or important safety findings, for any professional to provide an "oral only" home inspection. The inspection findings must be provided in writing. We use the Home Reference Book which is delivered at the end of the inspection. Other inspectors may provide a typed narrative report or an annotated "checklist" report. Any report form can be acceptable provided it is clear, thorough, and sufficiently detailed.

Watch out: A so called home inspection "report" which is a simple "ok" or "not ok" checklist, or a sort of "inventory" (Asphalt shingle roof, vinyl siding, concrete block foundation) is really just an "inventory" of building material types. As an inspection for costly or dangerous defects such a report is totally inadequate and does not meet the standards of practice for the profession. All home inspection findings will be written in your report. What the inspector tells you orally at the inspection must agree exactly with what's written in your report, and vice versa. If you receive an oral warning of something costly or unsafe, that information should appear clearly in the written report too.
* Ancillary tests which are not required by the home inspection standards of practice may nonetheless be offered by your inspector, such as water or septic testing, or a termite or radon inspection or test. These are discussed below.
* Time and Attention at the Property: You should accompany the inspector (me) and look, listen, and ask questions. Be prepared to spend 3-4 hours at the property. Be sure your real estate agent knows how long you expect to be at the property and that they let the property owners know as well. The time required to inspect a building is not fixed. But if I were inspecting an easy one-family house in good condition, and if I were working alone, with no one to ask questions or chat with, it would still take me at least 2 1/2 hours simply to direct my attention to every item and system on a building that needs my consideration. If I allow for the presence of my client who will have questions or who needs to hear explanations, the process is easily 3 hours or longer for a detailed, thorough, inspection.

The time required to inspect properly depends not only on building size but on the age and complexity of the structure and its mechanical systems as well as the ease or difficulty of access to various systems and components. But if your inspector is scheduling inspections at odd times like "11:15 to 12:10" or if the inspector is spending an hour and a half at a property, unless it's a very small and simple structure, you might wonder what shortcuts are being taken.
* A home inspection fee: Fees for the inspection and any other services are usually payable at the site, usually by personal check. An invoice will be provided. Readers should be sure to see How Much Should You Pay For Professional Services? where we explain the costs of hiring a too-cheap home inspector or any other service.
* Follow-up consulting: In our professional home inspection or environmental inspection and testing practice, there is no fee for follow-up questions in clarification of the inspection report. In fact we like you to call to ask questions - it increases the value of our service, and the feedback makes us better at our job. Some inspectors feel differently and may discourage follow-up conversations or email. An inspector who knows your property and who is committed to protecting your interest should be willing to discuss the report or even future problems that may come up.