How to Write a Home Inspection Report

[@carlosluque3285]

Great class how to use a sofware thank you so much ben

[@BenGromicko]

You're very welcome!

[@robertarellano3347]

thank Ben , I am learning .

[@BenGromicko]

Great!

[@marcellogenovese199]

I am a brand new inspector and am wrapping up the course work to become InterNACHI certified and am trying to figure out report writing and I am planning on using Home Inspector Pro. I was wondering if you had a good source for templates that seasoned inspectors such as yourself have shared with new guys like me? I think it would really be a big help to someone like me as I am concerned that I may miss something or waste time on site if I don't have a solid template based on InterNACHI's SOP. I know this is an old video so thanks in advance if you get to it. I realize step 11 on how to become a home inspector helps a lot, I just wasn't sure if the were software specific templates to help get started based on the SOP.

[@BenGromicko]

Hi, Marcello. Thanks for being a member of InterNACHI. You may be interested in www.nachi.org/narratives.htm, and www.nachi.org/home-inspection-report-samples.htm.

[@Mr8otter]

t
Thanks. i was planning on doing both to add with the report.

[@BenGromicko]

You're welcome, Roy.

[@Loco_Jolo]

Love your classes, got a question on your disclaimer, is that automatically added every report or do you have to copy and paste this on every report??

[@BenGromicko]

Good question. Yes. There are features in the software that allow you to have information that always appears in your reports. I like to have disclaimers and descriptions in every major section of a report. What's not automatic are you particular comments or observations that are specific to the inspected house. Those observations (often called narratives) are selected and entered into the report by the inspector, and they could be different for each house. You may be interested in www.nachi.org/narratives.htm

[@TERRORoftheLORD]

At 22:00 to 25:00 minutes you say "these are the shingle materials on the front of the house ".
Aren't you breaking the rule of keeping everything past tense? It should be worded more like..."these were the materials I observed on the front of the house " to be correct and consistent with the rest of the reporting.

[@BenGromicko]

You're correct. When explaining what you did in your inspection, use past tense. I wrote an article on this recommendation at www.nachi.org/inspection-report-present-past.htm that you may be interested in reading. Good catch.

[@orangeblossomhomeinspectio432]

Another great class Ben!!! Thank you! Quick question in regards to WDO inspection reports. I'm in Florida and a lot of Home Inspectors are previous pest control professionals. They offer Home Inspections with WDO. We do not....we are losing inspections due to the fact that we do not work with a WDO person, did you get in the realm of WDO's? Was this an issue for you? How did you rectify the situation?

[@BenGromicko]

You may want to read what the FL Dept of Ag said about home inspectors and WDO inspections: www.nachi.org/florida-wood-destroying-organism-inspection.htm

[@chrisaprile813]

Hi Ben. Do you now endorse the Spectora app?

[@BenGromicko]

I like Spectora, HomeGauge, and HomeInspectorPro.

[@dougierichardson4288]

What software app is that that you are using

[@BenGromicko]

Discounted software at www.nachi.org/home-inspection-checklist.htm.

[@Mr8otter]

why would you not inquirw of the insurance compamy of any covered costs & of the local bldg dept for the address?

[@BenGromicko]

Hi, Roy. I'm not sure what you're referring to. "Covered costs" for what? And the address of the home inspection is usually supplied by the client of the inspector while scheduling the inspection.

[@johnpollitt9444]

I took several pictures to test out the app on my phone. I am trying to upload more than one photo at a time in the software--the gallery section. How are you doing that? It only wants to upload one photo at a time for me.

[@BenGromicko]

Hm. Maybe reach out to the software provider.

[@johnpollitt9444]

@@BenGromicko Ok thanks

[@BenGromicko]

@@johnpollitt9444 Yep. And we've got a bunch of inspection report software resources at Step #11 on www.nachi.org/become-home-inspector.htm (scroll down to Step #11).

[@DexterGoneWild]

"You see that?" *points at roof* "That's a toilet plunger" 😂

[@BenGromicko]

You're correct! That's a toilet plunger on the roof of the House of Horrors nachi.org/house-of-horrors

[@Mr8otter]

what inspection software are you using?

[@BenGromicko]

HomeInspectorPro.com

[@Mr8otter]

Would not an Inspector contact the home owner (sellers) insurance company to see if any major repairs or remodel was done to the home/structure so the inspector would have a better knowledge of ....say roofing...say there was hail damage 3 years before then the home inspector will have a better knowledge of the roofing. Or plumbing problems then the inspector would know that there was recent plumbing work done. Or obtaining records of any major remodel or rebuild on the structure.
I know you/we/the inspector does not follow inspection codes.......but will better them (the inspector) in the knowledge of what repairs were made and if they are recent and were covered and the inspector did not see the potential/defect/risk hazard such as a can light installed using a coffee can, but the inspector signed off the home owner will have a better recourse to fall upon.

[@BenGromicko]

Hi, Roy. Many home inspectors will contact the local building department and pull the permits to help determine if renovations were done with permits or not. I've heard that insurance companies keep confidential information confidential.

[@BKMDano17]

HIP has a ton of problems. They should start off with a template that has a three bedroom house and two or three bathrooms. A very generic run of the mill house that should be the initial template. Instead they have uploaded everybody else's templates which I find hard to believe cuz it's such a chaotic template. There's no reason to talk about Windows in five different sections. There's no reason to talk about stucco in four different sections. So I went through all the sections subsections and comments to the tune of over 350 and thought I had them all figured out. But no you're better off starting with a blank piece of paper and walking around the house walk into a bedroom and say all right what's in this room? There's a floor there's a ceiling there's walls lighting and windows. And that can be your checklist for every single room instead of these templates that cross over from this room to that room from upstairs to downstairs I mean what a f****** mess. I spent three days trying to organize a template only to find out when I got in the field what a mess it really is when you trying to work it out. And then there's a sections that don't even show your completed you have to manually input I'm completed. And that goes for check marks on your desktop and iPad. For something that's supposed to be slick and easy and I appreciate the work they've done don't get me wrong, it's just not thorough and Dominic admitted he's never been an inspector or a builder and that shows. It's like the government telling you and I how to live our life when they have no idea what our lives are about. It's not a one-size-fits-all. Either the window is broke or isn't. Either the GFI trips and resets or it doesn't! And so on I think this half-ass approach to the templates is throwing a lot of people off. Instead of playing with little games like color this and color that they need to get back to basics and figure out how to build a library so people can get around there is no library it's all completely random

[@BenGromicko]

Thanks for the feedback.