Policies and Procedures

As a full-time provider of building inspection services we are aware of the responsibilities we have to our clients.   This page is familiarize you with our responsibilities to you and our expectations of our clients.   In short, each of us are committed to the success of this inspection process.

Office Staff Available During Office Hours

We know our clients expect, and deserve, prompt and courteous answers from our staff and Inspector personnel.   For that reason, we endeavor to provide a full-time office manager, Nicole, to answer your calls and provide answers to your questions about our services and appointment times. Our typical business day begins at 9:00AM and ends at 5:30PM for the office.   (Lunch periods and short errands may occur each day. Any missed calls will be returned promptly upon returning to the office that day.)

Inspector Returning Calls

Our full-time Inspector is available to answer questions regarding your written reports upon returning to the office each day.   Each call will be returned at the end of the business day or evening.   In the event that the Inspector is unable to return to the office due to a late appointment completion he will attempt to return your call the following morning.   Helping you understand your inspection report is very important to us and we encourage you to call if you have questions.

No Ex Parte’ Conversations

It is our policy to return calls to our clients or their respective real estate agents only.   Our Inspector will not return a call to a Seller, Seller’s real estate agent or contractors hired to make repairs to the property.   We make every attempt to protect our client’s interests, and prevent misunderstandings regarding our own actions, by not engaging in “ex parte” conversations with representatives of the Seller side of the sale.   In the event we receive a call from the Seller or representative of the Seller we will politely answer questions regarding the approximate location of the reported issue only.  On occasion, the seller or contractor is unable to locate the problem component on their own.  

It has been our experience that most Sellers, or contractors for the Seller, desire our Inspector to explain “how to make the repair” to the property.   Consulting with a third party on methods of repair is not a part of our service to our Buyer/client and doing so can sometimes result in misunderstandings between all parties when the repairs are not performed professionally and completely.   Our attorney strongly recommends that we not do so.

Cancellation Policy

We will block out the agreed date/time slot for your inspection appointment at the time you or your agent requests our services.   Once promised to you, we are unable to offer that same time to any other callers.   Unlike other tradesmen or medical offices we are unable to “double book” several clients to be served during the same time frame nor can we go directly to the next appointment early if you are unable to keep your appointment with us.   Time has a distinct value to our company and we consider the time sale completed if our office is not notified by phone by the client or their agent of a need to cancel or postpone the appointment within 48 hours of the appointment time.  

We can assist you in re-scheduling your appointment if you will notify our office prior to 48 hours of the original appointment time.   Failure to notify our office prior to 48 hours of the appointed time will incur a “Cancellation Fee” of $200.00 which will be due immediately.   This fee is charged to the client (we will not bill or collect from a 3^rd party) even if the cause of the cancellation is not the fault of the client.   If the client is relying, and most of us do, on the real estate agents to be sure that the utilities in the home are turned on with (1) water on at the taps, (2) all circuit breakers on and (3) all gas appliance pilots lit then the client may recover this fee from the responsible parties.   As a service provider, we rely solely on the client to be responsible to us as we are responsible to them for the appointment commitment and delivery of professional services.

[As an explanation for our “Cancellation Policy” we have been forced to take these measures due to the all-too-frequent short notice cancellations that occur the “day of” or the “night before” a scheduled home inspection.    When this occurs we are unable to re-sell the time slot to other clients who may have called in after we committed to you.    In short, we lose revenue for that half day time slot and we cannot fully recover.  (No one wants to be committed to go to work that day and be called by “the boss” on short notice and be told that their services are not needed and that their pay check will reflect a revenue reduction.) Charging a  “cancellation fee” enables us to stay in business for being a responsible service vendor.]