[quote]
Originally Posted by
Jerry McCarthy
A re-inspection performed for a fee or even free is nothing more than the inspector guaranteeing whoever did what to fix something they reported needing fixin did it correctly. So how long is your guarantee good for?
How long will you guarantee an item that you inspected during the original inspection? Example: The sellers put the house on the market, a storm comes through and causes damage to the roof. The sellers fix the problem and inform the buyers, the buyers inform the home inspector that damage to roof had occurred a couple of weeks ago and they fixed it two days ago. For a home inspector that does not inspect other peoples repairs because of the liability factor, do you ignore that area of the roof and write it up as a limitation?
If the fix fails do you think the client will call the person who fixed it or the guy who put in writing that the fix was acceptable?
If the report is written up correctly, then I did my job. The person that "so called" fixed it needs to go back.
Will your re-inspection fee cover the cost of any potential damage resulting from a less than perfect repair?
That's what you get for not inspecting and reporting properly.
As Jack said, your E&O insurance is not going to cover you for that type of inspection.
Through Allen Insurance, re-inspections are covered. If the insurance he carries does not include re-inspections, then that is a no brainer. Don't do it or get different insurance.
Would you drive your car without insurance and feel that the money you saved would be enough to pay for any claims from any possible accident no matter who was a fault?
Different subject. I don't think the price of the insurance to cover re-inspections is the issue.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel you fellows are walking the plank on this issue.
I disagree about the plank. We provide a service by looking at a component or components and reporting on our visual finding. The only difference is during a home inspection, we are looking at many more components than during a re-inspection.
If a home inspector wants to do re-inspection or not, that's his decision. If he wants to charge extra or not is still his decision. But to say that he is walking the plank, is not correct.
How many houses do we inspect where the liability is higher than other houses we inspect, but yet we inspect them anyways.