Report Verbiage

[Jay Markanich]

On my reports I make some recommendations.  These appear on every report I do.  The idea is to be thorough, but also somewhat personal and reflect the fact that I am interested in my clients.  I find that they appreciate it very much.  Some of the items are:

  --  That cellulose debris (mulch or wood piles) should not be placed near the house as it's attractive to termites.
  --  That exterior caulking is an annual event and that homeowners should inspect their homes regularly to see where caulking needs exist.
  --  That gutters ought to be capped with a solid cover to prevent clogging.
  --  That exterior hose bibs should be winterized and how.

That is not all, but representative.

Do you recommend things like this?  Certainly the various recommendations are based on location and climate, but what do you do?  Lend me your ideas!

[Steven Turetsky]

Sometimes I make recommendations, sometimes I don't.

I don't make a rec for every fault I find.

ie: If there is no GFI in a bathroom, I state it. I don't rec having an electrician come in and change it.

[Jay Markanich]

I don't do that either...

[William R. DeVries]

GFCI is an upgrade item and given it life saving ability, I recommend all bath rooms, kitchen within 36 inches of sink, exterior and garage be outfitted. The installation is simple and a qualified handy man can do this for you.

I make recommendations for my clients as thats what they are paying for my experience, knowledge and opinion. they still choose to follow my advice or not, but they can never come back and say I didnt tell them or advise them.
hard to sue someone when they tell how, why where, and when it needs to be R&R or upgraded

[Jay Markanich]

I surely give upgrade recommendations.  But mostly my recs are common sense that I would tell anyone - grading, don't paint outlets, hose winterizing, etc.  Yep, that's what we're paid for!

Woohoo DeVries!

[Steven Turetsky]

Perhaps I used a bad example to make my point. Recommending GFI's is a good thing. Basically, what I meant was that I include certain reccs, but I don't recc everything I call out.

[William R. DeVries]

As I am doing the inspection, during our discussion I have no problems  recommending upgrades, and if there talking reno's I give ideas potential costs and contractors as well. It's all about serviceing them, and giving them the information they need to really decide if the house can be what they want.
Cost is not something I take into consideration, I really do not care what there budget is, I just tell them expect this figure for what yall have been talking about, the commercial inspection I did the other day, the reno estimateI figured for them was 250K easy.
she went OOH, he went   hmmm can it be done over two years,
My reply  Yes, have a good architech and contractor that can design and implement the work to be done over a few stages and spread it out.
it's all do able, just show them the way, put them on the right path and you can walk away with a good feeling about what you recommended and advice you offered

[Jay Markanich]

As I said in post #1, there are some recommendations that appear on every report I do.

There are certain times, though, where I recommend specific things.  Today, for instance, I had a 60 year-old house with original service conductors (frazzled) which serviced a panel box probably replaced in the late 60's or early 70's.  It was only 100amps.  I pointed out by pointing that every single other house in the neighborhood had replaced their service conductors with larger, more insulated cables (you know, the gray about 2 fingers wide) which indicates that they had upgraded their service to a more modern 200amps.  I suggested that when we get inside the house we would find an older panel box with only 100amps, not sufficient for modern usage and electrical needs.

The people were amazed that I could tell them all this before we went into the house.  For us that kind of info is no big deal, but clients love it...   Inside it all was as predicted, and I did recommend an upgrade to the service conductors and panel box.  That is the kind of upgrade recommendation that does NOT appear on every report.  But it is something that happens often on an inspection.  I did not get into an exact price, only general, and I never recommend specific electricians until after they move into the house.  I don't want any appearance of collusion.  ("Hey, I can get you a sweet deal on a new electrical service panel!") 

[David Macy]

In my reports I use Improve as one of my conventions.

Improve: denotes improvements which are recommended but not required.

I use this for gutter covers, frost free anti siphon exterior faucets, basement glass block windows, Back up sump pumps, adding insulation and any other item that may help my clients.

If there are no GFCI I would state that as a safety issue.

[Jay Markanich]

"Improve" is a good word - vague enough so you can't get into trouble, but specific enough to be understood as a recommendation.  Good job, Dave.