Home Inspection Report Writing in the New Hand-Held Device Age

You Tell Us – Letters From Our Readers

Home Inspection Report Writing in the New Hand-Held Device Age.

As a home inspector taking time to produce a detailed report with pictures, I am finding it disturbing that the reports are being received, read and interpreted on small hand-held devices.

I am finding that many of my younger clients do not have personal computers with printers. They do not use the U.S. Postal Service. They do everything on their hand-held devices.

The reports are being read in between tweets, Facebook postings, texting, etc.

Recently I received a phone call from a client who had just moved into a home I had inspected for him approximately four months prior. He was
unhappy with the condition of the home and angry at me for not informing him of certain defective items. He shouted off a list of items that were defective.

I remembered the home, and I was certain I mentioned the items he was referring to. I told him I would review my report and get back to him.

Sure enough, all the items he mentioned were detailed with pictures and explanations in the report.

I called him and asked if he read the report.

He stated the report was somewhere on his smart phone and was lost or deleted. He was not satisfied with my explanation that all the items of concern were mentioned in the report and he threatened to sue. I was going to resend the report but instead made a copy of my sent report file to prove I did send the report and was almost hoping he would bring me to small claims court.

He never did and never followed up on his accusations. I assume he finally did find the report and took the time to read it.

Since sending reports by email is the new norm, I feel that inspectors should ensure the report is received, read and understood by the client.

I am now following up all inspection reports with an additional email and phone calls to discuss issues noted in the report.

Making certain a client receives, reviews and understands the report could be a valuable standard of practice.

Joseph Cmar
ASHI Certified Home Inspector