House inspections

[denpal]

I used an building inspection service recently and it was a waste of money. There were so many disclaimers that basically they were not responsible for anything! Best plan would be to go to the property with the inspector plus a friendly builder and all look at the property together. That way nothing will be missed. Small cost for what is involved, ie good risk/reward ratio!

[George]

Hi Denpal
My argument is they SHOULD be responsible, and accountable. My sister was in another city at the time and relied totally on the 'professionals' report. Here's a link to the building surveyor's pre-inspection policy which MAY be a guideline that all supposed inspectors should follow, even if not a member. http://www.buildingsurveyor.co.nz/standards.php
The main point, to do with accessibility, being "The surveyor should make every endeavour to pre-warn the person giving access that this type of accessibility may be required". Also, under 'Proof of Opinion' - "The nature of the report should be undertaken by the surveyor in a manner where there is a burden upon the surveyor to find proof to sustain opinion rather than merely having the reliance on opinions. This may require: requests for destructive testing, that is, the removal of wall panels or some other element. If such a request is turned down then care must be taken by the surveyor to take note of that and include that information in their report".
In which case the 'inspector' should have either told his prospective customer (sister) to find out where access was or more appropriately, the owner or his agent and to make it available (this could mean clearing out a closet etc).
Any builder would know how crucial it is to check the foundation so lack of access should be HIGHLIGHTED and concerns raised, rather than just mentioned in passing with things like "kitchen cupboards have round chrome handles".
When I asked 'inspector' about the desirability of asking the seller's agent for permission to take out some bricks to have a peek under the house he replied that that would not have been appropriate. As I mentioned earlier, this was an accident waiting to happen and someone should be accountable.
George.

[George]

A bit of positive news for sis, she won an appeal. Justice may yet be served. Talked to an inspector who said they always ask the person giving them access (which would not be the prospective buyer obviously) where sub-floor and ceiling accesses are and to make them available. This would be either the seller or, usually, their agent. Inspector said this is his policy, it's not written law. Well, it bl--dy should be!