TOPIC: Work Flow

Hello all - FIRST POST!

I have a number of years of experience in inspection, but not in home inspection.  My credentials are mostly in the areas of trade inspection such as structural steel, welding, high strength bolting, anchoring systems, etc.  I'm an AWS Certified Welding Inspector and hold a variety of special inspector certifications with the International Code Council and various jurisdictions.......but home inspection is a new one for me. 

I actually performed my first official inspection yesterday and I had a great time, it's like a treasure hunt, looking for areas of opportunity to assist those involved with a quality transaction and a sound investment.  I really enjoy putting my inspection skills to work for others.

The reason I'm posting today is because the one thing I found was that there are a number of ways to approach these inspections and I'm struggling a little to narrow in on a good initial work flow and something to build a template around in HIP.  I'm sure that this does come with experience, but especially as a new home inspector I want to develop a sound method and work flow that helps me to establish some habits to minimize the risk of missing or forgetting to look at something.

I have heard that it is recommended to work; outside in and from the top down.  I've seen some templates here that are system-by-system.  I've considered a room-by-room approach, but with some rooms containing elements of multiple systems this can require that a lot of gear be on your person at all times and that a lot of jumping around in HIP might be required.  It seems that just about any method would work with discipline, but those of you with many years of experience have surely found some ways of doing this that minimizes your time spent onsite and running back to areas previously inspected or up and down stairs multiple times.

That said - - let the round table begin! 

Thank you in advance and I look forward to many good discussions on the forum here, I'll be browsing the previous posts and appreciate everyone who has contributed.

Regards,

BJ Hutchins
IQA Home Inspections, Inc.

That said I'd really appreciate any input and experiences that people would like to share. 

Hey BJ, the flow that you're referring to comes with experience and personal preference. In your post you don't indicate that you've any training or experience in home inspections. This should be your first area of concern. Firstly I would suggest joining or at least attending some inspector group meetings in your neighborhood. This is a good place to start. Secondly I would attempt to convince as many experienced inspectors as you can to take you on ride-alongs (hint: listen and observe more than talk during these valuable opportunities). Finally, take as many classes as you can that pertain to the industry, again, your local HI groups can help you here. Hope this helps, 

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any type of inspector group meetings in my area, that's kind of why I'm here in the forums.  The couple of home inspectors I know are pretty hush hush and one of them particularly wasn't happy at all to hear that I had joined the industry and gotten in to business.  There are some other inspectors in the area, but honestly I don't see any of them welcoming a ride-along or mentor type relationship the competitive nature around here is pretty strong and if it were me I wouldn't be helping out a start-up in my own target area.  My position personally is that at the end of the day it's about the client, specifically those that are buying, they need a high quality of service, but there is a fine line as to how you help them get that service. 

I'm going to make a round and meet all of my local competitors soon, I like to know who's out there, maybe I'll be able to make a friend and perhaps I could establish a local monthly breakfast or something and get some folks together to discuss general business.

In regards to training; I did join InterNACHI and have taken about a dozen of their courses.  My goal is to complete one or two a week until I've completed them all, I'm a bit of a nerd and read reference material for fun, so I enjoy the material and tests.  All in all their trainings are really good and informative, I've enjoyed even the entry level stuff, it's good refresher material.

I've worked in a variety of residential and commercial construction trades from a laborer position up through Project Management and Superintendent levels ultimately finding myself in an Executive Management position that lasted about 5 years before I decided that the office and the politics aren't for me.  I'm too honest to be an Executive Manager in even a mid-sized corporation.  I decided that I'd rather take my skills and experience and put them to work where the rubber meets the road, so I left the company early this year and launched a few businesses actually and one of them provides home inspection....and here I am today.

I have an engineering and structural design background as well and have played in number of the major trades related to residential and small to midsize commercial construction, however HVAC is one I never got involved with hands-on, so I've had to spend some time studying in that category.  All in all the primary systems themselves are pretty familiar to me, but a little freshening up on the details has definitely helped and I'm sure there are some particulars that I haven't run in to yet.  I'm really pretty comfortable with the inspection portion itself. 

I've spent a fair amount of time developing Quality Assurance/Control Systems in a manufacturing environment and that is kind of a core talent of mine, so it's important to me that I have a procedure and a good workflow to not only minimize the potential for an oversight, but also minimize my time onsite.  A documented approach or workflow will be a big help as I build a team as well and the insurance companies will eat it up as well, lord knows we spend a small fortune on E&O insurance and I have two inspection companies up and running.

In my other inspection life I have very distinct protocols and procedures that I developed over the years and that I follow, if I approach a multi-story steel structure to do bolting and welding inspections I have a work flow that I've designed that starts the moment I pull onsite; PP&E, business cards, notebook, camera, tools, meet the Super, meet the contractor, review the plans, photo the plans....etc...but as you mentioned it takes time to develop that.  What I'm working at here in this thread is trimming that time back if I can.  I've got a couple extra irons in the fire and I need to expedite the process a little, so I wanted to hear how others approach their inspections.  Inside to outside, top to bottom, room by room, system by system, clockwise, counter-clockwise, NW to SE...whatever... and the pros and cons that inspectors have experienced using their specific work flow or process. 

How do you do it??


BJ

Hi BJ, welcome to the group!! Where are you located? I might be able to help you with chapter meetings or even some ride alongs AS HIP users tend to be more friendly than most.

Most inspectors I talk to start with the outside and work in. This allows you to see things on the roof for example and then follow up when you're in the attic. Of course if you're in a very cold part of the country you might start inside if it's a morning inspection and move outside as it warms up.

Hey Dominic,

I'm in Salem, OR.  I've poked around a little on the forums and on some of the local home inspector's websites and I don't think I've come across anyone yet that is using HIP - I'd be glad to see who you might have in the area; thanks!

BJ

Oregon... www.homeinspectorpro.com/sobi2/Home-Insp...Oregon.html?Itemid=0

You may need to go next door to Washington due to the threat of competition... www.homeinspectorpro.com/sobi2/Home-Insp...ington.html?Itemid=0

Note: I know there are many more inspectors local to you, but those are the only ones showing with a listing on HIP... but it's a start.