Collier Stevens Chartered Surveyors, Access Consultants

The inspection itself will take considerably longer than the current Mortgage Valuation Inspection required by lending institutions, and, whilst no specific time is set out in the standards for Home Inspectors, by way of example, it is expected that a typical 3 bedroom, 2 reception house will usually take between 75 minutes and 2 hours to inspect. In addition to this inspection, the Home Inspector will undertake research about some aspects of the property, but this will often be done away from the property, perhaps in the inspector's office.

The reports will be electronically generated from a range of standard software products, to ensure delivery of a consistent product that the buyers, sellers, lenders and other professionals find easy to use and understand.

The report is designed to highlight those defects in the property that are either urgent or serious, in addition to providing a general summary of all other parts of the house. The purpose of the report is to enable the home owner and the ultimate buyer to be aware of defects in the property that will influence their decisions in the home buying process.  For example, a home owner, having been made aware of an urgent defect may wish to rectify the problem immediately, perhaps before putting the home on the market for sale.  Alternatively, he may wish to obtain quotations to rectify problems so as to inform both himself and any interested buyer of the likely liability that will be incurred when the defect is put right.

Additionally, buyers will be able to obtain quotations so that they can factor any contingent cost into their negotiations to buy the home.

The report is divided into a number of sections.

Section A describes the terms of engagement of the Home Inspector and the extent of the inspection. It also draws attention to those parts of the property that the Inspector will not be reporting on.  The report has Condition Ratings for the majority of its property parts, and Section A describes what each rating means.

Section B provides a summary of general information about the home.  The information in this part will be used by lending institutions in cases when buyers are taking out a mortgage. Drop down menus of standard text will be provided in the report writing software and the use of the standard terminology developed will be mandatory in this section to aid lenders in their processes.

The section includes information about the accommodation, the re-instatement cost for insurance purposes, a summary of the condition ratings and it highlights those parts of the property where there are defects and on which greater text is generated later in the document.

Section C provides for information that the Home Inspector collects for use by a conveyancer and others.  It also draws together health and safety points that are not ‘defects’, but need to be drawn to the attention of home owners.

Section D lists all the parts of the property that are inspected from the outside, such as the roof covering, guttering, chimneys, windows, doors etc.  Each part is given a Condition Rating along with an objective statement on defects found and whether the action required is serious or urgent

Section E lists all of the property parts inspected from inside, such as roof structure, ceilings, floors, walls partitions and plaster, along with main fittings such as kitchen and bathroom.  A subsection also gives information about damp inside the property. As with the exterior inspection all parts are rated.

Section F reports on the visual inspection of those parts of the services that can be seen.  These are electricity, gas, water, heating and drainage.  These too are given a Condition Rating.  No part of these services is subjected to any form of physical test.

Section G reports on the permanent outbuildings such as garages, sheds and conservatories, (leisure facilities such as swimming pools and tennis courts are not included in the inspection or report).  It also reports on garden walls, retaining walls and paved areas.

Common facilities, such as communal facilities for blocks of flats are also reported here.

This part of the report is not subject to Condition Ratings.

Section H delivers the energy report, setting out how energy efficient the home is and, if appropriate, what measures can be taken to make it more efficient.

The final part of the report is the sign off by the Home Inspector who undertook the inspection.