We found this company on Homestars, and decided to go with them based partly on the excellent ratings & reviews.
Although the inspectors were friendly and personable, they rushed through the inspection like they were late for another more important appointment. The final report was a template mostly full of 'not inspected' comments. Although the inspection was a condo, I expected a more thorough job, especially when the fee turned out to be based on a single hours' worth of work.
Perhaps other inspectors do better work, but our experience was less than satisfactory, and we will not use them again.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $400.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Hi Dee,
I'm really sorry that you felt that we rushed through the inspection. I can assure you that we always leave more than ample time for each inspection, we also work with a system with 2 fully qualified CAHPI RHI inspectors at each home/condo, most companies use only one inspector for each inspection which can more than double the duration of an inspection. If we inspect a small, good quality unit, where everything was installed properly and works as it should, then it is of course a quicker inspection. After 1000's of inspections we have become pretty adept at spotting deficiencies and have a pretty efficient system. We've inspected for three generations of the same family all in the same month. Not everyone's inspection will take as long, be as difficult or have as much to find; but we hope to create the same high level of confidence about the information we provide to help with the real estate purchasing decision.
The reason that the comments 'not inspected' are in the report so often for an apartment is because our standards of practice require us to detail items that are not inspected and the reason that items are not inspected is we do not have access to some areas of an apartment complex, for example; there is no access to the attic (you may not even have an attic if there is another apartment above you) so that is 'not inspected', depending on the style of the building we often cannot even see the roof and it is 'not inspected', a proper inspection of the exterior could take an entire week depending on the style of the building so it is also 'not inspected', there are many aspects of the structure that cannot be seen in a finished apartment like the posts and beams because they are behind the drywall so they also are 'not inspected' or not visible.
The fee that we charge is very competitive to the other QUALIFIED inspection companies in Calgary. Keep in mind that the province of Alberta’s standards for an inspector are much lower than CAHPI’s (Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors).
I hope that you enjoy your home and remember that we also offer ourselves to you as free consultants if you have questions after the inspection.