Article: 3 inspection photos you should take to manage your risk

Happy December, home inspectors!

It's the first, which means we have a new article. Our topic: the power of inspection photos. Namely, how they can help you stifle claims.

Read the full article by clicking here. Or start with the preview below.

Enjoy!

Stephanie Jaynes
Content Marketing Manager
InspectorPro Insurance

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3 inspection photos you should take to manage your risk

In North Carolina, a home inspector performed an inspection on a property that had been vacant for about 18 months. During the home inspection, the inspector ran the water in the various fixtures, including the shower directly above the kitchen. The inspector photographed the kitchen, including the ceiling, which, at the time, showed no signs of any deficiencies.

Upon moving in, the clients found a large water stain above the kitchen sink and below the master bath?s shower. The fact that the stain was dry created some suspicion as to how long the stain had been present. The claimants alleged that the stain must have been there all along.

However, the inspection photos showed the exact area now exhibiting a water stain. The photos revealed that there was no staining at the time of the inspection. It was possible that the shower test caused the water damage. However, the inspector could not be responsible for the damage caused during the course of normal inspection operations.

In case you haven?t heard it enough, here?s the old adage again: A picture is worth 1,000 words. In an industry like home inspections, photos can do wonders. They can help inspection clients understand your findings and put them into context. They can bring reports filled with descriptions laced with technical jargon to life.

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In this article, we go over a few of the essential but often overlooked inspection photos you should take at your inspections. While not technically exhaustive, this list serves as a reminder of what a powerful risk management tool inspection photos can be. After all, one of these inspection photos could help you stifle a claim.

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Great article! Most of these we already do. Our inspectors already take pictures of things that may be blocking/preventing them from getting to a particular area. And they most definitely note if they are not able to access major areas such as crawl space, attic, electric panel and such. We even go one step further to contact the listing agent to let them know as soon as possible so that they can either get someone out to make it accessible or at least they know upfront, so if the buyer is asking us to come back out and an additional fee is added, they have a heads up. It can be hard to know what areas that don't currently have defects, may end up with a defect. Say if there are items still in the home and the seller damages a wall or part of the home in removing those items. Any suggestions for this instance?