Chris Bernhardt Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Sparked by Les's comment as why would a siding contractor fix anything but siding, how do you make a recommendation on an assembly that may involve several trades to repair it? In my example I had siding in contact with the ground. The siding was rotting and I could tell that the sheathing and framing behind it was also. Depending on the region of the country the repair might involve one guy doing all of it or might require several guys by law. Maybe instead of wood siding, it's brick. The mason is not going to mess with the grade or the sheathing or framing behind it. So do you call for a landscaper, mason and carpenter? Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Whitmore Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I just put "have a qualified, licensed professional perform the necessary repairs" It covers any trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Why not be simple and say this; "Have the __ properly repaired or replaced by a qualified professional." I seldom specify who should make the repairs or corrections. What I do specify is "properly" and a "qualified" person or professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Originally posted by Scottpat Why not be simple and say this; "Have the __ properly repaired or replaced by a qualified professional." I seldom specify who should make the repairs or corrections. What I do specify is "properly" and a "qualified" person or professional. Tsk, Passive voice. Bet you can rewrite it in active voice. OT - OF!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 What I do specify is "properly" and a "qualified" person or professional Yes, of course but I am talking about instances where it's easily foreseeable that it's not a one guy do it all job. To just say have a qualified professional fix it feigns that it can be repaired by just one guy when infact it may turnout to require several trades to do it right on an assembly. For instance fixing a rotted floor could need a carpenter, a flooring contractor a drywall contractor (if it ends up affecting a wall), even possibly an electrician and plumber. Heck it could require a half a dozen trades to properly repair the problem. Now I am not saying we have to identify all of the trades that might be involved, but I don't think it's right to mislead the client into thinking that one guy can do it because that is exactly what the realtor and seller are going to do. (Fix the siding, but not the grade or the damage behind the siding) I am sure that there is a way to warn the client that some things are not likely to be a simple repair. (a repair requiring only one trade) I think a typical W.J. approach might be to say: The problems include but aren't necessarily limited to: earth to wood contact, rot damaged siding, rot damaged sheathing, rot damaged framing etc. The repair of the problems may include but aren't necessarily limited to: a landscaper, carpenter, sider, electrician, plumber etc. Ensure that the problems and any problems found are repaired by qualified licensed hairdressers. Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Originally posted by hausdok Originally posted by Scottpat Why not be simple and say this; "Have the __ properly repaired or replaced by a qualified professional." I seldom specify who should make the repairs or corrections. What I do specify is "properly" and a "qualified" person or professional. Tsk, Passive voice. Bet you can rewrite it in active voice. OT - OF!!! M. Yep, I bet I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Whitmore Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Why not just say "have all damage, etc. professionally repaired" and leave it at that. Or "have all damage repaired by proper, licensed professionals" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Or 'Have a professional repair all damage' or 'have a properly licensed professional repair all of the damage'. Here's a way to stay out of passive trouble. Look at your sentences. If you see the verb used in the past tense dead last in the sentence, or in the past tense followed by "by," there's a good chance that you're writing your reports like an outdated engineering text. OT - OF!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Corrigan Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Why do we home inspectors think that we need to tell our client to have something fixed, and tell them who should fix it? For more than 30 years I've reported what the defects are. That's it, the Jack Web approach. I guess New York is "special". There is no State licensing of contractors; not builders, plumbers, not electricians, not nobody! Anybody can do anything. Some municipalities sell a business license. Most of them are meaningless. FWIW, the electrician forums were buzzing when NY licensed home inspectors. If they only knew how meaningless the licensing is. Tom Corrigan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I've always liked Tom's approach and here in Michigan everyone has a license for sumptin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozofprev Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I agree Tom, NY is not logical. License contractors? Nah! License commercial inspectors? Nah! License home inspectors? Sure. Not long ago I ASSuMEd NY required licensed PE's or Architects to inspect large, complex structures. Nah, anyone can do that. Silly me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Why do we home inspectors think that we need to tell our client to have something fixed, and tell them who should fix it? I think Walter Jowers has said that's how he makes some good money; because of the inspectors who fail to tell clients to fix things. In Oregon it is a requirement to make a recommendation. Heck it's in the ASHI SOP. Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The requirments are for telling folks to fix things. There's no requirement for recommending a contractor. I tell folks about specific contractors all the time, IF I'm confident this is the correct person for the job. I'm supposed to be an expert, right? Experts usually know other experts. Why not tell your customer about another expert? Every other profession does it. This is an easy dilemma to figure out. If you know the answer, tell your customer the answer. If you don't know the answer, say so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Yeah, I refer all work to that Mitenbuler guy in Chicago. OT - OF!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I refer all work to that Mitenbuler guy in Chicago. Good idea I'll do that! Fix it. For more information call Kurt M. at .... Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Cool. I'm rollin' in it.... What is a "properly licensed professional"? Yes, I know what it means, but we all know what it really means, which is squat. Or, how about that "professionally repaired" thing? What's that get you? Or, the ever popular "competent repairman". Who's judging competence, and how will anyone ever know without standing there watching the guy the entire time? I'm not sure all that stuff matters. I'm reasonably sure there's an attorney in the audience that will insist it matters. I'm completely, absolutely, positively sure all the qualifiers will fall by the wayside as soon as anyone starts calling around for workman, because everyone gets burnt out after the 2nd phone call and the end up taking whoever shows up at the door. Heck, every repair is two jobs; one is the job, and one is the time it takes to find someone to do the job. We should tell folks to factor in the research time in their offer. I wish we could say stuff in the report like...."The roof is shot. Hit the seller up for the price of replacement, 'cuz that sucker could easily hit 10 Large. Don't let them fix it, because they'll just screw it up like everything else in this dump." Or, something like that...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlord Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I just make a blanket statement at the start of the report that simply says that I recommend all items listed for repair in this report should be made by a licensed contractor of the applicable trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I just make a blanket statement at the start of the report that simply says that I recommend all items listed for repair in this report should be made by a licensed contractor of the applicable trade. You would think something like that would work. In my experience if it's not in the recommendation then it might as well not exist. Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Corrigan Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 FWIW, the NYS DOS was being pressured by the PE folks to include in the SOP and the COE (which 2 years after licensing we still don't have) a prohibition against specifying a scope of cure, and a cost to cure. The licensing law dumbed down the profession lots, this is just another attempt to dumb thing down further. A legislator is going to have to get screwed before things get better. Tom Corrigan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Originally posted by Tom Corrigan FWIW, the NYS DOS was being pressured by the PE folks to include in the SOP and the COE (which 2 years after licensing we still don't have) a prohibition against specifying a scope of cure, and a cost to cure. AO (Acronym Overload) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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