I am a subsciber to about a million web sites to try and keep me informed on a lot of different issues. One of the web site I subscribe to is TriState Consultants. They send out weekly "Tips of the Week" and I found this one a pretty good tip.
Tipe of the Week
How are you relaying the information to a customer after you perform an inspection?
Is it by word of mouth? Are you using green tags and red tags?
You should always use some type of written report. Depending on how your system is set up, you may even want to look at a hand written report that uses carbonless paper and is in triplicate.
The original should go to the customer, one copy is kept in your files and one copy should be an office copy. If you are a small or one person operation, a duplicate may be sufficient.
Be sure and write you report in layman's terms so no matter if it is a homeowner or your most seasoned contractor, they will understand what the deficiency is that you have found during the inspection.
Always try to put the code sections in the report of what has been violated. One this shows the customer that you are enforcing exactly what's in the code and that you are not making up your own rules. Secondly, this requires the customer to have a code book available so they can read just exactly what the infraction is.
Then with carbonless copies, everyone has the same report. Always write your reports as if it is your last day on the job and someone is going to take your place tomorrow. Then anyone in your office will be able to read and understand the report. Sometimes a customer may call into the officet with questions and your are out in the field. If the report is written in this manner, the people in the office are able to assit the customer instead of the customer having to wait until you come back in the office and return their call.
Also, by you having a copy of the report, you know exactly what has to be reinspected. So many times I see an inspector go back out for a reinspection and basically reinspects the entire job due to the fact they don't know what has been turned down. This wastes everyone's time and money.
The web site is located here Tri-State Consultants if you would like to check them out.
Tipe of the Week
How are you relaying the information to a customer after you perform an inspection?
Is it by word of mouth? Are you using green tags and red tags?
You should always use some type of written report. Depending on how your system is set up, you may even want to look at a hand written report that uses carbonless paper and is in triplicate.
The original should go to the customer, one copy is kept in your files and one copy should be an office copy. If you are a small or one person operation, a duplicate may be sufficient.
Be sure and write you report in layman's terms so no matter if it is a homeowner or your most seasoned contractor, they will understand what the deficiency is that you have found during the inspection.
Always try to put the code sections in the report of what has been violated. One this shows the customer that you are enforcing exactly what's in the code and that you are not making up your own rules. Secondly, this requires the customer to have a code book available so they can read just exactly what the infraction is.
Then with carbonless copies, everyone has the same report. Always write your reports as if it is your last day on the job and someone is going to take your place tomorrow. Then anyone in your office will be able to read and understand the report. Sometimes a customer may call into the officet with questions and your are out in the field. If the report is written in this manner, the people in the office are able to assit the customer instead of the customer having to wait until you come back in the office and return their call.
Also, by you having a copy of the report, you know exactly what has to be reinspected. So many times I see an inspector go back out for a reinspection and basically reinspects the entire job due to the fact they don't know what has been turned down. This wastes everyone's time and money.
The web site is located here Tri-State Consultants if you would like to check them out.