SiPHi National Standard Of Practice

Understanding the perspective of your client and responding with the right product are some of the most difficult tasks when starting a new business or launching a new product. We believe the product an Inspector gives their client (property owner or inspection company) should include a better understanding of the condition, durability or maintenance level of the inspected building.

Optimizing for Real-World Use

The organization of inspection data in the past has solely focused on how Inspectors can best collect information on a site, but is never translated into a format that gives true clarity to the client. The compartmentalizing of the structure being inspected from the attic to the exterior wall and then to the foundation rarely is reported in a way that describes the entire shell support. The vapor barrier and insulation are significant systems that are mainly reported as inches of insulation in the attic, while neglecting the surface area of walls and crawl spaces.

Educating the Client

Across the inspection and construction industries, you find many examples of data presentation with a recognition that some data is more important and should be highlighted. Our priority is the protection of the building and its long-term value. Providing data about each system, the importance of the system to long-term value, and the importance a client should place on an individual defect, are impossible concepts to relay without clear narratives. As the general public becomes more and more disconnected from construction, and knowledge of how the systems work, we must teach them enough to understand our inspection vocabulary. Clients must learn how the systems of the structure work to provide protection, as well as the priority of importance for each of the systems.

Although our Inspectors are taught processes to collect data on an inspection site, that process rarely connects the parts of individual building systems in a holistic way that can be understood clearly by the client. While an Inspector can use the exact process they were trained to perform and their personal preferred order of data presentation, the Inspector should consider the entire system — for example the vapor barrier — around the entire building surface, and report the completeness of the system, in addition to existing conditions.

Ultimately, the client experience is fully enhanced when they completely understand how a specific system is designed to work as a whole in contrast to existing conditions shared by the Inspector in their report.

The Importance of Individual Building Systems

Generally, our priority starts with the site elements that affect the shell, the building shell and its support structure, the interior, and the systems that run throughout the building. The site elements can damage a foundation or shell surfaces, or can simply be a liability of a trip hazard on the sidewalk. The building shell must provide weather protection, but also must provide isolation from humidity or temperature extremes. Structure, considered as the shell support and a continuous system from the foundation to the roof, can many times solve defective crack mysteries.

Defects in the building shell and support are significantly more important to the preservation of the building than what is commonly found in the interior of the building. Describing the importance of the building shell to clients is critical to helping them make a good decision, since clients almost exclusively interact with the building interior, which sways their opinion of its importance. The HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical systems are sometimes critical, since extreme defects can destroy the building.

Again, a successful inspection transaction depends on the ability of the Inspector to convey an understanding in the mind of the client as to the priority of an individual system to the structure as a whole, that system’s intended purpose and function within the structure as a whole, and that system’s actual existing condition.

Helping the Client to Set Reasonable Expectations

Setting the expectations of the client is critical for them to properly judge the Inspector’s performance and the quality of the product that is delivered. Educating the client on the rights and responsibilities of each party in the transaction can reduce misunderstandings and actually prompt beneficial questions from the client to increase their understanding of the inspected building. Making sure the client has utilities connected to the building, and can assure legal access to the property, help to greatly reduce the stress of the Inspector.

A signed contract can provide significant legal protection to the Inspector defining the scope of work and the standard of practice expected for the inspection. Properly setting expectations for the client in the beginning of the transaction process helps them participate in the success of the inspection transaction, as well as, ensuring that they receive what the Inspector intends to deliver.

Working Toward Reciprocity

Most professions have some form of reciprocity from state to state. Although some systems are specific to an environment, the theories to protect the building are consistent. We, as an inspection community, should be sufficiently educated and experienced to cross borders within a day’s drive or have the ability to competently assist in a remote emergency. Providing a method to test an Inspector’s education and experience is probably the least consistent government regulation in the inspection industry in the United States.

SiPHi has proposed the National Standard Of Practice for Professional Inspectors and endeavors to develop interstate reciprocity for Professional Inspectors across the United States.

Some Reasons for Change

Asking our industry to change is challenging. Asking anyone to reconsider their beliefs and practices is even harder. The reward for having an open mind is the increased perception and experience of professionalism in our industry, reducing the liability risk for all Inspectors, and creating more satisfied clients with proper expectations. The day-to-day operations changes of an inspection business due to these concepts are not perceivable, but these altered standards can promote growth and stability within our industry.

With consistent regulation, the Inspectors’ risk will be reduced, which will reduce the insurance risk and cost of insurance to our Inspector Members. With small changes, we can build a better inspection industry.