When hiring a firm or individual to inspect a house you plan to buy or want to sell, it is important to remember that a home inspection in Staten Island is not an architectural assessment. Inspections carried out on structures in the construction phase are very different to inspections made during the buying selling phase. After they are constructed, buildings are classified. A home inspection refers to an inspection on a residential building. For condominiums and large town house complexes, there are different regulations and procedures, as there are shared ownership situations in play for these larger types of structures in most cases.
In the post-inspection report, a home inspector's comments should be limited to visual observations about the structure and its systems and components. A home inspection includes and is not limited to the heating system, the plumbing system, the electrical system, the structural framework, and the exterior landscape. An inspection should not, however, endeavor to make any measurements, make any calculations or carry out any specific tests on the structural components of the residence. The comments in the report are therefore confined to visual observations such as "the beam is bowed" or "the joint is decayed" rather than specifics as to the stress bearing capability of a component or recommendations as to repairs or speculation as to a problem's cause or origin.
Moreover, a home inspection in Staten Island ought not to include any repairs. Often, an unprofessional inspector will find some minor defect and attempt to repair the defect himself so as to reduce the negative tone of the post-inspection report. Also, a defect that was missed during the initial inspection may be illegitimately corrected so as to avoid later legal complications.
Often, a home will be inspected as several phases of construction to ensure compliance with the original building contract and architectural design. These inspections cover items such as workmanship and building material quality. A private residential home inspection is more concerned with aspects of the residence that will directly affect living conditions in the home. For example, a home inspector will observe that a home is taking on water through the basement. While he may know that the dampness is a result of improper drainage outside the house. His job, however, is to report the dampness and, if outlined in the client expectations, the problems with the drainage system. He is not required to report that poor drainage is leading to water intrusion in the basement and could be repaired by such and such a method. He is to observe the conditions of the residence rather than to conduct an architectural assessment.