Don't buy into the line that
there is no standard for roof certification in California. The fact that there is a term for it
means there is a standard.
The standard for roof
certification in California is:
First, a licensed roofing
contractor performs an inspection of the roof.
Second, from that
inspection, a roof inspection report is delivered. It would point out things
like the type of roof, degree of slope, approximate age, quality of
installation, condition of components, structural defects etc. and most
importantly whether or not the roof is certifiable.
The reason it is so important to
have a licensed contractor perform the inspection is that the inspector is
relied upon to assess any and all potential defects and so must be duly
qualified to do so. A licensed roofing contractor has not only worked on but
also managed numerous different types of roofing projects from beginning to
end. He will be knowledgeable in all areas of the trade and his inspection
should be informative, offering a prospective buyer a measure of protection
from potential future pitfalls.
Normally if the roof is
not certifiable in it's current condition, in the report the roof inspector
will make any recommendations for repairs that would bring the roof's
condition up to a certifiable state.
Once the repairs are completed,
the roof certification is issued. A roof certification should cover the entire
roof, but normally will not cover damages resulting from a roof leak(s).
It is not unusual to have
certain items excluded from a roof certification. Normal exclusions would
include things like:
Damage to the roof surface or
lack of normal maintenance such as cleaning excessive amounts of debris, HVAC
units etc. that's about it. Bear in mind that normally the inspector is only
allowed to do a visual inspection of the roof's surface and cannot reasonably
be held accountable for hidden
defects.
This is where the range, quality
and level of experience of the particular inspector really comes into play. For
example, over the years I have seen literally thousands of cracks in roofs. Some are
obviously roof leaks while some appear to be minor surface cracks, I know
with certainty that if an ant or ants crawls out of a roof crack, that it has
progressed all the way down to the structural wood. Without the years of field
study it would just be an ant and I could name at least a hundred other such
instances.
Eighty percent of the time
when I arrive to do a roof repair estimate, I have already diagnosed the
problem based on information the customer submitted while requesting the
estimate, I am just there for confirmation.
I'm not bragging and I hope it
doesn't sound like that, it took me 40 years to gain this knowledge. I am just
pointing out that there is no comparison between us contractors who have
actually paid our dues on the roof and all of these so called "roof
inspectors" running around today.
So, don't be fooled into
thinking that there is really any such thing as a "trained roof
inspector" because for all practical purposes there is not.
Repairmen are not qualified roof inspectors.
"License quality repairmen" are worst of all because that is just a term someone made up to make them sound qualified.
Buying a home is already a daunting experience. When I bought my house I paid upwards of $1,000.00 for inspections because I knew the value of truly qualified inspectors, and still things got missed.
To all home buyers, do yourself a big favor and hire the best roof inspector you can find and make sure that the person who actually does the inspection is a licensed contractor.
www.roofdoctor1.com
