What Type of Reporting Method Do You Use?

[Jack Ahern]

Please add this to my previous post. Lots of pictures(35-60) depending on the size of the house.I will master picture insertion and e-mailing reports within 1 month after ASHI-FtL. Packing up as I speak.I hope the early snow birds leave some Guiness for me.[8D] [:-party]

Jack Ahern Needham on the Charles

Bridgton,Maine

[Glenn Wharton]

Gents

For what it is worth, the statistic that you are more prone to be sued if you deliver on site, DOES NOT ring true. Insurance companies are good with statistics. If they had noticed this trend, they would have up-charged all of us that deliver on site. It has never happened to me. Once again, if you can get away with e-mail deliver, please continue, don't get pushed into on-site unless you are VERY comfortable with it. If for no other reason than the cost of paper and ink.

My lifetime batting average is 99.55%. As in, I have returned fees, paid for repairs or paid my deductible to the tune of .45% of all fees ever paid to me. Cost of doing bidnis.[]

Glenn

[carle3]

I use a tablet PC that I am able to update as I go room to room. I also insert pictures but only when I feel it will enhance the report or dealing with a distant client. I went and bought the fastest ink jet printer I could find. At the conclusion I give the client the customer survey and maintenance manual while I tweak and print the report on site. As a construction manager I have always been good at multitasking. Having a client talking in one ear dealing with a sub on the phone while contemplating how I was going to fix something on the next job site. On site production was just a natural for me. Like Glenn said I make my deductions and move on rarely going back to mull them over.

Carl

[winsor]

yes but the report is stored offsite not on my computer

Originally posted by hausdok

Winsor,

So, keeping this thread on-topic, you gather your data on-site using a palm type computer and then complete your report back at the office and post it to a website for retrieval by the client?

OT - OF!!!

M.

[hausdok]

Okay,

Now I'm tracking. 3rd party service that you pay for. They provide you with a reporting system and a website to load them onto, right?

OT - OF!!!

M.

[2020]

3D baby

That's all I have to say.

[chap1247]

I usally do both on site hard copy and follow up e-mail. Since I haven't been able to find an inexpensive fast color printer. Bill Chapman- Atlanta

[paul burrell]

I do reports on site with the help of my computer and hand it to the customer. If I wait until I get back to my office I forget what I did. By the way what were we discussing.[:-dunce]

Paul B.

[shireinspect]

I use Reporthost and it works well for me. I used a handwritten report, delivered onsite, for two years and it almost put me out of biz. This web based report has canned concerns that are easily edited, links built in, [EPA, DOS, Handyman, and other info sites], holds as many pics as I want, [click on the # at the bottom of the concern and it takes you right to the pic], and has disclaimers, ommissions and header already attached. The best part is I spend the time with the client, not writing! Also all the other reasons mentioned.

[hausdok]

Hi All,

Hopefully, you all received a copy of this month's TIJ Update via email by now. Did you all notice that our sponsor, Devwave, now has a palm type computer version of their program Inspect Express, making it easier than ever before to do on-site data collection?

Check it out at http://www.inspectexpress.com

OT - OF!!!

M.

[evergreeninspections]

Hi Everyone... New to the board here (would have been here sooner if Auntie Jim Katen would have told OAHI (Oregon Assn of HI's) about it sooner), but not new to the business.

I've been inspecting for a little over 5 yrs., and have about 3,000 inspections completed under my belt. I started off as an employee of a franchise, and since day one, I have delivered computer generated reports onsite.

Now that I'm an independant, I still do it that way, with photos, and I also upload the reports to a secure website. Yes, I pay a monthly fee for the ability to do that, but it's a small fee, and it's been a selling point. Realtors and clients like it, and its fantastic for out-of-town buyers. Its faster then emailing, too.

As said earlier, I like driving away from a house and being done with the inspection. I use a Toshiba tablet PC, and input findings as I go from area to area, and when I'm done, I go to my truck, do a quick look at the report, make any corrections etc. that I may need to, and then print in the truck. It only takes about 4 minutes to print the report.

A question for you guys that do the reports offsite. I find doing it at the house also affords me the ability to double check a finding or something as I review the report. Do you guys that do the reports at home ever find an occassion where you wish you could look at that XXX item again? I realize the notes and photos help, but nothing beats being there. Also, aren't you writing the report twice? Once for your notes, and then for the actual report?

I like to be left alone while going through the house, but I really want the client there at the end. I go through the summary with them, and will walk around with them if there is need. Most of the time I don't have to physically show them the issue, as my description and photos take care of things. Recap takes about 20-40 minutes.

Oh, and I've never been sued, and only once was a fee refunded.

Kirk Strauchler

Evergreen Home Inspections

Vancouver, WA

[RickDriver]

Any Palm Tech software users -- How do you like it? Do they have a good reputation?

[zeb]

I'm lucky to be 3/4 completed before the Realtor and client are ready to leave. Hell sometimes they leave and tell me see you later. I'm not slow either, 2-3 hours on 2600 sf. My reports are always done on a pc at the office and then delivered either by e-mail or in person that evening or the next day. Works great for me. I don't feel the need to be neat in the field or have to worry about being accurate. Alot of info comes to me after looking at phots and my notes. My current system is the AHIT system. I purchased a number of hand written reports on ebay and use them as my format in the field. I'm only learning their system so that I can use a note pad when I remember their system. My hats off to other HI's that find a reporting format that works for them. You can spend alot of time looking for it.

[Erby]

Started with Palm-Tech and it was OK but didn't do photos well. (Though I understand this has been improved)

Switched to Home Guage and love it. Easily editable and added comments. Lots of different formats available. Upload to their site and send notification e-mails with the link. Takes credit card hassle away for me. Think I'll be sticking with it for a long while.

Best advice I have is get a demo disk from all of them. Complete at least five inspections on your own home or friends with each of them. Choose the one that works best for you AFTER that.

Switching later is a real big pain in the ass.

[Nolan Kienitz]

Focus onsite visit with data collection and observation along with client interchange.

Go to office and prepare report for delivery to client usually by following morning.

E-mail with Adobe PDF attachment.

I use Whisper Reporter ... the new release of the Whisper product line.

[paul burrell]

I do on site computer reports 95+ percent of time. Sometimes when time is short for client they will ask me to fax it to them. I like to do report on site because every thing is fresh in my mind (what little I have left). Also if I need to re-check something I don't have to drive back to job.

Paul B.

[Merritt Home Inspection]

I prefer to hand write the report and hand it to the client right away, then the client has the report to go over before I leave and can answer their questions on the spot.

[ozofprev]

Eric,

What do you fill out by hand?

Your own form? Carson Dunlop book? Other?

Thanks.

Originally posted by Merritt Home Inspection

I prefer to hand write the report and hand it to the client right away, then the client has the report to go over before I leave and can answer their questions on the spot.

[Chris Bernhardt]

I have done reports on site on and off but have done them back at the office now for the last 4 years.

I swoop thru the house with my camera a blazing.

Little need to take notes when you master your camera.

Its like shooting a movie. I include several elevations and labels for history, maintenance and servicing besides problem shots. Zoids really like the extra for thier clients.

I can't imagine ever doing it on site again. besides then I wouldn't have time to come home and post questions to TIJ before writing the report which has saved my ass several times already.

Chris, Oregon

[Chad Fabry]

I inspect onsite, then with considerable angst and effort write the report while experiencing the warmth and comfort of my office at home. Occassionally I'll field a question here and write while I wait for responses. To date, I've never been let down and always have the answers before the report is ready to email or upload.

The sum of these many good minds far exceeds the sum of my knowledge and my reports make me look like a friggin genius because any help I recieve goes completely unrecognized as another person's contribution.

[roadguy]

Chad,

Oh, man. Now you've done it. [xx(]

Actually, though, in all seriousness, I've been kinda wondering how much that legal notice (in the HOME dropdown menu above) applies to paraphrasing on answers given here on TIJ.

Mike, any thoughts/clarifications?

[hausdok]

Hi James,

I set up TIJ so that home inspectors could do exactly as Chad has done - communicate with other inspectors and obtain the information they need for themselves and their clients.

I don't have a problem with Chad using information learned here to satisfy the needs of his clients and anyone who posts their thoughts on a topic here does so understanding that other inspectors intend to use what they learn here for that purpose. If Chad learns about something in a book and then imparts what he's learned to a client in writing, using his own words or quoting from text and crediting the author involved, I don't believe he's violated any copyright. Hell, if that were a copyright violation, everything we've ever learned from reading would be a violation.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[roadguy]

Mike,

Thanks for the clarification. That's kinda what I figgered. Just wanted to emphasize...

...imparts what he's learned to a client in writing, using his own words or quoting from text and crediting the author involved

that Copy/Paste does not satisfy either of those concepts, convenient as it may be when one is rushing to complete the report.

[Bob White]

I quote (and attribute to) Jim Katen every time I speak to FPE panels .

I usually include a chart by Jerry Peck and Norm Sage in my reports (with acknowlegement) regarding the requirements for GFCI protection and when they became requirements.

I know I got the Katen stuff from TIJ. I think I got the Peck/Sage stuff from IN. I use lots of stuff I've learned here and there. If I relied on what the taught me in school and my own OnTheJob experience, I'd be lost (but I'd think I knew what I was doing.)

I've got no qualms about utilizing other folks knowledge and work. I only hope that I can return the favor in twenty years or so on whatever format exists then....

[Chad Fabry]

James said:

Copy/Paste does not satisfy either of those concepts, convenient as it may be when one is rushing to complete the report.

James, I don't copy the responses. I read them, ingest them, and sometimes verify them depending on what was answered and by whom. It would be unethical of me to copy or quote without crediting the author. I'm not real good looking, athletic or smart, but I try to do the right thing.

My point was this: I write my reports at home so I have time to think about the plethora of information that must be conveyed clearly to my client. Another advantage to writing the report at home is that it affords me the opportunity to research stuff I'm unfamiliar with.

Now that brings up another topic... even though one is licensed to use boiler written by someone else is that person perpetrating the illusion of being the author by including it in his/her report?