Code of Ethics | Big N Contracting

Effective on June 13, 2004

Integrity, honesty, and objectivity are fundamental principles embodied by this Code, which sets forth obligations of ethical conduct for the home inspection profession. The Membership of ASHI has adopted this Code to provide high ethical standards to safeguard the public and the profession.

Inspectors shall comply with this Code, shall avoid association with any enterprise whose practices violate this Code, and shall strive to uphold, maintain, and improve the integrity, reputation, and practice of the home inspection profession.

All inspector members of ASHI have agreed to abide by this Code of Ethics

1. Inspectors shall avoid conflicts of interest or activities that compromise, or appear to compromise, professional independence, objectivity, or inspection integrity.

A. Inspectors shall not inspect properties for compensation in which they have, or expect to have, a financial interest.
B. Inspectors shall not inspect properties under contingent arrangements whereby any compensation or future referrals are dependent on reported findings or on the sale of a property.
C. Inspectors shall not directly or indirectly compensate realty agents, or other parties having a financial interest in closing or settlement of real estate transactions, for the referral of inspections or for inclusion on a list of recommended inspectors, preferred providers, or similar arrangements.
D. Inspectors shall not receive compensation for an inspection from more than one party unless agreed to by the client(s).
E. Inspectors shall not accept compensation, directly or indirectly, for recommending contractors, services, or products to inspection clients or other parties having an interest in inspected properties.
F. Inspectors shall not repair, replace, or upgrade, for compensation, systems or components covered by ASHI Standards of Practice, for one year after the inspection.

2. Inspectors shall act in good faith toward each client and other interested parties.

A. Inspectors shall perform services and express opinions based on genuine conviction and only within their areas of education, training, or experience.
B. Inspectors shall be objective in their reporting and not knowingly understate or overstate the significance of reported conditions.
C. Inspectors shall not disclose inspection results or client information without client approval. Inspectors, at their discretion, may disclose observed immediate safety hazards to occupants exposed to such hazards, when feasible.

3. Inspectors shall avoid activities that may harm the public, discredit themselves, or reduce public confidence in the profession.

A. Advertising, marketing, and promotion of inspectors’ services or qualifications shall not be fraudulent, false, deceptive, or misleading.
B. Inspectors shall report substantive and willful violations of this Code to the Society.

The Code of Ethics is the property of the American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc.® Effective on June 13, 2004

Home inspectors Valley Wide in Arizona Contracting Since 1997

Why choose BNC Inspections?

Buying a home can be the most significant investment you will ever make.

For that reason, it is important to have that investment thoroughly inspected by a professional, certified home inspector.

Our inspectors are fully certified American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) members, as well as being code certified by the International Code Council (ICC).

While the state of Georgia has no minimum standards for home inspectors, we require our inspectors to complete annual continuing education courses.

We perform inspections according to a strict Code of Ethics and The ASHI Standards of Practice protecting you from potential conflicts of interest and ensuring you receive an independent opinion regarding the condition of the property you are considering.

Our Mission

We are committed to be the home inspection company of choice in the Arizona real estate industry.

Our Guiding Principles

We offer a variety of home inspection, testing, and consulting services. Our services are provided by ASHI certified home inspection professionals. We are dedicated to delivering an exceptional customer experience, whether you are a first-time homebuyer, purchasing property for an investment or a realtor assisting a client. We are “The Professionals’ Team”.

Buying a house is both an exciting and stressful experience. Let us help you make an informed decision about purchasing your home. Whether it’s your first home or where you plan to spend your retirement, a home inspection can provide you with a peace of mind that is well worth the investment. The BNC team is committed to providing you with an exceptional customer experience, from the time you first contact our office until you receive your detailed inspection report.

We are certified, experienced home inspection professionals.

All Edifice inspectors are fully certified by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) and members of the industry’s leading organization.
All of our inspectors are code certified as “Residential Combination Inspectors” by the International Code Council (ICC) and ICC professional members.
Inspectors are certified mold inspectors through the Environmental Solutions Association (ESA).

We offer a choice of home inspection and environmental testing services. We can customize our services to meet all your home inspection needs. In addition to our resale inspections, we:

Perform footing, framing and final inspections for new homes.
Provide Atlanta-area investors with a special safety and health issue inspections focused on minimizing possible litigation from tenants or future buyers of the property.
Offer radon, mold, asbestos, testing.

We make it easy to do business with us by:

Offering inspection appointments six days a week (Monday through Saturday).
Accepting major credit cards, cash or checks as payment for services.
Call 480-719-9307 To Book A Appointment
Providing professional, computer-generated reports with detailed photos from the inspection. We e-mail your reports the day of the inspection, saving you time.

Inspecting foreclosures

For those of us who have been in the real estate services business for a decade or better, we remember the glory days when we would show up for the home inspection with the prospective buyer. The house would be spotless, all the proper accent lighting would be on, the thermostats would be set at the most comfortable setting, music would be playing in the background and the smell of something good would be coming from the kitchen. This inspector remembers several occasions when a plate of fresh baked cookies was left on the kitchen sideboard with a note saying to enjoy. Whoa, what happened?
Today, the inspection date and time can change because there is a problem getting the utilities turned on. Many times, when arriving at the home, the utilities in fact have not been turned on. The property is usually vacant and, in many cases, has been empty for several years. Closed houses without utilities can be problematic. If the house was winterized, have the pipes burst? If only some of the utilities have been turned on what unanswered questions does that leave for the buyer? Almost always there is deferred maintenance. The exterior needs work, there is probably some damage to the house, thieves may have taken copper pipe or wiring, stolen the air conditioning unit, there may be mold growth on the interior; the former owners may have stripped the place before they were removed; and, depending on the neighborhood, there could be unwanted guests living in the house.
What has happened is the rocking and rolling housing boom that lasted until the last few years has been followed by a housing bust. The result is a real estate market flooded with foreclosed properties. The new homes that drove market sales in the Atlanta area for so long have been replaced by homes that have been foreclosed. This market dynamic has changed the real estate environment, the buyers and the property inventory. Many real estate agents have also been brought into this environment where they have little or no experience.
One of the dynamics of this market has been that more agents are recommending home inspections to their clients looking to purchase foreclosed properties. When, on the surface, this may appear to be sound advice, too many times the inspection process simply adds frustration and confusion to the buyer’s decision- making process. Since many new buyers are taking advantage of lower real estate prices, first-time buyer assistance and low mortgage rates, they may be unsophisticated in the home-buying process.
The home inspection should be an educational process for the buyers, so they can learn the difference between a major defect and simply deferred maintenance that the typical home owner is expected to take care of. Mold, for example, can be a deal breaker in many real estate transactions. The “fix” for mold in a house can be simple and inexpensive. A knowledgeable inspector can get past the media hype and present reasonable alternatives to the buyer. If the property is being “sold as is”, the inspector should be able to advise the buyer on those projects that should be tackled first and what the approximate cost might be.
How experienced is the buyer in doing his/her own home repairs? Where do their talents stop and when do they have to call in qualified contractors to do the work? The experienced home inspector can assist in this process to help identify those projects the buyer thinks he/she can tackle and which ones are going to require outside help. With this done, costs can be better identified so the buyer can understand how much money he/she will have to put into the home after the sale. If the buyer thinks they are getting a bargain on the home, they should have a good understanding of their costs after the inspection. “Is it really a good deal”?
Home inspectors who have worked with investors buying distressed properties have experience in dealing with foreclosures. An investor/rehabber can look past all the problems and visualize what the property will look like after the work is done and what the cost will be. Some investors are buying property here in the Atlanta market sight unseen and solely relying on the reports of their home inspector.
We know that the average home buyer does not have the same level of sophistication as the investor, but they can still have access to the same level of home inspector competence to help guide them through the home-buying process.
The foreclosure market is yet another variable, “opportunity” in the real estate industry and will remain a viable sector until inventories are worked down. Let us all make hay while this opportunity is available.

Infrared: Facts and Fiction

It is common in-service industries that the market place dictates the kind and price of the products it wants businesses to provide. This fact is no less true in the home inspection industry. For example, many home inspectors offer mold and Radon testing because it is requested by home buyers or real estate agents. A relative new comer to the home inspection tool bag is thermal imaging, or infrared technology. It is unclear whether home inspectors first introduced this new product or consumers started to inquire about infrared. What is clear is that the price and availability of infrared technology has become affordable and more and more home inspectors are using it. When I was introduced to infrared technology twenty years ago an infrared camera for industrial purposes would cost $15,000 to $20,000. The same or better technology today cost $3,000 to $5,000 and is considered to be a low-grade camera. Used cameras can be purchased for as little as $2,000. An unfortunate result of this increased availability of IR technology has been an influx of untrained inspectors performing infrared inspections. This coupled with unrealistic or uninformed expectations from clients has created a general state of confusion concerning the real capabilities of infrared technology.
To clarity these misunderstandings let’s look at a typical application for infrared (IR) in a home inspection. The picture on the left below was taken with an IR camera and shows a much cooler part of a kitchen vaulted ceiling. The temperature range in the IR photo is from 62 to 74 degrees F. Looking at the date and time one would conclude that the space above the ceiling should be cool this time of day and this time of year. What is causing the change in temperature? Do we have a roof leak? The answer reveals itself in the picture taken in the attic with a digital camera. The batt insulation has fallen out of place allowing this area of the ceiling to become cooler. The point that must be made here is that the missing insulation would have been discovered during the standard visual inspection of the attic. The IR scan simply helped the inspector provide a graphic for his report highlighting the importance, in temperature differential, of missing insulation.

The next set of IR pictures demonstrates what happens when the technology is used by an inadequately trained inspector.

Both pictures below are of the same electrical panel. The picture on the left shows a circuit breaker that is warmer than the other breakers in the panel. The inspector stated that this could be a fire hazard and recommended that the panel be inspected by a licensed electrician. By properly focusing in on the subject breaker, as indicated by the IR picture on the right, it was revealed that the circuit breaker was operating at almost 88 degrees. This was a double pole circuit breaker feeding 240 volts to an electric water heater and the temperature is considered normal. No hazardous condition existed.

Misinformed consumers can add to the problems with the perception of IR technology. In our experience almost half the clients requesting that IR be part of their home inspection think the camera can “see inside walls”. One local area home inspector stated in their marketing that their camera can see inside walls and ceilings. It is no wonder with this kind of marketing that confusion exists about the potential of IR technology.
Here are some IR facts: Thermal Imaging cameras cannot see inside walls and ceilings. Finding a temperature differential with a camera does not insure accurate diagnosis of the cause of the differential. An infrared picture can be a valuable tool in analyzing some residential and commercial issues that might surface during a standard home inspection. Other analysis is almost always needed to determine the source of a problem and the appropriate solution.
Since there are no required certifications or licensing needed to use an infrared camera anyone representing him/herself as a provider of Thermal Imaging services should at least be a Level 1 Thermographer. This requires a 32-hour class, successfully passing three exams and passing an independent field exercise.

Joshua Nothaft
BNC Inspections

5 Deck Safety Tips to ensure your deck is safe to use

For the AJC

According to the North American Deck and Railing Association, deck failures have increased at an alarming rate.
Between 2000 and 2008 there were at least 30 reported deaths resulting from deck failures. In addition, 75 percent of people on a deck when it collapses are killed. According to NADRA there are 40,000 decks in the United States that are more than 20 years old, making our deck inventory increasingly unsafe.
In 2006, NADRA declared May deck safety month in the attempt to raise awareness of the importance of deck safety. NADRA provides a 10 point “consumer checklist” to assist homeowners in evaluating their own decks. The following is a summation of the first five of NADRA’s safety check list. We will complete this list in next week’s edition.
Split or decaying wood: Using a pointed tool like an ice pick or screwdriver, probe several areas of your deck. These should include the ledger board (where the deck attaches to the house), support posts, decking boards, and railings. NADRA’s rule of thumb is that if your probe easily penetrates the wood a quarter- to a half-inch without splintering the wood, decay may be present.
Flashing: Deck flashing is most critical at the point where the deck attaches to the house. At this location you should see a continuous piece of metal between the deck and house. This connection of the deck to the house is the most common area of deck failure. The purpose of the flashing is to divert moisture and debris away from this connection. If your deck is not flashed at its attachment to the house, consider having flashing installed by a qualified general contractor.
Loose or corroded fasteners: Fasteners on decks include nails, screws, bolts, or anchors. In your inspection insure that all screws and bolts are tight and any nail heads that have popped up should be nailed back into place. Once again, the most important area is the connection of the deck’s ledger board to the house. You should see this connection being secured with bolts, not just nails or screws.
Railings and banisters: Three components ensure a safe railing: stability, spaces between the rail components, and rail height. To check your railings, keep these code parameters in mind. The rail should be able to withstand a 200-pound force at any point along its top; the spaces in the deck railings should not allow the passage of a 4-inch ball (less than 4 inches); and the deck rail should be a minimum of 36 inches high.
Stairs: As with the deck rail, make sure the deck stair rail is stable. Check the connection of the deck stair to the deck. Look for loose wood on the steps or risers that may create a trip hazard. If the step riser (vertical part of step) is open, the opening should be less than 4 inches. As you climb the steps, move your weight from side to side to ensure that the stairs are stable. Finally, make sure the stairs are clear of planters, toys or any other objects that could be a trip hazard.

If after your inspection you have any reason to believe your deck is unsafe, I recommend calling a qualified general contractor to make repairs or a certified home inspector for further evaluation.

A more complete “Deck Evaluation Checklist” is available on the NADRA Web site at www.nadra.org or you can call 1-888-623-7248.

Things that go bump in the night

Explanations for what goes bump in the night

Have you ever been sitting at home relaxing on a quiet evening and suddenly you hear a sound? It might be a constant tapping, a whistle or even a loud pop. Before you panic, here are some explanations for unusual sounds that houses make.

Tapping: Perhaps the most common sound encountered in homes is a steady tapping. In most cases this sound can be attributed to the expansion and contraction of building materials.

Most houses in North America are built largely of wood or wood-based materials. Metal and plastics are also used for plumbing piping and for heating and cooling duct-work.

All of these materials will expand and contract with changes in temperature and humidity. Often the steady tapping noise occurs when someone in the house is using the hot water. This can be when using the bathroom or the dishwasher or clothes washer.

The steady tapping sound results when the wood and/or metal or plastic hot water pipes expand or contract and rub against wood framing members. If you hear this sound, try to determine if it is related to use of hot water and remember it might also occur as the pipes cool off.

Popping: This is also usually the result of building materials expanding and contracting. Often it happens during very cold or very hot days. The popping noise is usually caused by the wood framing expanding or contracting.

Sometimes, the expansion or contraction is held by nails until it is extreme enough to finally move. This sudden release of pressure will result in a popping or even a banging sound. This sound can often be quite loud and even result in a minor vibration.

Although it can be alarming, this kind of movement usually poses no threat to the structure of the house.

Popping sounds can also occur because of expansion and contraction of the heating and cooling ductwork. The pressure created when the blower fan in your furnace comes on can push the metal ductwork out. When the fan turns off the ductwork will contract back into position causing a pop or bang.

Banging or rattling: These sounds often occur when plumbing fixtures are turned on or off. It typically will occur most often when fixtures are turned off. This phenomenon is called “water hammer.”

When the water flow is stopped by turning off a fixture it will send a vibration through the piping that can make the pipes rattle. The best remedy for this condition is to install a water hammer arrestor.

Unless you are extremely handy I would recommend having a water hammer arrestor installed by a licensed plumber. When trying to find a pattern to the sound, remember that your dishwasher and clothes washer are plumbing fixtures, too.

Humming or singing: These sounds are most often related to plumbing. They can be caused by a small amount of water flowing through a valve.

Sometimes replacement of the valve, or the washer in the valve, is the only solution. Before trying anything else, check the water pressure in your house, using a gauge you can buy at a hardware store.

Put the gauge on the drain valve on your water heater and open the valve. The gauge will tell you your house pressure.

One word of caution, if your water heater is located in an area where leaking would cause damage, I recommend installing the gauge on the cold-water supply for your clothes washing machine.

If this location is not accessible you can put the gauge on a hose bib. Since hose bibs on the front of the house are often left at street pressure, use of the rear hose bib is preferable. If your house water pressure is greater than 80 pounds per square inch (psi), this elevated pressure can cause the humming sound.

I recommend calling a licensed plumber to install or replace your pressure reducing valve.