The Agent's Edit, the Buyer's Repair Request, and the Field Notes
You finish a 2.5-hour inspection of a 1925 bungalow for a first-time buyer who was not present. Your report includes a photo of a deck ledger attached to the rim joist with two 16d nails per bay, no lag screws or bolts, no ledger flashing, on a deck 9 feet above grade, and you describe it as not safely attached. Within the hour the buyer's agent calls: the seller will not negotiate on the deck, and the agent asks you to remove the deck narrative and the words "not safely attached," noting the deck "has been there 20 years." The next day the buyer emails asking you to quote a price to fix the deck and to "come do the repairs next weekend so we can close," and also asks for copies of your field notes.
1. How do you respond to the agent's request?
Read the worked answer
Decline, in writing, and keep the request in the file.
- The observation is factual: two 16d nails per bay, no lag screws or bolts, no ledger flashing, deck 9 feet above grade. The phrase "not safely attached" follows from the observation, not from opinion.
- You may accept additional information - an engineer's letter, a contractor's repair invoice, a permit record - and add it to the report with its source. You may not delete a finding because it affects a negotiation.
- "It's been there 20 years" is an argument about history, not about capacity. A nailed ledger can hold for years and still fail under a loaded deck with a group of people on it.
Reply briefly: "I can't remove an observed condition. If the seller provides documentation from an engineer or licensed contractor, I'll add it to the report and identify the source." Log the date, time, and content of the call, and if pressure continues, tell the buyer in writing what was asked.
Why: the report is the buyer's record. The agent is not your client, and an edited report is a false report with your name on it.
2. How do you answer the buyer's request for a repair price and for you to do the work?
Read the worked answer
Decline both, and explain why in one paragraph they can keep.
- Pricing: cost estimating is outside the inspection, and it is opinion dressed as fact - you would be guessing at framing you cannot see.
- Doing the work: the person who identifies defects should not profit from finding them. Beyond the conflict of interest, performing repairs on a property you inspected - especially to push a closing - is barred by standards of practice and by licensing rules in most states, and it puts you in the position of warranting your own repair.
What you can do: recommend licensed contractors for the deck framing and, given the height and the ledger detail, suggest a structural engineer or a contractor who will pull a permit; offer a re-inspection of the completed work under a separate written agreement and a separate fee; and remind the buyer in writing that the deck is a safety item to repair before it is used, not after closing.
Why the distinction matters: re-inspecting your own recommendation is not the same as building it, and the difference is what keeps the file clean.
3. The buyer wants copies of your field notes. What do you do?
Read the worked answer
Treat the notes as part of the inspection record, then check the rules before you send anything.
- Look at your inspection agreement and your state's rule on who owns the notes and whether they must be provided. Many inspectors provide them on request; some agreements state they are not a deliverable. Follow the agreement and the rule, not the moment.
- If you provide them, provide the full set, unedited, with a note that these are raw field notes - not the report - and may contain abbreviations or items you later verified and removed. Partial or re-typed notes are worse than none.
- Never rewrite them after the fact. The file's credibility rests on the notes being contemporaneous.
Log it: "Buyer requested field notes, provided 3 pages, date/time." If the file is ever subpoenaed, that entry is worth more than the notes themselves. Keep the report, photos, notes, agreement, and correspondence together for your state's retention period - and remember the notes may be read by a lawyer who is looking for anything the report left out.