📝 How to write a great inspection report.

Property inspections can be a daunting task for your inspectors or property managers. Usually a very time-consuming task to arrange and re-arrange, only to be turned away at the door, or no one is in and the dog is going bonkers at the letter box, so it’s very important to make good use of this time.

Often inspectors will try to get round and out as quickly as possible because, let’s face it, they’re pretty awkward affairs, but if there’s very limited maintenance these are one of the few things which you do for your management fee over the year.

What we’d like to do today is to give you some pointers to make the most of the visits and impress your landlords with the quality of the reports. I expect the majority will have an app to help, InventoryHive is a great example of this, however it’s not just the layout and a fancy PDF, the content is just as important.

⌚️ Organisation. Not exactly a tip on the building of a good report, but being well organised and planning visits out will lead to having more time per property and not bring rushed. This will then support the other suggestions below.

📷 Pictures. They say a picture tells a thousand words, and this is certainly the case for inspections. However please ensure the pictures are clear, not blurry, try to get some context in for positioning and size if taking a picture of an issue. Photographing window recesses is a great way to prove you’ve walked through the room and didn’t just take a picture at the door and walk away. And absolutely avoid taking a picture of the garden out of the back window! This is terrible practice, but likely more common than you would think. Take a picture of the back of the house to show you’re thorough!

⚠️ Hazards. It’s very important the inspectors are aware of hazards in a property in line with the HHSRS. Missing a hazard in a report can have some serious consequences, the least of all is having a landlord asking why it wasn’t picked up.

🔧 Repairs. Be aware of previous and current repairs. Landlords will really appreciate both the knowledge of the property and the oversight the inspector is giving them of issues.

🚨 Alarms. Although not a legal requirement, it is best practice to test the smoke and carbon alarms whilst on site. Make sure the inspector has something to test the ones which are usually out of reach! This is also a great time to reinforce compliance with the updated Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations.

📝 Comments. Although pictures are great, comments are also very important, especially where it’s not the property manager completing the inspection. Clear comments on an issue, or suggested resolution, can save back and forth.

🗣 Advice. Similarly, where the inspector has given advice, make sure there’s a note of it. Mould is the most common here as proper advice to the tenant can go a long way. Noting on the report you have spoken to the tenant about it will give the landlord confidence in your processes.

🤓 Knowledge. In addition to knowing about repairs, knowing who should be living there, if there is permission for pets or even knowing the landlord’s expectations for the garden or cleanliness is important. This may seem overkill, but it’s a great way to really impress with these inspections. We’ve had experience of landlords who wanted to know the height of the front hedge, or if the tenant asked you to remove your shoes when you came in!

Hopefully some useful tips in there, let us know what works for you. We also love to hear inspection horror stories! What’s the best one you have?

If you’re interested in automating maintenance to free up time for your property managers and save money for your landlords, you can book a demo of the Help me Fix video triage service here.