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In another example, no issue was found by the home inspector. However, as the new homeowner, you decide to improve and start a project on a component in your home. Once the contractor looks at the job he identifies concerns or issues related to the project at hand. How could this happen? Many times, it is simply the site-specific repair or modification that opens-up a repair requirement. If the condition or component is left alone, many times, no work or modification is required. But once change is envisioned, and the component (as it relates to the specific job) is viewed with a broader scope, the contractor may see the need for a repair or modification to the component. However, anticipating all possible scenarios of improvements or modifications that could possibly be performed on a component is beyond the scope of the home inspection process and standards of practice. Additionally, repairs can be tackled from different perspectives; and this subjectivity is another cause of varied opinions and recommendations among various professionals. The approach that a particular contractor takes with a repair is a function not only of experience, but of the type of tools in which he has invested and the number of employees available to work on the project. Thus, scope, cost and resources can cause contractor’s opinions to vary considerably.
The seemingly contradictory information you
sometimes receive from various sources happens because the inspector,
contractor, engineer, architect, etc. have different views of a home based
upon their training and varying standards of practice. THE LAST-ONE-IN SYNDROME: Many
times, contractors will demonstrate a reluctance to undertake a basic level
of repair. Termed the Last-One-In Syndrome, this behavior is a reflection of
the contractor’s understandable reluctance to perform a minor repair on
something that may later fail, and thus result in blame simply from having
been the last one to work on it. The contractor is naturally inclined to
recommend a complete replacement, at a higher cost to you, in order to
reduce the likelihood of a callback. You should look for the most effective,
least costly solution to any servicing or repairs needed in your home. GENERAL PRACTIONERS VS. SPECIALISTS: Consider this: You go to your doctor for a physical one day and he finds you have some brown spots on your arm. He recommends that you see a dermatologist (a specialist) to further examine the spots. After meeting with the dermatologist, he identifies the spots as melanoma. Your general practitioner saw the spots, but how come he did not see the skin cancer? We all know that our general practitioner examines the general health and functioning of our bodies, whereas a specialist (who has expertise in a particular focus of medicine) is able to more closely examine, test, and diagnose conditions. You can think of your inspector and your contractor in much the same way. As in the above example, you can reasonably expect a contracting specialist to discover more provide you with more comprehensive information about a particular condition that your inspector has flagged. The contractor is examining the condition with a narrower focus and has specific experience repairing the particular condition. And so, just as the spots the first doctor saw turned out to be skin cancer, you may find conditions identified in your report to be more extensive after they have been evaluated by a contractor or professional specialist.
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