Possession of purchased property in India is a ‘dream come true’ event. Buyers have great hope from builders, in terms of delivery and quality of their dream home, at the time of possession. The responsibility of quality possession is jointly shared by Builder and Buyer. The lack of technical assistance to customers results in one sided story. Thus concept of knowing all about your home is known as Home Inspection. In this article we will share: (1) Scenario of United States, (2) Indian Expectation, & (3) Developed standards of Home Inspection in India
Scenario of United States Home Inspection
The concept of Home Inspection is well developed in United States. Almost 6 Million of Homes (85%) are inspected at time of purchase. Home Inspection Industry provides employment to 25000 Inspectors in more than 4000 Companies. Various Certification Courses are also available for training of Inspectors.
Indian Expectations and Requirements from Home Inspection
a) Technical Assistance to Buyers
Indian Builders construct flats in bulk quantity with available expertise. They work with building complexities which includes, plumbing, carpentry, electrician works, false ceiling, PVC works, elevators, fire sprinklers, fire alarm, etc. Quality Assurance is a challenge for builder under these complexities and available expertise. As possession is joint responsibility of builder and buyer, thus buyer should also be equipped with technical expertise before taking handover.
b) Identifying Problems which are not visible from Naked Eyes
Hazardous problem of home includes moisture, short circuits, and finals finishes. The biggest challenge is to identify the exact location & cause of problem which has serious impact on its rectification expenditure. Expensive scientific tools and techniques are available to identify such problem but they become redundant after one time use. Home Inspection company should provide service with such tools like Thermal Imaging and Behind Wall Detectors.
c) Best Estimate of Carpet Area
Many properties are purchased with intent of investment and an approximate carpet area is shared when it comes to selling the property. Home Inspection company can equip property buyers with laser equipment which captures the layout of home. The technological generated carpet area can be shared with new property buyers with drawings.
d) Capturing the Condition of Handover
Builders take responsibility of manufacturing defects during the defect liability period. After moving-in customer has no evident if identified defect is manufacturing or damage done during usage. Defects at the time of handover are captures in following form by Home Inspection Company:
e) Qualified Home Inspectors
Various certification courses are available as per US standards and Indian Standards of Inspections are under development. Under these conditions, customers should expect a qualified home inspector or an organization which is expert in industrial construction.
f) Checklist of Repairs
There are no standard reporting system of home inspectors but following are the focuses while doing inspection:
- Preparation of Checklist of Repairs which should be rectified by the time of moving-in
- Identification of Various Hazards like leakages, electrical failure and energy efficiency.
- Cross Verification of contractual commitments like carpet area of flat and material quality.
- Property Rating for comparing various property from the point of construction quality and material used.
Developed Standards of Home Inspection in India
Wood is major components of building in United States while reinforcement and concrete are major elements of construction in India. Adapting US standards will solve half of the problems of Home Inspection Industry.
“We are developing inspection standards based on Indian Housing Industry and will fuse them with US Home Inspection best practices” – Antriksh Tawar, co-founder, e-Ghar Home Inspection
Home Inspection standards of India should aim of identifying problem in a way that it solves those problem. We all know that Inspection is better than curing damages.