SOP and Checklist for Performing a Maintenance Checkup Inspection

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by jknight

What are the main differences between this Maintenance Checkup Inspection and a normal Buyers Inspection ? Don't most inspectors use the same template for both ? The wording of the comments may be different but otherwise I am assuming you are inspecting the house pretty much the same way. Am I missing something ?

You're correct.
It's about the same as you always do.... but just a little easier.

It was intended to be primarily a marketing piece. Something used to create business.

Let's assume you did 100 full home inspections last year, a few dozen ancillary inspections.

My suggestion is to email all of those past clients (from last year). All of them.

Email them, informing them of this new inspection service.
You may get 5%-8% response. Great! That's 5 - 8 inspections you didn't have before the email blast! And it cost nothing to do. Now, 5-8 inspections is not much, but the idea is not to produce a ton of sales from that. It's to create and establish a long-term relationship with past clients.

With a low 5% response, you may get past clients interested in your services, not just Home Maintenance CheckUps, but possibly other services you provide, such as radon, or pre/post winter roof inspections, or septic inspections.

Now, you've got hundreds of past clients (a sales force fully informed of your services) talking about you.

Do that every year, and within a few years, you'll have many hundreds of past clients being reminded of your services. Can't ask for anything more.

When was the last time you told your hundreds of past clients that "Even if built radon-resistant, every new home should be tested for radon after occupancy." That's a direct quote from the EPA.

...or how about a Gift Card? Send a gift card to each past client. The card states that you'll pay your client $25, if one of their friends hires you to do a full home inspection. Wouldn't you pay $25, to make $300? Heck yah!

There are so many great marketing ideas out there to use with past clients... one of them is offering home maintenance checkups. IMHO

Don't just put the service on your site, and think that you'll get the phone to ring. What a waste! You're gonna have to market the CheckUp service. Email past clients. Go ahead. Try it. You have nothing to lose.
Everything to gain.

4 Steps to Marketing in 23 Minutes. Free PDF. Written for inspectors.

[Jeffrey R. Knight]

I agree with all that....my point was that you do not need a separate template to do these....you should be able to use the same template you already have for your normal home buyers inspection. You do not need to complicate things by having a totally separate template for these I would think.

[James A. Levy]

Originally Posted by jknight

I agree with all that....my point was that you do not need a separate template to do these....you should be able to use the same template you already have for your normal home buyers inspection. You do not need to complicate things by having a totally separate template for these I would think.

Kinda like Walmart's moto, " If we don't have it....you don't need it!"

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by jknight

I agree with all that....my point was that you do not need a separate template to do these....you should be able to use the same template you already have for your normal home buyers inspection. You do not need to complicate things by having a totally separate template for these I would think.

The following docs I created might help.

The key to a maintenance inspection is to "report any inspected component that shows signs of delayed maintenance or poses a threat to
personal safety."



Standards of Practice for a Home Maintenance Checkup:
Standards of Practice for Checkup (pdf)
Standards of Practice for Checkup (MS Word .doc)


Sample Checklist for the Checkup Inspection:
Checkup Checklist (pdf)
Checkup Checklist (MS Word .doc)