IR With Inspections

I have been performing IR for all my inspections but plan on adding it as a extra what is a fair price to charge.

I don’t have any problem getting an extra $200.00 per inspection, for a basic 2000 sf 1-20 yr old slab on grade, stucco, tile roof.

Insulation is about the only thing people are interested in here, living in Death Valley.

Check out the TI thread on this message board.

Thanks

Trying not to come across as a smart a s s, but a quick look at your web site only reveals John McKenna’s Thermal course.

That should net you about $50 more per inspection for your $500 investment.

Again, I am being quite frank.
You have yet to scratch the surface of this industry.
You can make $2k/day easy with the right equipment and background-experience combination.

As you do more, you will learn more. You can then raise your prices accordingly.

The amount you can charge is proportionate to the loss your client can expect from “not knowing”. A home inspection and a nuclear power plant or natural gas pipeline do not fall into the same price range.

When someone with your “certification level” chimes in with how much more they charge, that will indicate that they are most likely ripping off their client. 90% of what I see from Home inspectors posting IR stuff is not a correct assessment. But being that Home Inspection is a “Generalist” profession (and IR is NOT), trying to use it the same way as you would use a moisture meter is worth about the same as you charge for using a moisture meter on your inspection.

Which is how much?

David is 100% correct about the training levels required in home inspection and IR / Except reverse the training required.

We do a reasonable amount of expert witness work. Among those, I’ve done 23 expert witness cases where I’ve been thrown against a licensed PE as expert witness on the other side. They talk real good with lots of big words and figures. I’ve also gone up against builders, architects, electricians, HVAC contractors, etc quite frequently

So far our testimony has been taken as the prevailing / winning words on each time. Did I know more about engineering than they did / NO.

What I did however was be better at what I do than they were at what they do.

You may find this simple task works for you also.

Good information. I’m just starting with IR and took John McKenna’s thermal course recently. I thought it was a terrific introduction to IR technology and how the home inspector can utilize it. From numerous posts on the message board I understand that additional IR certification is advised and NOTHING replaces experience. I’m still assessing whether to include IR in a typical inspection or to offer it as an ancillary inspection like Leroy intends to. This post has me curious how seasoned Level II or III Thermographers came up through the ranks. Did you guys always offer IR as a separate service? Do any highly experienced thermographers use IR on each and every typical “Generalist” home inspection? Would you agree that all home inspectors will carry IR cameras in 5 years? Thanks in advance.

I attended a FLIR new products presentation seminar this morning and out of around 15 attendees I was the only home inspector there. Most home inspectors don’t do much research before they invest thousands in an infrared camera, I know I didn’t. It takes a lot of time and dedication to IR to make any money from it. Good luck.

Your level-II and III Thermographers typically charge when they do infrared inspections. I consider it to be a separate service that home inspection clients can contract for me to perform at the same time I am there doing a home inspection. I have always charged separately for it. To be a professional thermographer requires a commitment in time, education, equipment and ongoing study. Such an investment should deliver tangible value to one’s clients and deserves to be monetized.

I do think that most home inspectors will have infrared imagers in another five years or so, but that will not make them professional thermographers any more than owning a digital camera makes them professional photographers. When you attend a wedding, almost everyone present will have their own point and shoot camera, however, there will typically only be one professional photographer in the whole group. No one present will have any doubt as to who is the professional and that person is being paid for their service.

I typically charge 150.00 for TI on a home inspection for an average size home. I’m at the point where most of my clients are requesting it and I have some Realtors that are referring me because of it.

Thanks for the insight Chuck

Presently, I charge a little more per inspection and use my IR to scan the interior and sometimes, the panel as part of the inspection. It might be just me, but I find it difficult to convince a buyer to spend an extra $150. on a separate IR, not that I wouldn’t want it. Having said that, those of you that charge for IR, do you scan outside AND inside and prepare a full report?

Those of you that cannot sell thermal imaging with a home inspection are not marketing the service properly to your client.

Step one: you must understand the service before you can sell the service.

Step two: you must know how to engage your client so that they realize what they are investing in.

Step three: you have to market your service to the proper group.

I would say the majority of you (especially from Missouri) are stuck in the battle of fighting over idiot homebuyers with idiot home inspectors that think they need every home inspection that comes in the door.

Did your mother ever tell you that you are who you hang out with?
If you don’t remove yourself from the idiotic battle of the home inspector you become one.

[size=2]If you own the thermal camera, use it.
If you don’t charge for it, so what?
But don’t go out there advertising that you do thermal imaging for free. Just do it.

You charge what you’re worth. If you give it away for free, that’s exactly what you’re worth, zero!

The more you learn, the more experience you get, the better you become, the more money you should charge. Because I charge $2000 a day does not mean any camera owner out there is qualified to do so as well. Just because a thermal camera is capable of performing a certain application, it doesn’t mean you’re “qualified” to perform that application.

Go look at your website and see what it says. Are you really qualified to perform those alleged services? Why do you think you are?

[size=2]The more work you do, the more work you get.
The more work you do, the more experience you get, the more you get to charge.

If you need to ask how much you should charge, you should not be charging.
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