Montreal and Eastern Townships Home Inspections

What to expect from a building inspection?

Buying a home in Montreal can be the largest and most important investment of your life. This is why it is important to be well prepared for this purchase and to avoid any unfortunate surprises. A pre-purchase building inspection is a very important step of the acquisition process. The main goal of an inspection is to identify any major defect that can diminish the overall pleasure or value of the building or that might represent a security risk to the occupants.

The pre-purchase inspection will detail the condition of the building at the moment of the inspection and to visually identify any defect or irregularity caused by normal wear and tear or a construction defect. The inspection will also serve as a repair to-do list if the customer decides to purchase the property.

The inspector will observe and comment on all the visible systems and accessible components of the building so that the customer can make an informed decision as to the purchase of the property.

The main areas covered during the inspection are:

Exterior: Siding, foundation, windows, doors, balconies and lot grading

Roof: Type and materials, structure, ventilation and exterior of chimneys

Attic: Structure, insulation, ventilation

Main systems: Plumbing, electricity, heating, air conditioning, hot water tank, air exchanger, etc.

Interior: All of the rooms; doors, windows, electricity, plumbing, stairs, floors walls, ceilings, etc.

Security: Balcony and stair railing, smoke detectors, electrical, etc

Our inspections are performed following the guidelines established by the QABI (Québec Association of Building Inspectors).

The inspection process will last an average of 2 to 3 hours. The customer is invited to join in the process so that he can interact with the inspector at all stages of the inspection. A binder, filled with relevant and useful material is given to the customer at the beginning of the inspection. Among others, it contains a seasonal maintenance checklist, and a CMHC (Central Housing and Mortgage Corporation) home maintenance repair manual. The inspection is completed with the delivery of a written report including pictures sent to the customers email address within 24 hours. A printed version in colour is sent by mail a few days following.