Don't buy into the line that there is no standard for roof certification in California. The fact that there is a term for it means there is a standard.
The standard for roof certification in California is:
First, a licensed roofing contractor performs an inspection of the roof.
Second, from that inspection, a roof inspection report is delivered. It would point out things like the type of roof, degree of slope, approximate age, quality of installation, condition of components, structural defects etc. and most importantly whether or not the roof is certifiable.
The reason it is so important to have a licensed contractor perform the inspection is that the inspector is relied upon to assess any and all potential defects and so must be duly qualified to do so. A licensed roofing contractor has not only worked on but also managed numerous different types of roofing projects from beginning to end. He will be knowledgeable in all areas of the trade and his inspection should be informative, offering a prospective buyer a measure of protection from potential future pitfalls.
Normally if the roof is not certifiable in it's current condition, in the report the roof inspector will make any recommendations for repairs that would bring the roof's condition up to a certifiable state.
Once the repairs are completed, the roof certification is issued. A roof certification should cover the entire roof, but normally will not cover damages resulting from a roof leak(s).
It is not unusual to have certain items excluded from a roof certification. Normal exclusions would include things like:
Damage to the roof surface or lack of normal maintenance such as cleaning excessive amounts of debris, HVAC units etc. that's about it. Bear in mind that normally the inspector is only allowed to do a visual inspection of the roof's surface and cannot reasonably be held accountable for hidden defects.
This is where the range, quality and level of experience of the particular inspector really comes into play. For example, over the years I have seen literally thousands of cracks in roofs. Some are obviously roof leaks while some appear to be minor surface cracks, I know with certainty that if an ant or ants crawls out of a roof crack, that it has progressed all the way down to the structural wood. Without the years of field study it would just be an ant and I could name at least a hundred other such instances.
Eighty percent of the time when I arrive to do a roof repair estimate, I have already diagnosed the problem based on information the customer submitted while requesting the estimate, I am just there for confirmation.
I'm not bragging and I hope it doesn't sound like that, it took me 40 years to gain this knowledge. I am just pointing out that there is no comparison between us contractors who have actually paid our dues on the roof and all of these so called "roof inspectors" running around today.
So, don't be fooled into thinking that there is really any such thing as a "trained roof inspector" because for all practical purposes there is not.
Repairmen are not qualified roof inspectors.
"License quality repairmen" are worst of all because that is just a term someone made up to make them sound qualified.
Buying a home is already a daunting experience. When I bought my house I paid upwards of $1,000.00 for inspections because I knew the value of truly qualified inspectors, and still things got missed.
To all home buyers, do yourself a big favor and hire the best roof inspector you can find and make sure that the person who actually does the inspection is a licensed contractor.
www.roofdoctor1.com
