Photographing and documenting construction defects

The time has come. After saving for years, you chose a contractor and began major renovation work in the apartment, whether to update its look and modernize the interior, add rooms, or run a TAMA 38 project as part of earthquake protection.

Then the long-awaited day arrives: the contractor hands over the keys and tells you the apartment is ready to move back into, renovated and looking good.
A few days later, the neighbor below you complains about leaks from your roof, or winter arrives and you start finding leaks of your own, or cracks in the walls.

There is no worse feeling than discovering construction faults after handover, especially once you have already paid the contractor with money you spent years saving. So what do you do? How do you bring a claim against the contractor to cover the damage, or at least get the required repairs carried out?

This article explains how a professional home inspection (bedek bayit) company can help: it comes to the site, carries out a thorough and meticulous inspection of the apartment, and delivers a detailed report specifying the construction defects and other problems in the contractor's work.

How home inspection companies photograph and document defects

This is one of the situations a home inspection company is built for. Home inspection companies are, in fact, the right solution for an apartment inspection for almost any purpose. The most common use is before buying a resale apartment: the company examines the apartment's condition and infrastructure and reports to the buyer, before the purchase, on the renovations or repairs it needs before signing the contract.

That step alone can save a buyer real money and a lot of unnecessary trouble if the inspection turns up construction defects.
Back to the frustrating scenario we opened with: a home inspection gives you a comprehensive report written by licensed professionals from the relevant construction fields, including precise, detailed photographs of every defect found during a full inspection of the contractor's work.

With that report in hand, spelling out exactly where the contractor's work was faulty or non-standard, you can go to a lawyer to represent you in a claim against the contractor from a position of strength: the photographs make the shoddy work simple, effective and clear to prove in court.

Do not treat the photography lightly. Use a professional home inspection company so the work is done properly, illustrating the various construction defects as precisely as possible through the photographs it takes on site.