CERTIFIED BUILDING INSPECTORS
About us
Why CBI? We're celebrating over 37 Years & 90,000 Inspections in Central Florida • The South's Oldest, Largest, Locally Owned & Operated Inspection Firm • Licensed Inspectors (Home, Termite, Mold & Radon) by the State of Florida • Founding Member of ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) • Founding Member of FABI (Florida Association of Building Inspectors) • Member of the ICC (International Code Council) • Member of NACHI (National Association of Certified Home Inspectors) • Better Business Bureau Accredited with an A+ Rating – Since 1986 • Can fulfill all New Construction access requirements • Realtor Lock Box - Supra Key Access upon request • Flexible scheduling. Evening and weekend appointments available. • Inspections scheduled by phone or online, usually within 24 ot 48 hours. Furthermore, to ensure a timely closing, our sister companies offer: Certified Termite and Pest Services • Termite inspections (WDO) • Termite treatments w/ damage guarantee's • Full-service pests control Certified Building Inspectors also provide Environmental Property Audits • Mold assessments • Radon testing • Infrared discovery
Business highlights
Services we offer
FHA / 203k / HUD, Home inspections (Residential & Commercial), Infrared inspections, Insurance / 4-Point, Mold Assessments, Radon Gas Testing, Termite Inspections (WDO), Wind Mitigation
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 87% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 0% |
"Thank you for your feedback. Although our fees may be slightly higher than other companies, our expertise and experience in Central Florida is unsurpassed. We have completed over 90,000 inspections and have over 37 years experience in the industry. Our inspectors continually stay abreast of changes in the industry as well as new standards required by insurance underwriters to keep our clients informed. Many inspection firms include items that are not needed for all homes and charge an overall higher fee. We beleive that our clients should only pay for items they need. That is why we separate out the various types of inspections such as Wind Mitigations, Four Point Insurance letters, WDO (termite) reports, InfraRed camera images, Mold, Radon reports."
They did a very great job for me. They cut some stuffs that most people will not do, they are very professional, they were showing up on time, and they knew what they were doing. I got an inspection quite about many years, and I had never head about inspection again.
"Thank you for your review. We value Angie's List customers and are very pleased when everything goes as planned. Pre-purchase home inspections (or refinance inspections) and four point insurance letters are our customer's greatest defense against discovering hidden items that may be costly down the road."
"Whether it is new construction or an existing home, Certified Building Inspectors has strived for over 37 years to give our customers the most information regarding the current condition of the home. Suprises after closing are not fun and can be very costly. We help to minimize your frustration before your close. Thank you for your comments."
"Thank you for your kind words. We appreciate when our customers take the time to give us a review (for better or worse.) We understand that when clients live out of state, we become their eyes & ears for the real estate transaction before they buy. We take this responsibility very seriously and strive to give our clients an accurate picture of the current condition of the home they are purchasing."
The report was a voluminous account (24 pages with pictures!) that was completed within 3 days. Everything he had observed and spoken about with us was included in the report. He was meticulous in the details, but what I appreciated the most was his honesty. He described what were minor issues and what was major, without talking us into or out of buying the home- just giving us his professional opinion so that we were well informed to make our own decision. Be aware that if you hire a company recommended by your realtor, they have every incentive to give you a "good" report so the realtor will continue to recommend them. When you arrange for your own inspection report, the inspector's loyalty is to you- not the bank, and not the realtor who is trying to make commission. This company is not cheap, but they are professional, organized, detailed, prompt, and HONEST. This is everything we were looking for and were more than happy to pay a little extra up front to know what we could be getting ourselves into.
Overall, this is a great company and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a true account
on the condition of a home.
We also had the termite inspection done by Steve. He was also a pleasure to deal with though we didn't spend as much time with him as we did Rick.
Both Rick and Steve were friendly, knowledgable, and professional.
My neighbor noticed my awful roof and contacted me right away about the shingles being layered the wrong way. If this guy noticed, how come a trained inspector didn't.
There were visible damage that he missed and I'm very sorry to say his approval gave us a false sense of confidence. Now I have to spend thousand to fix the roofing problem.
Next day (Tuesday), I received a call at exactly 1:58pm EST, it was James the inspector who left a voicemail explaining that he was at the property but no one was there to give him access to it. As soon as I heard this message I knew something was wrong because I knew for a fact that the seller was waiting there to give him access. Also on the voicemail there is a long pause while James tries to read the address and he fails to mentioned the last part of the address. At 2:09pm EST I called James back who didn't pick up, I left him a voicemail asking to please call me back, that there must be a mistake because there was someone at the property. I told him I was out of town and that my realtor was handling the inspection process, to please let me know if he still didn't have access. I also called my realtor who had no idea what had happened and who explained that the seller said no one showed up. James never called me back, so about 45 min later my realtor tells me that he called CBI and a man that answered the phone was extremely rude, unapologetic and claims that James, the inspector, was at the right location and that a woman came out to tell him that she didn't have time and that she was going to lunch so he left. What? Sorry but that is a lie as his recording clearly shows that he missed a part of the address and he clearly said that there was no one there. Also there is no woman that lives in the house, the seller and the realtor are both men. They knew I was out of town so that leaves the only possibility that the inspector made a mistake and was in fact in a different property. The inspector obviously knew my name,so he did know the partic so if a woman told him to reschedule, a
Now, Im not a demanding customer at all, I understand that mistakes happen and this mistake is completely understandable because there is another townhome in the same complex with a very similar address. So similar, that the first time we got there my realtor made the same mistake. However, I cannot understand why the inspector would 1) Not pick up the phone 9 minutes into the scheduled appointment time when I called. 2) Not call the CBI office directly and double check to make sure he had the right place. 3) Not call my realtor directly who was the specified contact as I was out of town. 4) Leave for his "next" appointment in daytona when he is just a few minutes into my scheduled inspection time instead of waiting to resolve the issue. 5) Leave a voicemail on my phone claiming there is no one there and then have an excuse to say a woman told him she was leaving. 6) Not admit to his mistake and simply apologize.
My realtor spent the whole afternoon trying to get this issue fixed, the seller was very upset as he had taken time off to be there as well and the inspector never once called me back to explain what happened or even apologize for the situation and neither did the CBI office. I checked all the documentation again and the correct address is listed in all communications with CBI. Finally, my realtor was able to reschedule the appointment for next day (wednesday) at 10:30. The inspection was done without a problem and I checked around 8:00 pm that same day to see if the report had been posted but there was nothing yet. I know they said within 24 hrs so I didnt think it was a big deal. Thursday morning, around 9:15 I called CBI to make sure I have the right login information, Laura gave me the info again always very polite and friendly. I tried to access the report...nothing, again. I called Laura at 10:12am to ask if the report has been submitted and after a couple of minutes she informs me that James has not submitted the report yet! I understand there is still some time however, James' mistake already delayed us a whole extra day and now he hasn't even submitted the report, extremely frustrating! I would think that he would try to have that report as soon as possible to make up for his mistake but of course that must not be one of his priorities. Anyway, Laura asked me to please give them until 1:00pm. At 1:30 I called again to tell them that the report isn't there yet, and I reiterated to them that I need it ASAP as it is our last day of the inspection period. Finally at 2:10pm they email me the report but bear in mind that no one called me to even let me know it was ready, after they knew I had been waiting for it.
I wish I could give this company a higher rating but it just doesn't deserve it. If the mistake had been made and quickly corrected, I would have still given them a solid B taking into consideration the delay. Instead they chose to argue that the inspector was at the right place and fail to acknowledge any responsibility. The only person that apologized to me was Laura, who was patient and professional.The way this inspector handled this issue was very unprofessional; Not calling back when only a few minutes had passed , not checking for the right address, not acknowledging that it was his mistake and leaving within a couple of minutes turned this into a bigger problem than it was. If the office wants to continue to claim that he was at the right address they are free to give me a call and I will send them a copy of the voicemail where he clearly says a different address and the fact that there is no one there. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this company.
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I want to add as a response to CBI's reply below that the other address ending in circle is NOT listed for sale and has not been listed for sale in months. In fact, a quick search would tell you that specific property was listed for rent recently. Maybe the women was thinking of selling it but it has definitely not been listed. Also I'm not sure why the inspector wouldn't ask her name as he clearly knew my name so he could realize he was not speaking to the person who scheduled the inspection to begin with and verify her name with the information provided to CBI. I did ask the office to please give me a call when the report was ready since I had been waiting for it all morning. Overall, I appreciate your apology and just to be clear my realtor, who recommended this company, did say he has never had a problem with CBI before.
"Certified Building Inspectors has, for over 37 years, strived for customer satisfaction in each and every inspection we complete. Unfortunately, we are not always perfect. Although we completely understand your frustration, the problems you listed could have been avoided had the Realtor mentioned that there were two properties in the same community, with the same address (except one is Place and one is Circle), both FOR SALE at the same time. Similar to your first experience going to this home and finding out it was the wrong address, our inspector also arrived at a property with the same address (thinking it to be the property listed on the ticket) and was greeted at the door by a woman leaving for work, who said that the home was FOR SALE, but no one told her about an inspection, so she told James to leave and reschedule. Our inspectors do not have any information about the particulars of a listing (sellers, tenants, realtors, etc.), so there would be no evidence to indicate that he was at the wrong address. James did follow protocol and called the client, the Realtor, and the office. The Realtor was not at the inspection (he was in a closing until 2:30) and was not returning James’ or the Office’s calls at 2:00 pm. When the realtor did call at 2:45, I personally placed him on hold while I called James, but by this time James was already in Daytona Beach and could not return to the property until the next day. After several additional calls from the realtor to the sellers and back to us, we were able to reschedule for 10:30 am the next day. I do not ever recall being rude to the realtor during these several phone calls. We tried very hard to accommodate the realtor’s and seller’s schedule. After completing the inspection on Wednesday, we provided the report the next business day, which is our standard practice. We typically do not phone the client to tell them their report is ready (unless specific instructions to do so are given.) We post all of our inspection reports on our website to be downloaded by the client (and/or the realtor.) It is no longer a standard practice to send reports via email (again, unless specifically requested), because of the size of the reports with pictures tends to bog down email servers. We do apologize for all the miscommunication. I don't know why James did not receive your voicemail at 2:09 pm. He may have been on the phone with the office or leaving a message with the realtor. It certainly would have changed the outcome of the day's events. Also, ensuring that the buyer's realtor is present at the time of the inspection is vitally important if the client is not going to attend. In this case, he was not there to immediately correct the problem with the two similar addresses."
If you have out buildings and want them inspected however make sure they are included, I did not so my garages did not get inspected fully, however he did check the electrical into the garages so that is a plus for me!
Mr Capps was a personable individual and willing to answer questions.
"New construction has some very different challenges that are not present in an existing home. In a pre-drywall inspection, we look at the building plans to ensure that permits have been signed off from the building departments, work is completed according to the building plans, and look for any obvious deficiencies in workmanship that normally would be covered up after drywall is installed. In our Final Inspection, we look for areas that the Builders miss. Not only do we look at the major components of the home (Roof, Electrical, Plumbing and A/C), but we also make sure the cabinets are hung properly, carpet and tiles are square and even ensure the clean-up and paint trim is complete. We provide our clients with a punch list of areas to bring to their "Final Walk-through" so these areas can be remedied before the final closing. Thank you for your comments."
Licensing
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FAQ
Contact Information
160 CIRCLE DR, Maitland, FL 32751
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