Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/515025
Because well inspection reports should be a statement of a professional opinion presented to a prospective home buyer— without regard to whether or not the sale of the real estate is actually consummated—it should not be contingent upon the escrow closing. This means the well inspector should be paid when they deliver their report to the client, like many home inspectors. This presents a challenge if water quality sampling is part of the inspection and the testing results are not yet back from a laboratory. Getting paid by the buyer at the time of the inspection re- quires the well inspector to have the ability to write, print, and deliver the full report along with an invoice on site. It can also require the contractor to have the ability to take credit cards in the field or over the phone. The American Society of Home Inspectors has stated wait- ing to be paid until after or at closing is a violation of their code of ethics. Water well inspectors have no such society to prepare a code of ethics at the present time. But my question is: Since we are performing similar functions for the same client, shouldn't we be held to the same ethical standards regarding payment for our services? In my opinion, inspectors should not inspect a water well under any contingency or financial arrangement whereby payment or compensation is dependent on the sale of the property—as might be implied by being paid at closing. The ethical issue is: Should a well inspector require payment in full at the time his or her report is delivered? The correct answer for me is yes. Another potential ethical issue for well inspectors is when they have firsthand knowledge of the quality of the water coming from a given well, when they are inspecting the same well for a second time or inspecting a nearby water well. For instance, say a well inspector has collected a water sample from a well and the results come back the water tested high in a particular constituent. The well inspector reported this to a prospective buyer and that buyer decided not to purchase that property because of this constituent. If a short time later another prospective buyer asks the same well inspector to inspect and sample the same well, is the well inspector obligated to report the previous water quality findings to this second buyer? The correct answer for me is "yes"—he or she is required to report their knowledge of any previous water quality testing results. I think a contractor should also be obligated to dis- close if they had previously worked on the well being in- spected. A water well contractor/inspector should be bound to the same high standards of ethics as a realtor. And if in doubt, I say disclose, disclose, disclose. Preparing a well inspection report requires maintaining a delicate balance of observing, measuring, and evaluating— then putting down in writing the workings of a complex struc- ture often poorly understood by the people who receive the report (buyer, agent, lender, underwriter, and the seller). If the report is not objective and accurately representative of the true condition of the well and delivery system, then a well inspec- tor could be challenged and taken to task—or even to court— for a misrepresentation or for missing a critical fault about the well. The standard of performance for a written opinion about a water well system is more like what groundwater scientists do than water well contracting. Well inspection reports are not contracting in the sense it's not well drilling or pump installa- tion. Most legal interpretations would classify it as consulting, similar to home inspecting. Water well contractors who per- form well inspection should therefore have professional liabil- ity insurance for their own protection. Until all states recognize inspecting water wells is just as important as inspecting the roof, the foundation, and the septic tank, water well contractors will have to walk a narrow path between their contracting work and their consulting services. There are potholes on both sides of this narrow path. Water well contractors need to see them in time so they can be avoided. Get the Best Suggested Practice on Well Inspections The National Ground Water Association's best suggested practices are designed to aid groundwater professionals at industry job sites. They are not standards but practices that have been demonstrated to show superior results. Go to www.NGWA.org to see the one on water well system inspection. It details parameters, inspection, and more. WWJ WWJ June 2015 13 Twitter @WaterWellJournl Gary L. Hix, RG, CWD/PI, is a registered professional geologist in Arizona, a Certified Well Driller/Pump Installer by the National Ground Water Association, and a Certified Professional Geologist by the American Institute of Professional Geologists. He has authored many articles on subjects related to well drilling issues for Water Well Journal. He can be reached at gary.hix@cox.net.