Building Inspections Blog
The City of Berkeley is updating their BESO (Building Emission Saving Ordinance) program, and the changes will be effective January 1, 2026. This is a summary of the changes that sellers and Realtors need to keep in mind. Time of Listing Previously, BESO required a Home Energy Score at time of sale, but the seller [...]
Monday's magnitude 4.3 earthquake in Berkeley was a literal wakeup call for many, but could it also serve as a figurative wakeup call? The cluster of small aftershocks after the Monday morning quake have cause some to worry that they could portend "The Big One." The most recent large earthquake on the Hayward Fault was [...]
You may have heard the term "egress window" bandied about in regards to bedrooms, but what exactly is an egress window? Think of egress as the opposite on ingress (meaning enter) so egress means exit. I don't know about you, but most people exit bedrooms by using the door - unless you are a teenager [...]
This might seem like a simple question, but it can often be a point of contention, especially when listing a home for sale, since many buyers are looking for a minimum number of bedrooms and bathrooms in the home they purchase. Surprisingly, the California Residential Code does not define the term bedroom, and uses the [...]
With the turmoil in the California insurance industry, some companies have started to require something new: a "4-Point" inspection. They can be required when applying for insurance and sometimes to renew an existing policy. 4-Point inspections have been around for many years, originally starting in hurricane prone Florida in the 1990s, and have since become [...]
The days are getting colder and fall is in the air. Are you ready for winter? While the Bay Area doesn't get snow, most of our rain falls between November and March, and last year should be a reminder that even California winters can be pretty wet! Are you ready for the rain? Gutter Maintenance [...]
On March 15, 2023 the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted amendments to "Regulation 9" that will prohibit the installation of water heaters and furnaces that emit NOx, which will effectively ban the installation of gas water heaters and furnaces, starting in 2027. What is BAAQMD? The Bay Area Air Quality Management District [...]
You may be hearing more about heat pumps recently, so we've decided to make a short video to help describe what they are, and how they work. Click on the image below to check out the video.
Keeping water out of your home is one of the most important ways to prevent damage to your structure and belongings. However, that's easier said than done, especially for buildings in older neighborhoods, where proper site grading was not a priority decades ago. So here are the steps, in order of priority, to address site [...]
Home hardening and defensible space are the two main strategies used to protect your home from wildfire. While defensible space addresses the vegetation around the structure - home hardening addresses the structure itself - and "hardens" it against the heat and embers of a wildfire. Most people understand the need to protect a home from [...]
