Inspection Process and Options

The simple fact is that most RVs have problems whether they are new or used. And even if you buy a new RV or an extended warranty, it's often a challenge to get repairs completed in a timely manner and get reimbursed for the expense. Your best defense to avoid getting stuck with a very expensive mistake is a thorough, QUALIFIED inspection by a certified NRVIA inspector. We've invested the time and expense of obtaining this training and certification at NRVTA because we prefer to help you avoid costly repairs for the price of an inspection, than to have you call us later to fix them at many times that price.

An NRVIA Premier Inspection will take us a full day to complete and then additional hours to document fully in a downloadable report you will have full access to. We utilize Homegauage.com which is the same app many "brix and sticks" home inspectors utilize to complete their inspections. In addition to the final report, you can customize a punch list to download and send to the current owner of issues found and what you'd like done about them. You can ask for them to be repaired, taken off the price, leave them alone but wanted to let them know... etc.

• We'll start with a short call to understand your interests, needs, criteria, and priorities for purchasing the type of RV you are considering. We'll collect specific information like the Make, Model, Floorplan, and the VIN number if we can get it. Get owner contact and address info for where to find it. And share our requirements for performing a full inspection.
• We'll send you an inspection agreement to sign online as well as the points of inspection document. Once signed we'll send an email from Homegauge confirming the inspection date and time with you.
• We'll need the RV systems fully capable. That means fuel in the tank for a motorhome, enough to run the generator, shore power, access to city water, waste dump, propane, room for slideouts, and room to move around the RV and put up a ladder to access the roof. Most dealerships can facilitate this and some private sellers. For those who can't we'll ask to have the unit set up at a local campground with full hookup booked for a 2 night stay to allow a full day to perform the inspection. We are unable to perform significant parts of the inspection without the ability to test these systems.
• We'll research the RV you are interested in to be prepared for the specific appliances and systems we will encounter before arriving for the inspection.
• During the inspection we will complete all of the items listed in the NRVIA Standard of Practice that we can safely evaluate given the individual circumstances of the location and unit inspected. https://nrvia.org/about/standards-of-practice/
• We will take hundreds of pictures, at least 80 of which will be included in the final report.
• We will categorize our findings as "Life Safety Issue", "Major", "Minor", or Informational "Comment".
• We will provide the report to you only, not the current owner, and will not share any information about our findings with the current owner except for 2 conditions.

If you actually are the current owner who's having us inspect your rig preemptively.

Life safety issues will always be disclosed to the current owner.

• We will attempt to delivery your report within 24 hours of completing the inspection in most cases or as soon as possible in some circumstances.
• We will then schedule a followup call with you to go through the report findings, answer any questions you have, and make sure you have everything you need to make an informed decision about the unit inspected.
• We follow the NRVIA's Code of Ethics that assures you get a fair and unbiased inspection. That means that there are some things people often ask that we cannot do in order to fulfill that code of ethics. We cannot tell you "buy it" or "don't buy it". That's going to be your subjective decision. We cannot charge for repairs on any unit we've inspected for one year ourselves and we can't put a dollar cost on any issues we report. We can give you some options for qualified RVTAA techs who can.
• You can rely on the category of issues to get an idea of how much work may go into repairing them. A "Major" issue likely takes a lot of costly work and "Minor" issue may takes less. Life Safety Issues may be costly or not depending on what is found. For example a propane leak could have a wide range of cost to find and repair where an expired fire extinguisher may be relatively inexpensive to replace.
• When it's all said and done you will be well informed to make a buying decision and go into price negotiations fully armed with everything you need to know.