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SB 326 Balcony Inspections

High Compliments From an HOA Client

It is always nice to get unsolicited compliments from our clients and the one that we received yesterday from Joseph in Los Angeles is very appreciated.

We try very hard to bring the best in service and stay on top of current trends in the industry to make sure our clients get the very best advice that we can give.

If your HOA needs help in coordinating SB 326 balcony inspections with licensed independent structural engineers, roof consulting or building envelope water intrusion issues, let me help you. Reach out today for a free discussion on what William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC can bring to the table in value for your community.

From an HOA client in Los Angeles, we sincerely appreciate the compliments!
SB 326 Balcony Inspections

In Somber Remembrance of The Tenth Anniversary of the Berkeley Balcony Tragedy

A chilling tragedy at Library Gardens in Berkeley occurred ten years ago today, June 16th, 2015 when a deck collapsed with thirteen people on it, killing seven people and leaving six people permanently injured. This is why we inspect.

Take a moment to remember the victims of Berkeley who lost their lives that terrible night on June 16th 2015 – Ashley Donohoe, Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai “Nick” Schuster, Lorcán Miller, Eimear Walsh and Aoife Beary and the survivors, who remain permanently injured, Clodagh Cogley, Seán Fahey, Conor Flynn, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Hannah Waters.

This should never have happened, yet it did. Poor construction practices and in my opinion outright negligence caused this accident..

In somber remembrance of the victims of the Berkeley balcony tragedy, we want to remind everyone that this is accident is why we inspect. This can never happen again, this is why SB326 and SB721 are now in effect. As professional inspectors, we take our duty to save lives and property very seriously.

Please get your decks inspected, the life you save could be your own.

Quality Assurance Observations, Roof Inspections and Consulting

How A Building Envelope Consultant Can Add Value to Your Residential Building Project

Long term leaks into this building has destroyed the framing behind the siding and because it is so rotted, the siding doesn’t have anything left to be attached.

As building envelope consultants we are often hired to determine where why and how a roof, siding or windows are leaking. After doing destructive testing and finding what caused the problem, it’s often an installer error that created the problem. Yes sometimes it’s defective waterproofing products, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

For architects and their home building clients, one way to ensure that the building envelope is going to perform correctly for it’s expected life span is to hire a waterproofing consultant to review the architects building envelope details, and to perform quality assurance inspections while the building is being dried in. Drying in a building entails roofs, below grade waterproofing, building paper over the plywood covered walls, window and door flashing for example. All of these need to be installed in a sequence to work together for the building to remain leak free.

Whether you are building tract homes, commercial/residential, condos or a spec home, a small add to the project budget to include a waterproofing consultant to assist in keeping your project leak free is a good investment. Consider the costs when a building does leak; there’s investigative costs, loss of use, possible mold claims, expensive repairs and everyone is aggravated.

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is here to help you with making your building project a success. Reach out today for a discussion on how we can help bring value to your project.

Uncategorized

May Is Deck Safety Month, Get Your Deck Inspected for Only $200, Regularly $350

Thousands of Decks Are Over 20 Years Old & May Be Unsafe Take Advantage of Our May is Deck Safety Month Inspection Price of $200, a Savings of $150 off the Regular Price

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – April 27, 2025 – PRLog — William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is San Luis Obispo County’s premier deck inspection company. Having inspected thousands of decks over the last 20 years for Homeowner Associations, apartments and homeowners, we know that decks can be a second living area during the spring summer and fall. We want people to enjoy their decks and know that their deck is safe to use all year round.

With the average age of decks approaching 20-25 years, the risk of collapse or failure increases dramatically as they age. The North American Deck & Railing Association (NADRA) says between 2000 & 2008, at least 30 people lost their lives as a direct result of a deck collapses, and more than 75% of people on a deck when it collapses are seriously injured. The Berkeley balcony collapse in 2015 killed 7 people and left 6 others with lifelong injuries after a deck fell off a building, sending the victims 40 feet to the sidewalk below.

Decks can and do present hazards to people who use them; old decks can have rotted wood, rickety railings and rusting fasteners that can fail when the deck is loaded with people. Bill Leys, President of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC says that deck collapses are not uncommon, and happen frequently when the deck is loaded with people, especially when there’s a party or special occasion and crowds gather on the deck.

For the month of May, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is offering homeowners of single family homes a special low price to inspect their deck for only $200, a discount of $150 off the regular price of $350 to inspect the deck attached to the home. William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC checks and inspects over 25 various parts and pieces of a deck during a typical inspection.

“Saving one person from death or serious injury is well worth the regular price of $350, and at a low fee of

$200, we are making deck inspections affordable for everyone.” says Leys. The deck inspection fee is valid for homeowners and tenants of single family homes only, and excludes inspections for real estate transactions, inspections under SB 721 and SB 326 for apartments and condo’s. This inspection special is good for the entire month of May during NADRA’s annual Deck Safety Month.

Call Bill Leys at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC today at 805-801-2380 or visit our website at http://www.SB326DeckInspectors.com for more information and to schedule an appointment. The company accepts cash, checks and Venmo payments.

Contact

Bill Leys

leyswaterproofingconsultants@gmail.com

805-801-2380


Articles & Videos

Check Out Our YouTube Videos Here

We just wanted to send you to our articles and videos page to check out the videos from our YouTube channel!

http://sb326deckinspectors.com/articles-powerpoint-presentations-by-bill-leys/

Here are a couple of our most popular vids. Leave a comment and subscribe to our channel!

Learn about how deck drains and scuppers should be installed and why it’s important to counter flash scuppers on the exterior walls.
Learn about ember resistant vents for balconies. Soffits + crawl spaces
Here we discuss who can perform inspections and who must write and sign the report for sb326.
Poor workmanship doomed this new addition with intrusion, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to restore the waterproofing. 

Quality Assurance Observations

A Roofing Contractor Messes Up, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Helps Client Get It Fixed

A Low Slope Roof Installation Went Awry When The Contractor Deviated From The Manufacturers Installation Instructions

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Steps in to Assist The Building Owner Get the Work Corrected

A recent consult job that we had for a client who just had a new low slope roof installed on their building showed the reason that building owners should consider hiring a quality assurance inspector to ensure that the roof is installed right the first time and doesn’t have to be done over.

A client reached out to us who just had a new roof installed on their building. They had concerns about the workmanship and requested our assistance to inspect the job and document the problems with the installation. A low slope roof with a single ply TPO membrane had multiple issues with the installation.

Improper Termination of Membrane at Skylight
Improper Termination of Membrane at Door Threshold
Improper Weld is Open
Numerous Low Spots From Improper Slope on Roof
Improper Termination of Membrane at Roof To Wall
Improper Termination of Membrane Into Roof Drain
Vent Boot Not Caulked or Clamped

As you can see from the photo gallery we found  numerous problems with the installation. We wrote a detailed report for the client who then was able to go to the contractor and ask them to make corrections to their work. The city building department refused to sign off on the permit for the roof because of the poor workmanship and the client threatened to complain to the Contractors State License Board if the contractor did not step up and replace and repair his poor work.

Continue reading A Roofing Contractor Messes Up, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Helps Client Get It Fixed →
Deck Inspections, SB 326 Balcony Inspections, Uncategorized

Protect Your HOA, Insist That any Company Bidding Your SB326 Inspection Signs This Certification Guarantee

If you have been following our blog for any time now you know that we have been railing against the practice that is roiling the inspection industry where unethical inspection companies are using Engineers or Architects to robo sign reports that they have written after they have done the inspection. Sb326 clearly requires a licensed architect or engineer to perform the inspection however some companies are trying to deliberately circumvent that requirement and are using contracted labor to do the inspection instead of an architect or engineer.

We made up this form that you should ask your inspection company to fill out and certify/attest that their inspections follow the letter of the law and that a architect or engineer shall be performing the inspection.

Continue reading Protect Your HOA, Insist That any Company Bidding Your SB326 Inspection Signs This Certification Guarantee →
SB 326 Balcony Inspections

SB326 & The Board of Directors Fiduciary Duties To Act In the Best Interests of the Association

Fiduciary duty is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as a “duty obligating a fiduciary as an agent or trustee to act with loyalty and honesty in a manner consistent with the best interest of the beneficiary of the fiduciary relationship as a principal or trust beneficiary.”

CAI’ magazine “Common Ground” has a very good article in their March April issue on fiduciary duty. Quoting from the article Bob Diamond, senior council at Reed Smith in McLean Virginia says”the essence of fiduciary duty is to act in the best interests of those who you serve. A director must put aside personal considerations when making decisions on behalf of the owners.”

Rotting wood on a deck.

When it comes to SB326 and fiduciary duty the duty of the board is to carry out the inspections as required by law regardless of cost or a lack of  money in the associations accounts to pay for it. A lack of knowledge or understanding about SB326 will not be a legal defense or at least won’t be a strong defense to not carry out an inspection of the common area Exterior Elevated Elements in my non legal opinion.

Continue reading SB326 & The Board of Directors Fiduciary Duties To Act In the Best Interests of the Association →
Deck Inspections, SB 326 Balcony Inspections, SB 721 Inspections

Balcony Collapses After SB326 Balcony Inspection Bill Deadline Passes, SB721 Apartment Inspection Bill Was Extended

Balcony collapses in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles CA. Fortunately only minor injuries.



I have questions.
Was this a condo or an apartment?
Was an SB326 or SB721 inspection done and what were the findings?
Who did the inspection if it was inspected?
If it wasn’t inspected, why not? SB326 required inspections to be done by January 1, 2025 and SB721 was extended a year until January 1, 2026.
Did a landlord/property manager delay the inspection if it was an apartment?
Did a board of directors delay an inspection despite the deadline?

All these questions need to be asked by ABC7 Los Angeles who reported this incident. ABC 7 please reach out to me and I will meet you on site today, Sunday Feb 16th to review the accident scene from the street. 805-801-2380 Bill Leys

Someone or someone’s will be getting sued.

Roof Inspections and Consulting

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Performs Roof Inspections of 110,000 SQ Foot Low Slope Roof on a Commercial Building in Los Angeles

We were recently retained to perform an evaluation of a large low slope roof on a manufacturing building in Los Angeles.

The seam is splitting where it overlaps one sheet to another.

The client is interested in installing solar panels on the roof and needed to know what the buildings roof condition was, and whether they should repair or replace the roof.

For a very reasonable fee we performed a visual inspection and wrote a report for the client.

Samples of roofing to examine.

Some of our findings were that the existing roof system was splitting at seams, that multiple unsuccessful repair attempts actually were making leaks worse, and that the numerous sunlights were starting to deteriorate and would need to be replaced in the near future.

Continue reading William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Performs Roof Inspections of 110,000 SQ Foot Low Slope Roof on a Commercial Building in Los Angeles →
Quality Assurance Observations

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC To Perform Quality Assurance Inspections for an HOA in the San Francisco Bay Area

We will be performing quality assurance inspections on this project in the East Bay.

We’re excited to announce that we were awarded the contract to perform quality assurance inspections for a large HOA reconstruction project in the East Bay area of San Francisco. The 100+ units in the HOA are leaking at the decks and resulted in damage to the exterior walls.

We will be performing periodic inspections of the weather resistant barriers (WRB’s) the installation of sliding doors and the waterproofing of the decks to ensure that they are being installed in accordance with the plans and specifications. This helps the Association ensure its money is being spent well on quality work and the materials are installed correctly that will last for their expected life spend and perform as intended.

Continue reading William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC To Perform Quality Assurance Inspections for an HOA in the San Francisco Bay Area →
SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Independent SB 326 Balcony Inspection Report Earns High Marks From a Recent Client

We recently completed making observations of the waterproofing systems during an SB 326 inspection for a client in Los Angeles where our independent structural engineer discovered several concerning issues with their decks. The client had no idea that these problems existed, and appreciated that we recognized the severity of the issues, which resulted in our having to immediately close several balconies from being used. Even though the news wasn’t exactly what they wanted to hear, after reading our report they sent us an email saying in part;

“The HOA appreciates the detailed feedback you and Eric provided as a result of your inspection on September 19th.” Joe B Los Angeles CA

The independent structural engineers report strictly adheres to the requirements set by SB 326, in which an engineer or architect must perform the inspection themselves. We write a supplemental report related to the waterproofing, which is appended to our structural engineers report who is reporting on the structural components of the EEE’s.

One thing clients seem to like in particular is markups on the inspection photo’s we include in our report. It makes it easy for them to “see” the issues we see.

Time is running out for the inspection deadline date, but don’t worry, we can make your inspection happen before Jan 1 if you act now and call us at 805-801-2380 to get started with a free estimate on your inspection.

SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Using Humorous Memes To Get Our Message Out- Protect Your HOA from Unethical SB326 Inspectors Who Own Waterproofing/Contracting Companies

Is humor the best way to market our SB326 inspection coordination services? Viral memes seem to resonate with people these days so it’s worth a shot.

If you need a SB326 inspection you need to vet your inspector thoroughly. Are they independent and free of conflicts of interest? Any inspection company that owns a waterproofing or contracting company is not free of conflicts of interest.

We’ve seen multiple clients coming to us with SB326 reports in hand that were written by contractors, signed off on by an engineer who didn’t actually inspect the EEEs and the report is written to favor the contractor who now uses that report to extort HOAs reserve funds.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC we guarantee in writing that we have no conflicts of interest. We don’t own a waterproofing or contracting company, we hire an independent licensed structural engineer who writes the report and we write a supplemental waterproofing report that is appended to the engineers report.

Call today, time is running out for getting your inspection done before the deadline. 805-801-2380 ask for Bill.

SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Article Written by Adrian Chiang Esq Leaves Zero Doubt About Who Can Inspect EEEs Under SB 326

This past week I got my quarterly issue of Channels Of Communication from the Channel Islands Cheaper of CAI. I was very excited to see that Adrian Chang of Swedelson Gottlieb had written an article on SB 326.

The article references who can inspect association balconies and other EEEs under SB326. Attorney Chiang lays it out with this answer to his own question,

“Who inspects the EEEs and what to expect?“


“A licensed architect or civil or structural engineer* must perform the work.

Continue reading Article Written by Adrian Chiang Esq Leaves Zero Doubt About Who Can Inspect EEEs Under SB 326 →
SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Bill Leys Discusses SB 326

Watch this video where Bill Leys discusses some if the problems SB326 has and how Associations can protect themselves from the loopholes in the bill.

One of the first things to do when qualifying your balcony inspector is to ask if they own or are employed by any contractor, Waterproofing or general contractor… And if they answer yes… Well Bill has some advice for you and you’ll just have to watch to see what to do.

See what Bill has to say!