We’re pleased to announce that we have been retained to perform an investigation on a leaking tiled deck on an estate property in Santa Barbara CA.
A deck at the home has had a history of leaks, leading to damage to ceiling finishes and walls below.
An estate home in Santa Barbara is the subject of our next leak investigation.
The property owner found us after doing a search for a deck waterproofing expert online. We’ll be investigating the leak with visual observations, borescope camera and moisture meters to determine the path of the leak back to its source(s) and write a report after examining the plans, specifications and drawings and comparing the as-built deck to the design intent.
With a history of being able to solve problems and determine responsibility as to what trade may be responsible, our latest client is confident in our abilities to help him recover damages from the appropriate trades that created the defect.
If your building is leaking, call William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, the leak investigation experts in California at 805-801-2380. Let’s discuss your situation and see how we can help you!
We diagnose the problem and then write a “prescription” to help make your leak problem go away!
Our Updated Logo Reflects Our Role Coordinating SB 326 Inspections
At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we believe that an HOA board should understand exactly who it is hiring, what services each professional will provide, and who is responsible for the engineering judgments required as part of an SB 326 inspection.
Recently, correspondence from the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG) gave us an opportunity to take a closer look at how we described our SB 326 services on our website and in our proposals.
We took that opportunity seriously.
The result is a clearer and more transparent description of our role, the role of the licensed structural engineering firm performing the engineering services, and how the different parts of an SB 326 project are coordinated for our clients.
Why We Made Changes
SB 326 projects can involve several different disciplines.
There is an important distinction between waterproofing and building-envelope consulting, project coordination, and the professional engineering services that California law reserves for appropriately licensed professionals.
Although we understood those distinctions in practice, the Board’s correspondence caused us to examine whether they were communicated clearly enough in our marketing and contractual documents.
We concluded that we could do better.
Rather than simply changing a few words, we reviewed our website and proposal language with the goal of making the relationship easier for an HOA board, community manager, or building owner to understand before retaining us.
Clearly Identifying Who Performs the Engineering Work
One of the most important changes is greater clarity about the licensed engineering firm’s role.
William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is a waterproofing consulting and project-coordination company. We do not represent ourselves as a licensed engineering firm.
When professional engineering services are required for an SB 326 project, those services are performed by the licensed engineering firm identified for the project.
That distinction is now stated more clearly in our materials.
The engineer is responsible for the engineering observations, professional opinions, determinations, and engineering report within the engineer’s scope of services. The engineering report is prepared and signed or sealed as required by the licensed professional responsible for that work.
Our role is separately described so clients can understand the services William Leys Waterproofing Consultants provides.
What William Leys Waterproofing Consultants Brings to the Project
Our expertise is rooted in waterproofing.
We have been inspecting decks and evaluating waterproofing conditions since 2007. That field experience gives us a practical understanding of how exterior elevated elements are constructed, how waterproofing systems deteriorate, where water commonly enters assemblies, and how seemingly minor waterproofing defects can contribute to much larger problems.
On an SB 326 project, our work may include project coordination, documentation, communication with the client and engineering firm, waterproofing-related observations and consulting, and coordination of other services within our agreed scope.
But experience with waterproofing does not turn a waterproofing consultant into an engineer.
We believe clients deserve to understand that distinction.
Transparency Should Start Before the Contract Is Signed
An HOA board should not have to decipher a website or proposal to figure out who will actually perform the professional services being offered.
Our revised approach is intended to answer those questions upfront.
Before retaining us, a prospective client should be able to understand:
– who the client is contracting with; – what William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is responsible for; – which services will be performed by a licensed engineering firm; – who is responsible for professional engineering judgments and the engineering report; – what services are included in the proposed scope; and – what additional investigation or services may be recommended if conditions discovered during the project warrant them.
We believe this level of clarity is good for everyone involved.
Taking Regulatory Guidance Seriously
Businesses sometimes view questions from a regulatory agency as something to fight or minimize.
We chose a different approach.
The Board’s correspondence gave us a reason to review how we communicated our services and ask a straightforward question:
Could an HOA board reading our website or proposal misunderstand who is performing the engineering services?
Where we believed the answer could possibly be yes, we changed the language.
That process has resulted in materials that we believe more accurately describe the respective roles of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants and the licensed engineering professionals involved in an SB 326 project.
Experience and Professional Licensure Are Different Things
California’s SB 326 inspection requirements exist for an important reason: exterior elevated elements can present serious safety concerns when deterioration is allowed to progress unnoticed.
A successful inspection program therefore benefits from both professional engineering judgment and practical knowledge of waterproofing systems and the conditions that cause them to fail.
Those are complementary areas of expertise, but they are not interchangeable.
Our goal is not to blur that distinction. It is to make it clear.
A Better Process for Our Clients
We believe the changes prompted by the Board’s correspondence have made our company better.
Our website is clearer. Our proposals are clearer. The responsibilities of the participants are better defined. And prospective clients receive more information about the structure of the engagement before deciding whether to hire us.
For an HOA board making decisions involving building safety, association funds, and long-term maintenance obligations, transparency shouldn’t be an afterthought.
It should be part of the inspection process from the beginning.
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Questions About an SB 326 Project?
William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC provides waterproofing consulting and SB 326 project-coordination services for homeowners associations and building owners throughout California.
If your association is preparing for an SB 326 inspection or trying to understand the condition of its exterior elevated elements and waterproofing systems, contact us to discuss the project, our scope of services, and the role of the licensed engineering professionals involved.
Correspondence from the Board of Engineers has led to our developing a clearer and more transparent description of our role, the role of the licensed structural engineering firm performing the engineering services, and how the different parts of an SB 326 project are coordinated for our clients on our website and social media as well as our proposals. Our clients know…
Does your inspection company have 1099 contractors using Pogo sticks to perform your balcony inspection? This might be a little exaggerated, but the point is, a cheap inspection is a cheap inspection. Hiring the wrong inspectors could cost your HOA dearly. Read on…
Not actual footage of a deck inspection company doing SB326 inspections, but it seems that this method is used in many cases. Blurry photographs, unclear reports, inspections done by 1099 contractors, that low fee for a Stage 1 SB 326 inspection is a loss leader that turns into sky-high engineering and repair fees.
There are still quite a few HOAs out there that haven’t had a balcony inspection done yet. Many are smaller, self managed HOAs that haven’t heard of SB326. These smaller associations are easy prey for unsavory unethical inspection companies that need to feed their never ending high overhead.
By offering ridiculously low initial inspection fees, they Hoover up the unsuspecting HOAs into their pipeline. Once the HOA is in their grasp, they ratchet up the pressure on them; saying you have deck problems and the City is going to fine you $500 a day if you don’t immediately comply… And then they tell you that you need their engineering services, which might be true, although often times it’s not.
This is where the cheap bid the company gave you turns into a high cost engineering job, often costing thousands more than what ethical firms charge. Don’t fall for low fees; all it means is there won’t be an engineer present doing the inspection. That low fee, that’s hundreds or thousands less than legitimate engineers and waterproofing experts fees means there’s going to be a guy on a Pogo stick getting paid $280 a day (we have the help-wanted ads to prove it!) to bounce around your HOA going as fast as he can. He’s probably received very little training, has zero experience in actually building, waterproofing or inspecting decks, yet some people believe that the inspection is just as good as the experts inspections are.
At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we coordinate the independent engineering company to perform are dedicated to providing the very best inspection possible. We know that inspections save lives, protect property and more importantly, reduce liability for the HOA, the HOAs insurance company and the management company.
Bill Leys has performed hundreds of SB 326 waterproofing observations since 2020, and with our independent structural engineer, provides peace of mind to our clients.
Call us today for a free conversation about how we inspect, why we’re better and why your HOA is in good hands with us! Call 805-801-2380 today!
As deck inspection experts who concentrate on SB 326 waterproofing observations for condos, we see a lot of defects in our line of work.
This week was no different, at an inspection we performed with our independent engineer our engineer found numerous railings that were structurally compromised. The wood railings on 16 decks were assembled using nails to fasten the stiles to the railing frame.
Engineers don’t like nails for fastening structural railings meant to prevent falls from the deck. In the past, nails were the method most often used, whereas today structural screws are required. At this property the engineer checks the railings by pushing on them and with a light kick at the bottom. To our horror, the engineer discovered numerous railing stiles were not able to withstand a light kick without pushing out with the nails.
Watch our 30 second video to understand the importance of checking railings for safety.
Hidden railing dangers found by our independent structural engineer.
Our biggest fear is that a child leaning against the railing stiles might fall if the nails fastening the stiles pull out of the wood rail bottom piece. With these decks over the concrete driveway and being 14′ high on the lower deck and 24′ tall on the upper deck, any fall from that height would probably have fatal consequences.
This discovery highlights why HOAs need to hire the best qualified inspection company instead of the least expensive company. Yeah the cheap company, if they missed these defective railings and an accident happened, would get sued. Small comfort for the victim if they were seriously injured or killed.
At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we are very thorough in our waterproofing observations. Our independent structural engineer is an expert at finding structural issues.
Call us today for a free conversation on how we can help you with getting the most thorough inspection at a competitive cost. Call Bill Leys at 805-801-2380.
The answer in short is no, all inspection companies are not the same. Here is an explanation on why inspection companies are not at all equal in experience, ethics and in following the balcony bill requirements.
The SB 326 balcony inspection bill failed to ban inspectors from owning construction companies and failed to ban inspectors who own waterproofing and construction companies from bidding on jobs they inspected, so unscrupulous individuals are popping up to take advantage of unsuspecting and unknowledgeable consumers.
Without a doubt, during your Google search you are bound to come across deck inspection companies advertising on the world wide web which are run by individuals who opened a deck inspection company to take unfair advantage of HOAs despite their contractors licenses having complaint disclosures listed on their license for such offenses such as failing to complete work for the price quoted in their contract, taking a deposit in excess of $1,000, hiring unlicensed sub contractors and departing from trade standards.
We personally know of one deck inspector/deck inspection company who is under active investigation by the Board of Engineers for practicing engineering without an engineering license. That investigation was opened in July 2025 and remains active today.
We were recently hired to do a follow-up inspection at a condo in the Los Angeles area. The client, an individual homeowner, had serious concerns about the report the association received from Dr Balcony. Their concerns began when the inspection was done, saying that a person showed up, said they weren’t licensed but that “someone” who was a licensed architect would review their photographs and information before signing the report.
We got a copy of the Dr Balcony report and reviewed it before we did our own inspection. (Please note our inspection was not an SB326 inspection.) Many of the photographs in the report were blurry and weren’t marked up to identify a defect that supposedly was in the photograph (we mark up all our photographs to show you exactly what defect we found) and the report was difficult to read. We completely agree with our client, I’ve read more than a few reports from other companies and Dr Balcony’s report is a tough read. Defect codes that are for their internal use confuse readers, information on an EEE are in different places and many photographs are of irrelevant subjects.
An example of that is Dr Balcony inspectors seem to obsess over code issues that SB 326 doesn’t require us to concern ourselves with. (We do check railing heights & railing stiles and note that they may not meet current code, same with stairs, but these aren’t noted as defects, rather we advise that the HOA may wish to address these in the futureand that your insurance company may require upgrading in order to renew a policy).
Recently one of our clients who we have a proposal out with to perform their deck inspections under SB326 reached out with some follow-up questions. They wanted to know if we were going to use a boroscope camera and if we were “certified deck inspectors”. Our answer is no, we are not “certified”. Allow me to explain.
A quick search on Google showed us that there are several companies that advertise they are “certified deck inspectors”. Diving deeper, it seems all these unscrupulous inspection companies claiming they are certified inspectors are directly affiliated or owned by contractors. By claiming they are “certified inspectors” they seek to elevate their bonafides by saying they’re something that doesn’t exist in the SB326/SB721 inspection field. Continuing our search, the legitimate companies that we compete with make no such claim that they are certified. They make statements that they are architects or engineers, which is readily confirmed via the Board of Engineers and Board of Architects.
We’re pleased to announce that we were awarded the contract to coordinate a SB 326 inspection for a condominium complex on Pacific Street in Santa Monica. The three story building with decks stairs and walkways requiring inspection received several bids from competitors.
The Board after reviewing the bids and each firms credentials, selected our bid over the others, citing that our bid included a guarantee that a licensed independent structural engineer will personally inspect the EEEs, that we don’t perform repairs and that our inspection team’s bonafides gave them the confidence in awarding the job to William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC.
These walkways and stairs are EEEs as defined in SB 326 and will be inspected by the best inspection team in the industry.
Of course it might also have helped that the Associations Board has an engineer serving as president and recognized that qualifications matter. Our independent structural engineer is an award winning engineer with years of experience doing structural inspections.
Termed controversial by one well known attorney in the HOA industry, Bill pulls no punches when it comes to seeing what’s going on and calling out the grifters that flooded the inspection market. We’ve made multiple complaints to state agencies, pissing off the bad apples, been sued to shut us up by POS pretend deck inspectors who use the bill to sucker HOAs into expensive repairs, we’re going to remain controversial and wear that label as a badge of pride.
Watch our video on our thoughts on CLACs plans to fix SB326. We’ve seen so many issues, from insurance companies denying associations insurance coverage if they have structural issues with their EEEs, to banks denying buyers mortgages on condos with EEE issues to the grifters plaguing the balcony inspection industry using the bill to literally steal from HOAs.
While on a property in Orange county I made this short video on why we walk properties before e give an HOA a bid on coordinating their SB 326 inspection.
Watch our short video as I explain why I want to walk your HOA before bidding your SB 326 inspection.
Setting the Bar in Coordinating SB 326 Inspections With Independent Structural Engineering Experts & Waterproofing Experts With No Conflicts of Interest
Call 805-801-2380 Coordinating SB 326 EEE Inspections Since 2020 * Waterproofing Consultants * Leak Investigations 