Tag Archives: coachella valley deck inspection

SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Don’t Take the Bait

I keep seeing some firms offering 20% off a competitors lower price to steal the deck inspection job away.

That should not inspire confidence in their capabilities as inspectors, in fact it should cause your board concern.

We allow ample time to perform the on-site balcony inspections, giving ourselves the ability to really stop and review EEEs that raise our suspicions that something maybe ain’t right as we say in these parts lol. This method has proven to us over and over that careful Inspections take time and by taking our time, we often find hidden problems that a cursory inspection would miss.

Your balcony inspection is not something you should take lightly; there’s a lot of liability and if something goes awry, selecting the wrong deck inspector company with a contract that heavily favors them with clauses that excludes them for their errors and omissions will cause your HOA to assume liability.

I’ve heard of one company that has a forty page contract; ours is nine for comparison. A forty page contract sounds like a nightmare that no average consumer can reasonably understand in my opinion.

Don’t rush to the conclusion that all balcony inspection companies are the same; they aren’t.  Let us show you why we are setting the bar in performing #SB326 inspections in Southern California. Reach out for a free proposal and a conversation on how we approach this critical inspection with you.

Deck Inspections

A Video Message In Time To Help Keep Your Thanksgiving Safe!

Watch this quick video about using fire pits, turkey fryers and grills on combustible decks… To ruin the plot line, do not use turkey, fryers, fire pits or grills on any decks.

Please be safe this Thanksgiving holiday and don’t grill, use a fire pit or fry the turkey on your deck!

SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Santa Monica Condo Board Selects William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to Perform Their SB 326 Inspection

We’re pleased to announce that we were awarded the contract to perform 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 our 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 engineer is an award winning structural engineer with years of experience doing structural inspections.

Don’t leave your critical inspections to the lowest priced inspection company, there’s too much risk in thinking all inspectors are the same. They are not.

Our team has a waterproofing expert with over 20 years of experience in waterproofing and inspections. We guarantee in writing that an engineer will perform the inspection personally and that we don’t bid on any repairs as it’s a conflict of interest. Call today and ask for Bill Leys 805-801-2380.

We aren’t the biggest inspection company, but we are rated highly by our clients and peers as being one of the most diligent.

SB 326 Balcony Inspections

What Are the Biggest Red Flags  Consumers Should Look For When Hiring an  SB326 Deck Inspection Company?

Great question — SB326 inspections (balcony/deck inspections for multifamily housing in California) are a big deal, and unfortunately, not every company advertising them is legitimate. The biggest red flag consumers should watch for is:

🚩 If the company performing inspections also performs repairs.

Here’s why:

Conflict of interest – The law (SB326/SB721) was designed so that inspections are objective and not influenced by profit motives from repair work. If the same company inspects and repairs, they may be financially motivated to exaggerate problems or recommend unnecessary work.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC we guarantee in writing that we do not have any conflicts of interest. 

🚩 Compliance issues – The statute is clear: inspections must be done by a licensed architect, structural engineer, or a qualified building inspector who is not associated with a repair contractor. If someone is offering both, they may not be following the law.


Other red flags to watch for:

🚩No license disclosure (can’t prove they’re an architect, engineer, or building inspector). Who will be inspecting? An engineer or architect, or just some random people who may not be qualified in any way shape or form.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC we guarantee that a structural engineer that we partner with will perform the physical inspection. Some companies flirt with danger by hiring subcontractors who do the inspection, and then those companies have an engineer robo sign your report.

🚩 Low-ball pricing far below market rates — often a sign they’re using inspections as a “loss leader” to sell repair work.

This is exactly right, and that’s what they are doing. We’ve done second inspections for clients and they were very happy to learn that the repairs the other company said had to be done in an emergency basis was exaggerated.

🚩Vague or incomplete reports — a proper SB326 inspection requires documented findings, photographs, and repair recommendations (if needed).

🚩 High pressure sales tactics — pushing you to sign a repair contract right after the inspection.


👉 Bottom line: Choose an independent, inspection-only professional who has no stake in whether repairs are needed. That independence is what protects you and your HOA from unnecessary costs.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants, as our client, we only work in your best interests.

Reach out today to get a quote and see the difference in our professionalism, due diligence and expertise. This is why we’re known as the deck experts.

Deck Inspections, SB 326 Balcony Inspections, SB 721 Inspections

You Gotta Read the Fine Print! HOA’s Need to be Careful of Companies Advertising “Free” or “20% Off” Type Offers on Balcony Inspections

Many companies are offering deals that have hidden motives behind them. Before buying, you need to know what it’s really going to end up costing your HOA.

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC was recently contacted by a member of an HOA in Ventura County where that member had learned that his association’s Board of Directors were considering passing a special assessment in the range of 2 million dollars for repairs to balconies and stairs.

Information we got from the owner was that a large nationwide HOA reconstruction firm told the HOA that they had 13 emergency repairs and 300+ non emergency repairs to do and the budget was apx 2 million dollars for this work.

The resident also learned that this nationwide HOA reconstruction firm had waived the $41,000+/- Stage 1 inspection fee provided they were given the repair work. We believe that to be highly unethical and so does that owner. We provided a letter of opinion that the association could self finance the non emergency repairs over a period of several years, taking on a couple buildings at a time to make repairs.

We’re also seeing  companies now advertising “free inspections” and “20% off” specials. With all of these offers, there is always fine print, and fine print never benefits the consumer. If you’re going to buy into these offers, make sure your legal counsel is protecting your interests by reviewing their contract before you sign.

One thing these companies have in common is that they are larger firms with a lot of overhead and with the slowdown of inspection requests coming in they need to churn business. Due to the other services that we offer, we are staying busy with work that they don’t offer such as construction monitoring and building envelope inspections.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we provide upfront honest bids on SB326 inspections. We strictly follow SB 326 requirements by guaranteeing that an engineer is physically present at the inspection and inspecting the structural elements. We have competitive prices that are straightforward without fine print in our contract. We have a waterproofing expert who writes the waterproofing report which is then appended to the engineers sealed and signed report.

Our strict ethical standards demand that we only inspect and report for the benefit of our clients, not ourselves. We believe that inspectors should not be bidding on repairs.

Reach out today for a discussion on how we can assist you with your balcony inspection requirements. Call us at 805-801-2380

Download our free inspection certificate and ask every inspection company you are considering hiring to sign it. This will rapidly separate the legitimate inspection companies to the top when the contractors who also inspect don’t want to sign it.

Inspection Certificate-1Download
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.

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 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 a 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.

LICENSED GENERAL CONTRACTORS are not authorized by this new law to perform the EEEs inspections to comply with Civil Code § 5551.”

This statement confirms our opinion that a contractor cannot perform the inspection. A contractor, in our opinion ( not a legal opinion) may accompany an engineer or architect and perform a waterproofing inspection and write a supplemental waterproofing condition report that is attached to the engineers report.

You can read the article here at Swedelson Gottlieb’s blog.

At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC we work with an award winning structural engineering firm that performs the structural inspection and we write a supplemental waterproofing report on the waterproofing elements. Our report is appended to the engineers report which is sealed and signed by the engineer of record.

If your report is not done by an engineer or architect, in it likely does not meet SB326 requirements and you may be the victim of fraud. Inquire with your attorney.

The substrate is checked with an awl in what we call a pick test. Soft wood is easily found with this method.
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!
SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Follow Us! We’re Now On YouTube!

Yes it’s true, we have a YouTube channel that we will be bringing educational content too.

Our first video discusses who can inspect EEEs under SB326, what warning signs to watch for when considering inspectors and why William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is a great choice for your inspections.

Be sure to subscribe to our channel and comments are always welcome!