We’re still trying to get more information, a balcony collapsed in Hawaii with 7 people on it. The balcony appears to have only been nailed to the building from what we can see.
As seen here, the deck appears to have fallen off the building. It appears to have been nailed into the building instead of bolted. An inspection probably would have caught that flaw. Photo used under the fair use doctrine for education.
This is why inspections matter! The 11th anniversary of Berkeley was two days ago, and here we are again, another collapse. For the people on this balcony, they were injured but they will all be going home from reports I’ve read.
Please schedule your inspection ASAP, if you are renting property either through Airbnb or long-term, protect yourself and your tenants with an inspection.
We serve San Luis Obispo County as well as Santa Barbara and Ventura County for deck inspections under SB326 and general inspections for rental and personal property.
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 coding 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 and our engineering team 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 inspections since 2020, and with his engineering partners, provides peace of mind with our comprehensive detailed inspections.
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!
I started up our company vehicle the other day, and on the dash popped up this warning “Maintenance Required”. We have a Toyota Tacoma, a vehicle that’s legendary for going 300,000+ miles or more. However the taco still needs maintenance, repairs and replacement of parts to get to 300,000 miles. Oil changes, flush the transmission, rotate the tires, a new battery. Take care of your Toyota™ and it will take care of you for years and years.
Why don’t buildings have this?
So I checked and sure enough it’s time for the next oil change. So easy, I don’t have to think about when it is time to change the oil, the vehicle tells me it’s time. And I wondered, why can’t buildings have this built into them? Unfortunately no one has figured out a way to have maintenance required warning signs pop up on a building, at least not yet.
However it’s important to remember that buildings do need required maintenance. Maintenance like roof inspections, cleaning out gutters, repainting, cleaning and repainting the decks,… Stuff like that plus more.
That’s why we here at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC are here; to tell you that your building needs maintenance. We offer various services such as roof inspections, deck inspections and building inspections. We do inspections so that you can schedule maintenance when it’s required.
Don’t let your valuable asset deteriorate, keep up on maintenance and inspections and your building will last and last. Call us today at 805-801-2380 for a free conversation about your buildings inspection needs and how we can help your building be the Toyota™ of the construction industry!
Bill Leys on the job inspecting the building for needed maintenance and repairs!
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.
President Bill Leys of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC recently attended a webinar presented by SGH on “Steep Slope Roofs in the WUI”.
The one hour AIA approved course discussed the additional requirements for roofs on homes and buildings in California’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) that increase a roofs resistance to ember storms which are one of the biggest causes of wildfires running unchecked through homes in vulnerable areas.
With this new knowledge and increased awareness of the challenges that homes face in the WUI, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is better prepared to assist our clients as their building envelope consultant.
Staying up to date on new requirements, products and technologies in construction is important and we are dedicated to increasing our knowledge so our clients can benefit.
Reach out today for a free discussion on what building envelope issues you may be experiencing and how we may be able to help.
Call today 805-801-2380.
Bill Leys performing quality assurance inspections at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto. When it comes to waterproofing buildings, clients reach out to William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to bring that dream to life! We do consulting quality assurance inspections and leak investigations.
We appreciate the outreach from so many people around the state who are appreciative of what we’re doing here at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC!
If you don’t trust your balcony inspection report, if your balcony inspection company is pressuring you to take out special assessments, if your balcony inspection company also does repairs, you need to reach out to us today to help you defend against unethical immoral tactics designed to separate your HOA from its money. We perform second opinion inspections that can help an HOA determining if they got a good report or not.
Call today, I answer the phone personally! Bill Leys 805-801-2380
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.
The other home inspector missed this “little” issue
A recent inspection we performed for a prospective buyer of a condominium in San Luis Obispo demonstrates perfectly, why you as a buyer need to have your own inspections done at your own cost. This particular inspection found many issues that were glossed over as simply needing patching and painting rather than complete replacement of major components such as windows, doors, decks and subflooring under a shower.
The seller had a pre sale inspection done at their expense and provided that report to the prospective buyer. He had questions and doubts about the report and reached out to us after searching for a waterproofing and building consultant.
Our inspection found that many items the other inspector glossed over in his report as needing “patching and painting” or minor repairs were far from the real situation which was that all the doors and windows were past their useable lifespan and needed to be completely replaced. We found dry-rotted framing on decks, open and exposed framing on columns, dry-rot in the substrate below a shower floor which requires the substrate to be replaced due to fungus infestations.
Even before William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC was formed, President Bill Leys has been assisting clients throughout California recover financial damages from contractors who caused construction defects that led to water intrusion and property damage. As an expert waterproofing consultant serving San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern and Los Angeles counties, we’ve helped clients recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past few years.
Our expertise in building technology and waterproofing methods, investigative skills and ability to document and report on the problems, the causes and suggested repairs needed have allowed our clients to convince the Contractors State License Board, the contractors at fault and their Bond companies to act. We’ve seen great success with the CSLB investigating complaints, contractors agreeing to repair defective work and have bond and insurance carriers pay on claims made by our clients.
Some recent success stories include helping a client in San Bernardino recover 5k+ in damages caused by faulty deck waterproofing work by a contractor from Palm Springs. Our investigation found that the contractors “expert witness” actually had business ventures with his client, leading to the Judge concluding the contractors witness had implicit bias in favor of his client. In other words, his testimony was rejected by the Court. Our client got a court order that the contractor had to remove a lien on their home and could not collect $5,000 they claimed our client owed.
No blocking between the old and new plywood is a defect that will cause any waterproofing to eventually fail.
Another success story found us assisting a client in Avila Beach whose recent kitchen addition was apparently leaking. Our investigation found windows were leaking from faulty installation, deck flashing that leaked from faulty installation and as a result of our testing and report, the client was able to successfully initiate a claim against the contractors general liability insurance and recover funds to repair their damages. The client made a confidential settlement with the insurance company for well over 6 figures.
Here’s why William Leys Waterproofing Consultants, LLC stands out as your best choice for balcony (SB-326) inspections:
What Makes Us the Ideal Choice
1. Strong Experience & Genuine Expertise
A deep background in waterproofing. Bill Leys brings more than two decades of hands-on experience, beginning in 2003 as a waterproofing contractor and working for a leading engineering/architect firm- Allana Buick & Bers in Palo Alto.
2. Trusted Bill has been a licensed deck waterproofing contractor since 2007, actively installing waterproof deck coatings across California for HOAs, apartment complexes, and residential projects. Hundreds of clients over the years have trusted Bill to waterproof their decks.
3. Extensive deck inspection history Since 2007, Bill has conducted deck inspections for HOAs, apartments, and real estate transactions—bringing 17+ years of field knowledge to each inspection.
4. Ethical Integrity & No Conflicts of Interest
5. Strict ethical standards We guarantee in writing that there are no conflicts of interest—we do not bid on repair work, nor are we tied to any alternative revenue streams.
6. Transparent and fair bidding Instead of pushing repair contracts, William Leys encourages clients to obtain three competitive bids, maintaining the free market and transparency.
7. Compliance with SB-326 Requirements
8. Engineer-led inspections We require that a licensed structural engineer be physically present during inspections—this ensures full compliance with SB-326, which mandates a qualified professional conduct the inspections.
Supplemental waterproofing reports While the structural engineer handles the official inspection and report, we provide a supplementary waterproofing report that is appended to the engineer’s sealed report—creating a comprehensive and technically rigorous report.
9. Comprehensive, Client-Focused Service
100% sampling on EEEs (Exterior Elevated Elements) Unlike some providers meeting only minimum statistical thresholds, we inspect 100% of all categories (decks, stairs, walkways), delivering a thorough, confidence-building evaluation.
Specialized for HOA needs Bill’s previous experience as a CMCA-certified HOA manager gives him insight into reserve studies, ongoing maintenance concerns, and association priorities.
Relevant geographic coverage Serving a wide area—from Paso Robles to Bakersfield, Orange County, and Palm Springs—we’re locally accessible and familiar with regional building conditions.
Insurance and protection We carry robust General Liability, Workers’ Compensation, and Errors & Omissions insurance—valuable safeguards for HOAs and associations.
10. Proven Reputation & Client Trust
Positive client feedback One HOA manager shared:
“I’ve received high praise from the Board that they really respect your findings and knowledge of the inspection process.”
Trusted repeat selection We’ve been chosen by multiple HOAs—such as in Santa Barbara and Palm Springs—because of our reliability, ethical stand, and expertise.
In Summary
Experience & Expertise 20+ years in waterproofing, licensed, deeply technical Ethical Integrity No repair bidding; transparent client-focused approach SB-326 Compliance Engineer on site; dual-report method for structural and waterproofing insights Thorough Service 100% EEE inspection; HOA management savvy; wide service area Client Trust & Reputation Praised by HOAs; chosen repeatedly for key projects
In short, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants excel through their blend of deep technical knowledge, unwavering ethics, regulatory compliance, and client-centric service. They provide both peace of mind and exceptional quality—making them a standout choice for balcony inspections under SB-326.
Reach out today for a free quote on your inspection.
SB 326 Deck Inspections & Building Envelope / Waterproofing Experts
SB 326 Deck Inspection Specialists * Building Waterproofing Consultants * Construction Defect Investigations By Bill Leys The Deck Expert 