If you work as a home inspector, you've likely either purchased a digital camera or opted to use your smartphone camera to document each residence that you visit. Clients who hire home inspectors want to see numerous photos in their post-inspection reports, making your digital camera or smartphone camera an essential piece of gear. There are other devices that you should consider using, however, including a body camera. Body cameras attach with ease to your chest or elsewhere on your body and record continuous video footage throughout your visit to each home. Here are three reasons that a home inspector should wear a body camera.
Inspection Footage
Even though you'll take dozens of photos during the inspection to share with your clients, it can be useful to have a video of the entire inspection. A client who takes an active interest in the inspection will appreciate being able to view the footage and hear your commentary as you move throughout the residence. In the event that your report fails to feature a photo of a specific area, you can show the client the body camera's footage to see the area in question.
Liability Issues
Home inspectors often face dangerous situations on the job. For example, you might climb into an attic to assess its condition, or you might even go on a home's roof to look at the shingles or the chimney. Wearing a body camera while you're on the job can provide valuable evidence in the event that you sustain an injury. Even if you're careful, injuries can occur. For example, you might fall off the roof. Should you have to take legal action against the homeowner, your body camera footage will be valuable to show the circumstances of your injury. The footage can demonstrate that your injury was legitimate, rather than staged.
Future Training
Capturing videos of your home inspections with a body camera can be valuable for future training sessions. If you intend to eventually build your company by hiring some additional home inspectors, you'll want to familiarize them with how you do your work. It will be easy for you to show them clips that you've captured with your body camera to help them understand what you expect of them when they handle their own inspections. This can be instrumental in ensuring that they approach each inspection in the same way that you do.
Check out an online retailer that offers products like home inspector body cameras to learn about your options.