I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. I prefer C.D.'s to MP3's ( in fact I have still to download any music over the net!). I miss my Vic-20. I like older computers because their slower speed provides a pace that is some somehow just more comforting. I still marvel when I can take a little plastic box, push some buttons and make the television change channels! It's a man thing. I can control the television with a push of a button. My will is law ! 

So, here in the Home Inspection world, along comes the newest tool for investigation; the Infra Red imaging camera. This camera allows the inspector to take pictures that reveal the relative temperatures of surfaces in view. So, the inspector can produce a collection of pictures that show areas of possible heat loss. From this information the inspector can draw conclusions about what is going on behind walls, around windows, foundations, roofs etc etc. It provides a 'view' of what was previously hidden and allows the inspector to 'see' where he previously couldn't.

But here is the problem. Home inspectors carry out what is known as a 'visual inspection'. That means that the inspector can only report on conditions  he can observe. Any defect that is not directly observable ( visible ) cannot be reported. When you think of it, that makes sense as reporting on any area that cannot be seen is a guess at best. 

One would think that the I.R. camera neatly circumvents this problem by providing a view of the hidden area so that the inspector can now report on any faults found there. But ( and you knew that was coming!) there is a school of thought, especially amongst lawyers that the I.R. camera opens the inspector to all kinds of grief because he is now reporting conclusions based on an effect rather than an observed fact. That is, the camera has detected the effect ( cooler / hotter ) that has been caused by SOMETHING behind the now famous wall, rather than a fact ( the wall is wet ) It is a slippery slope. If the inspector is able to draw conclusions from a detected effect then why didn't this new second site detect . . . . . . .  ?

I'm an old fashioned kind of guy and I am weighing the pros and cons of this new  I.R. technology In the mean time I have to go and assert my dominance over the television