Everything we get asked, in one place.

No. Inspections are performed by accredited NRCIA members: independent professionals who have trained to the standard, signed the Code and hold the credential for the work. NRCIA sets the standard and holds them to it.

Start from what is happening. If you need a certificate for a sale, that is LeakFREE®. If something is leaking and you want to know why, or somebody disagrees about why it failed, that is forensic work. If weather came through, start with a storm inspection. If a letter says your balconies or decks must be inspected, that is the California page.

The request form asks the same questions and points you to the right inspection.

The member sets the fee, and it is written into the agreement you sign before the visit. The request form shows an estimate as you describe the property, and the inspector confirms it with you before anything is booked.

Search the member directory. Every member is listed with the credentials they hold and the area they serve.

Tell us. Complaints go through a documented process, and a violation of the Code can lead to corrective action, suspension or loss of accreditation.

No. It is not a guarantee and it is not insurance. It is a written statement by the inspector that the roof met the published LeakFREE® criteria on the date they inspected it.

The accredited member who performed the inspection, in their own name and under licence from NRCIA. A business does not issue certificates; the individual inspector does.

The report documents the items that must be corrected. Once they are, the roof can be inspected again.

A general home inspection looks at the whole house and gives the roof a share of the visit. A LeakFREE® inspection is about the roof system alone, worked zone by zone, and it includes walking the roof. Neither is wrong. They are different services.

No. The report does not assign legal liability or fault, interpret a policy or decide coverage. It establishes what happened to the roof and why, so that the people who do make those decisions are working from evidence.

Expert testimony is arranged under a separate agreement. Whether someone qualifies as an expert witness is decided by the court, case by case. NRCIA accreditation documents training and method; it does not make anyone an expert in the eyes of a court.

A leak investigation finds where the water is getting in and recommends the remedy. When the question is who is responsible for it, or why a roof that should not be leaking is, that is forensic work.

In forensic work the designation is part of the testimony. A documented method, a published standard and a signed conflict-of-interest disclosure are what make a finding hard to set aside.

StormCHECK™ documents what the storm did, usually before or independent of a claim. A claim inspection determines the proximate cause of the damage behind an existing claim, and is usually retained by the carrier.

Neither. They document what the evidence shows. That neutrality is the reason the finding is worth reading, whoever reads it.

Coverage is between you and your carrier, and the inspector does not decide it or advocate for it. What they give you is an accurate record of the damage and, for a claim inspection, what caused it.

Remove any emergency tarps before the inspector arrives, or they will be recorded as a limitation on what could be seen. Make sure the inspector can reach the attic and the property safely.

We are not the right source for that. Whether a building is covered, when its deadline falls and who may sign its report depend on the statute and the building, and are questions for your counsel. We can connect you with members trained for the inspection.

No, and we do not claim otherwise. E3GUARD™ accreditation documents training and method. It does not confer or replace any state licence, and some categories of this work require a licensed architect or engineer.

No. A LeakFREE® deck inspection assesses a deck against the LeakFREE® deck criteria. It does not substitute for an SB 721 or SB 326 inspection.

That depends on what you do with it. An Accreditation you never bill against is an expense. One you use turns a single roof into five billable services and an annual return visit, and it authorizes you to issue a LeakFREE® certification, which nobody outside NRCIA can do.

Each program is an annual membership. RoofGUARD™ is $4,499 a year, E3GUARD™ is $3,999 a year and ForensicGUARD™ is $5,999 a year. You pay after NRCIA accepts your application, and your twelve-month term starts the day you enroll.

RoofGUARD™ and E3GUARD™ are direct entry. ForensicGUARD™ requires 12 consecutive months as an active Certified Roof Inspector with 50 documented reports filed, or qualification under alternative eligibility: five years of demonstrated forensic or investigative experience, evaluation by an NRCIA Master Forensic Inspector, and approval at panel discretion.

Coverage is not exclusivity, and NRCIA does not grant territories. A dense area tells you the work is there and that clients in that market already know what the credential means. A thin area tells you the demand is unserved. Both are reasons to apply. They are just different arguments.

No. Payment does not constitute acceptance. Every application goes through document verification, background disclosure review and ethics execution before Accreditation is confirmed. The review exists to protect the standard, which is the reason the designation carries weight.

Yes, and they are an entry requirement rather than an afterthought. Members remain responsible for every license, registration, certification, permit, insurance, training and qualification requirement that applies to their services and their jurisdictions. NRCIA Accreditation sits alongside those obligations. It does not replace them.

That depends on what you do with it. An Accreditation you never bill against is an expense. One you use turns a single roof into five billable services and an annual return visit, and it authorizes you to issue a LeakFREE® certification, which nobody outside NRCIA can do.

Training takes about two weeks. You start working on approval.

No. Payment does not constitute acceptance. Every application goes through document verification, background disclosure review and ethics execution before Accreditation is confirmed. The review exists to protect the standard, which is the reason the designation carries weight.

Yes, and they are an entry requirement rather than an afterthought. Members remain responsible for every license, registration, certification, permit, insurance, training and qualification requirement that applies to their services and their jurisdictions. NRCIA Accreditation sits alongside those obligations. It does not replace them.

E3GUARD™ accredits you to the NRCIA inspection standard and documents your competency against it. It is not a state license and does not confer statutory authority.

California specifies who may perform each category of exterior elevated element inspection, and those requirements differ by statute and property type. Some categories require a licensed architect or engineer. You remain responsible for confirming that you hold whatever your jurisdiction requires before accepting statutory work. Take the qualification question to your own counsel, not to a marketing page.

Yes. E3GUARD™ requires no prior NRCIA program. You still complete NRCIA training and carry the insurance, the bond and the ethics execution that every member carries.

Only through alternative eligibility, and only at panel discretion. That route requires five years of demonstrated forensic or investigative experience plus evaluation by an NRCIA Master Forensic Inspector. Meeting the stated criteria makes you eligible to be reviewed. It does not entitle you to admission, and the panel can decline.

For most applicants the standard route is the more certain one: RoofGUARD™, twelve consecutive active months, fifty filed reports, then ForensicGUARD™.

No. Expert qualification is determined by the court, case by case, against that court's standard. What ForensicGUARD™ provides is a documented Accreditation, a published standard your work was performed against, a verifiable designation and a filed record of your inspection history. Those are the materials qualification is argued from. The determination is not ours to make.

Fifty inspection reports filed through your member portal as an active Certified Roof Inspector, across the twelve consecutive qualifying months. The portal tracks the count as you work, so you can see where you stand at any point rather than reconstructing it later.

Yes, and the errors and omissions requirement carries more weight in forensic work than anywhere else in the association. Members remain responsible for every license, registration, certification, permit, insurance, training and qualification requirement that applies to their services and their jurisdictions. Accreditation sits alongside those obligations, never in place of them.

A general home inspection looks at the whole house and gives the roof a share of the visit. An NRCIA inspection is about the roof system alone, worked zone by zone, and it includes walking the roof. Neither is wrong. They are different services, and the roof is usually the most expensive item on the list.

NRCIA sells no roofs and no repairs, and every member signs a conflict-of-interest disclosure. Some members are also roofers; if yours is, ask them how they keep the two jobs separate. Their report keeps what they observed apart from what they recommend, so you can judge both.

The member sets the fee and it is written into the agreement you sign before the visit. Our request form shows an estimate as you describe the house.

Before the listing goes live, where you can. The roof then becomes a known quantity that is priced in, rather than a surprise that is negotiated over.

Search the member directory. Every member is listed with the credentials they hold and the area they serve.

It is prepared for the client who commissioned it. Anyone they share it with can read the findings and reach their own conclusions.

No. A planning report gives a board a written picture of its roofs for its own planning. It is not a compliance inspection, and it does not decide what the association will approve.

Members who hold the E3GUARD™ California tracks inspect exterior elevated elements. Whether a building is covered and when its deadline falls are questions for the statute and your counsel.

Because it is what lets one report be read against another. A roof graded by one inspector’s habits cannot be compared with a roof graded by someone else’s.

Either side. A claim inspection is usually retained by the carrier, and a StormCHECK™ inspection is usually commissioned by the policyholder. The report is prepared for whoever retained it, and the finding does not change with who that is.

No. The inspector does not interpret the policy, determine coverage or set a loss amount. They establish what happened to the roof, so the people who make those decisions are working from evidence.

It is a different tool. A desk review works from photographs and documents already gathered, and its findings can be no more complete than what it is given. It suits a thin file better than a contested one.

Expert testimony is arranged under a separate agreement. Whether someone qualifies as an expert is decided by the court, case by case. NRCIA accreditation documents training and method; it does not make anyone an expert in the eyes of a court.

No. The report does not assign legal liability or fault, interpret insurance policies or give legal opinions. It establishes what happened to the roof and why.

The standard inspection is non-invasive. Destructive testing, laboratory analysis and engineering are arranged separately, when the question requires them.

Neither side. The inspector documents what the evidence shows, and the report keeps observation apart from conclusion so both of you can test it.

Yes. Builders and general contractors commission verification and defect work, as owners and associations do. The report is prepared for whoever commissions it.