Report Writing Fundamentals

Krishna Das Achath

Professional Engineer, CIEC

Brantley May

Building Scientist, Indoor Environmentalist

Layne Prince

Technical Writer
This course is designed to give you the skills to write an inspection report that is articulate, structured, objective, while mitigating litigation.
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Course Lessons

What's included?

  • 15 Detailed Videos
  • Spectora Report Template
  • Self-Assessment Quizzes
  • Expert Report Reviews

Become a Pro Inspector

The look, feel and delivery of your report is part of what defines you as an inspector. A higher quality report makes you a more valuable inspector, putting you above the rest.

Reduce the Confusion

Learn how to create detailed reports that minimize confusion and maximize communication. These types of skills will also help you mitigate liability.

What am I going to learn?

Outstanding pro tips for all things report writing.

Report Writing Basics

  • How to introduce yourself
  • Telling the story
  • Importance of grammar
  • The effectiveness of photos and media

Interpreting Data

  • Making difficult things simple
  • Presenting your lab results
  • Presenting your diagnostics
  • Presenting complicated measurements

Documentation

  • Avoiding litigation
  • Proper verbiage
  • How to stick to objective data
  • Creating repeatable claims
  • Quoting standards

Proper Structure

  • How to frame your report
  • Creating an effective template
  • Using media and tables.



Certification included

  • Certificate of Completion

    Approved 4-hour continuing education for:
    • ACAC: CRIE, CIE, CIEC
    • ACAC: CSMI, CMI, CMC
    • ACAC: CRMI
Guess what.

The deal just got sweeter.

We have partnered with Spectora. When you sign up to this course, Spectora will provide you with $100 off your new subscription to their world class report-writing software or $200 off your new subscription to their business package, where they can also help you build a website.

As a student of this course, you also get 10 free trial inspections before deciding to subscribe.
Meet the instructor

Brantley May

Brantley is a Building Scientist and Council-Certified Indoor Environmentalist with a specialty in Mycology and certified by the McCrone Research Institute for the examination and identification of fungal spores via microscopy.

Brantley is certified by the Building Performance Institute as a Building Analyst, Building Envelope Professional, and Infiltration and Duct Leakage Expert. Brantley also holds several certifications related to identifying Mycotoxins, Water Damage, Odor Control, Structural Drying, Infectious Disease Control, and Energy efficiency issues.

He is a certified curriculum creator and trainer of prep courses for the ACAC’s Mold Remediation and Indoor environmental certification exams and is currently a university student of Mechanical Engineering.
Patrick Jones - Course author
Meet the instructor

Krishna Das Achath

Krishna is a Professional Engineer with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He specializes in psychrometric and air pressure building forensics.

  • Registered Professional Engineer (FL PE 81966, TX PE 108442)
  • Certified Geo-Exchange Designer (CGD-In Traning)
  • CIEC (Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant)
  • CMRS (Certified Mold Remediation Supervisor)
  • State-licensed Mold Assessor and Continuing Education Provider
  • LEED AP
Patrick Jones - Course author
Meet the instructor

Layne Prince

Layne is a technical writer currently working in the HVAC and insurance industries. She has a B.A. in English with minors in Professional Education and Business Management and is particularly interested and trained in technical writing, grant writing, and copyediting.

She is the team lead for her technical writing department that specializes in complex and commercial equipment and uses her eye for detail to review colleagues’ reports before they are sent to clients.

As part of her own freelance business, she also edits and proofreads published works, such as textbooks, novels, short stories, and more.
Patrick Jones - Course author

Frequently asked questions

Do I need prior knowledge of the inspection services talked about in this course?

No! This course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of writing a good report. We may touch on topics from mold inspection, engineering, and environmental assessments, but we don't speak in detail about these concepts. You should have no problem going through this course, even as a novice. Those topics are reserved for our other course ;)

Does this class teach me how to write a protocol?

This class is solely designed to help you improve your overall report but does not dive into the details of how to write a mold remediation protocol. With that being said, this course will give you outstanding tools that you can apply to your recommendations and protocols. We should also note that the included report writing template for the Spectora software includes a framework for mold remediation protocols that will help you get started.

How long do I have access to the course content?

Once purchased, you will have 60 days to consume all the content in the course. The course is designed so that you can work on bits and pieces at a time or knock it out all at once! It's completely up to you.

What type of inspection service are we learning to write reports for?

This course mainly uses mold inspection and indoor environmental reports as examples for report writing. Still, these tools will carry with you no matter what type of report writing you do, including home inspections, engineering, environmental assessments, energy auditing, etc.

How do I receive my certificate?

Once all the course material is completed, a certificate will be automatically issued to you.

What Spectora offers are included with this course?

Spectora provides $100 off a subscription or $200 off their higher tier subscription when signing up for this course. ABSA students are also provided 10 free trial inspections to try out the software before requiring a subscription. ABSA also provides a fully developed, customizable mold inspection report template designed and curated by Brantley May, that can be uploaded for use with Spectora.

Is it possible to utilize the free mold inspection template with other software or word processing programs?

No. The mold inspection template is specifically designed for use with Spectora. The template includes graphs, drop downs, multiple areas of deficiency selections, etc. that cannot be converted for use with things such as Microsoft Word or the like. The file you receive is not readable until uploaded to Spectora. There, it will be converted to a Spectora template where you can fully customize the report.

How do I access my free Spectora stuff?

All Spectora promotional gifts will be provided at the bottom of the course content page.

How will I know how to use the included mold inspection template?

There are videos included in this course that walk you through the report template and each section within it. It teaches you the methods of using the template along with how to import the template.