The WDI Report Review and Issue SOP

Purpose

A wood destroying insect (WDI) report leaves the shop once and is relied on by people the inspector never meets: a buyer deciding whether to close, a lender deciding whether to fund. The defects that turn into claims are rarely what the inspector missed in the crawlspace. They are a report that went out on the wrong form, with an obstruction nobody wrote down, a finding the graph contradicts, a remark that sounds like a guarantee, or an expired license number on the signature line. Every one of those is visible on paper before the report is sent. This procedure puts a second set of eyes and a fixed sequence between the inspector's draft and the agent's inbox, controls who receives the report and how, and keeps the file so the shop can produce exactly what it issued years later.

Scope

Covers every WDI report the shop issues for a real estate transaction or refinance, from the inspector's completed draft to delivery and filing, including amendments after issue.

Does not cover: performing the inspection, owned by 'Wood Destroying Insect Report Inspection'; what each section of the form means and commits the signer to, owned by 'The WDI Report Form, Section by Section'; drawing the graph, owned by 'How to Draw the WDI Inspection Graph'; treatment proposals arising from a finding, which are a separate sales document; and conducive conditions, recorded on the 'Moisture and Conducive Condition Report'.

Roles and responsibilities

Procedure

1. Intake: the package goes to the queue, complete. The inspector submits the draft report, the graph, the field notes and the photos together, and the office logs the time received and the closing or delivery deadline from the work order. Acceptance: all four items present and the deadline recorded; review starts the same business day, the shop default (tune it to your market). Wrong looks like a report emailed straight from the truck to the agent "because closing is tomorrow." Stop rule: a missing graph, notes or photos sends the package back to the inspector before review starts; nothing issues on a deadline alone. Hazard: none at this step, it is office work.

2. Confirm it is the right form, in its current version. The form is the form your state or the lender requires, and the work order says which. Acceptance: the form title and version on the draft match the current version published by your state lead agency, or the lender's form named on the work order. Wrong looks like last year's version of a state form, or the shop's general form used where the lender named a specific one. Stop rule: wrong form, the inspector transcribes onto the right form and signs that; the reviewer does not transcribe and leave the inspector's signature on a document the inspector never saw. Hazard: none, desk review.

3. Every field filled, or marked not applicable. Read the form top to bottom against the section-by-section card. Acceptance: no blank field anywhere; property, structures, dates, company and license fields complete; a field that does not apply says so. Wrong looks like a blank areas-not-inspected section, which reads as "I saw everything." Stop rule: any blank goes back to the inspector to complete; the reviewer does not fill in a field from memory or assumption. Hazard: none.

4. Obstructions on the report match the field record. Lay the field notes and photos beside the areas-not-inspected section and walk them together: every photo of a blocked crawl quadrant, a stacked garage wall or an insulated attic must have a matching line with location and reason. Acceptance: every obstruction in the notes or photos appears on the report, and every line on the report has its support in the notes. Wrong looks like a photo of boxes floor to ceiling in the garage and no mention of the garage wall. Stop rule: a mismatch returns the package to the inspector, who adds or corrects the line; if the inspector cannot say what was behind the obstruction, it stays recorded as not inspected. Hazard: none.

5. Findings, previous treatment and graph agree. Check that one of the no-evidence and evidence-observed boxes is checked and not both, that each finding names an insect and a location, that previous-treatment evidence is described specifically with company and date "unknown" unless a document in the file says otherwise, and that every finding appears on the graph on the same wall and distance. Acceptance: zero contradictions between checkboxes, remarks and graph. Wrong looks like "no visible evidence" checked over a remark describing old damage at the sill. Stop rule: any contradiction goes back to the inspector; the reviewer flags it and the inspector, who saw the structure, resolves it. Hazard: none.

6. Remarks say what was seen, and nothing more. Read the remarks for three things: a guarantee ("no further action needed"), a structural opinion ("damage is cosmetic", "minor"), and a conditional finding ("possible old activity"). Acceptance: none of the three present; referrals for further evaluation are written as referrals. Wrong looks like a remark that tells the buyer the house is fine. Stop rule: each offending phrase is marked and returned for the inspector to rewrite. Hazard: none.

7. Signature and credentials verified, then reviewer sign-off. Check the inspector's signature, license or certification number, and category against your state lead agency's current licensee records, and the company license number likewise; where the state requires a licensed reviewer's signature, it is added here. Acceptance: every license number on the report verified current on the inspection date and the report date, with the lookup date written in the file. Wrong looks like a license that lapsed last month while the renewal sat on a desk. Stop rule: an expired or wrong-category credential means the report cannot issue; a properly licensed inspector re-inspects, and the client is told the delivery date moves. Hazard: none.

8. Deliver to the parties on the work order, by the shop's channel, and record it. Send the final signed report and graph to the requesting party and the others the work order names, through the shop's documented channel. Where the form has a buyer acknowledgment line, get it signed or record how and when the buyer received it. Acceptance: recipient, method, date and time recorded for each copy. Wrong looks like a copy forwarded to a caller who says they are the seller's agent. Stop rule: a request from anyone not on the work order goes to the reviewer and the client before a copy is sent. Hazard: none.

9. File the complete package and handle any amendment as a new document. File the issued report, graph, field notes, photos, review notes and delivery record under the property address and date, kept for at least the period your state requires (check your state lead agency; keep it longer if your insurer asks). An error found after issue is corrected by an amended report, marked as amended, newly dated and signed, delivered to every original recipient; the original stays in the file unaltered. Acceptance: package retrievable by address within minutes; any amendment cross-referenced to the original. Wrong looks like the issued PDF overwritten with a corrected one. Stop rule: a requested change to findings after issue, without a new inspection, is refused and routed to the reviewer. Hazard: none.

The record this produces

The review file holds the draft as submitted, each returned version with the reviewer's notes, the final signed report and graph, the license lookups with their dates, the delivery log, and any amendment. The office uses it to answer "did the buyer get it, and when." The reviewer and service manager read the returned-defect notes monthly to see which steps inspectors keep failing, which is a training list. And when an attorney asks eight months after closing what the shop said and what it based that on, this file answers in the shop's own documents rather than in anyone's memory.

Worked pass: slab house, buyer's agent request

Step 1. Package received 2:10 pm Tuesday: draft on the state form, graph, notes, 22 photos. Closing Friday. Review starts 3:00 pm.

Step 2. Form title and version match the state lead agency's current version. Pass.

Step 3. Every field filled; the detached shed is marked "not included, not requested." Pass.

Step 4. The notes record two obstructions: the garage north wall behind stored furniture, and the attic, where blown insulation covered the ceiling joists. The report lists the garage wall but not the attic. Photo 17 shows the insulated attic floor. Step 4's acceptance fails and the stop rule triggers: the package goes back to the inspector at 3:25 pm with the defect named. The inspector adds "Attic: blown insulation covers ceiling joists and top plates; not inspected," re-signs, and resubmits at 4:40 pm. Step 4 re-run: two obstructions in the notes, two on the report. Pass.

Step 5. Evidence-observed box checked; one finding, "damage: garage door header, east end; subterranean termite galleries"; previous treatment, "patched drill holes along garage slab at house wall; company and date unknown." The graph shows the damage at the east end of the garage door header. Zero contradictions. Pass.

Step 6. Remarks: "Damage noted, extent not determined; refer to a qualified contractor for evaluation. See attached graph." No guarantee, opinion or conditional. Pass.

Step 7. Inspector's certification and the company license both show current on the state's lookup, checked 5:05 pm, recorded. The state in this example requires no reviewer co-signature; the reviewer signs the shop's internal review line. Pass.

Step 8. Wednesday 8:30 am the office emails the final report and graph to the buyer's agent and the lender's contact named on the work order and logs both sends. At 10:00 am the seller's agent calls for a copy; not on the work order, so the request goes to the reviewer, who asks the buyer's agent, who declines. No copy sent; the call is logged.

Step 9. Package filed under the address and inspection date, with the returned draft and the reviewer's step-4 note kept beside the final.

References

• See related: Wood Destroying Insect Report Inspection
• See related: The WDI Report Form, Section by Section
• See related: How to Draw the WDI Inspection Graph
• Your state lead agency for pesticide regulation: the required WDI form and version, licensing category and signature rules, and record retention