My real estate agent recommended NBI, specifically Josh Fishbone, for my general home and termite inspection during my inspection contingency period, that was for a tight turnaround of 7 days. (FYI - done back in November 2025.) As a first time homebuyer, Josh made everything as simple and straightforward as possible. I had a whole list of questions beforehand to ask, and Josh patiently helped me answer them. Josh also took his time to show me where the water and gas shutoff were, what to do in an emergency, and more information regarding the main electricity panel. Not only was Josh helpful during the whole inspection, he provided a very detailed report within a day or so. Josh was also kind enough to be available to answer any follow up questions I had regarding information in the report. Overall, I would definitely consider going back to NBI for any future inspections. read more

Great home inspection company I have used for over 20 years. They will also do a combined home inspection and termite inspection which I like to order. read more

The guy they sent, Jack Burnett was really good. I'm not sure he missed a single thing. He seemed to know just an awful lot and gave us all sorts of interesting details about things. It felt like a walk through on PBS's This Old House. He was also really easy to work with and very approachable with comments and questions. If you can get Jack, I would highly recommend their services. read more

As a home seller, beware! This company produced an outrageous report that added more opinions and suggestions than facts. The inspector was a very kind young man and specifically told me that after I reviewed the report, he would be happy to discuss and make changes or corrections. That seemed to be against policy we found out a couple days later. While we do have an old house with issues, rather than simply state facts, the report was filled with suggestions and wording like "before the close of escrow" , "possible", "maybe" and always with a grim view. As I walked my perimeter there was multiple places now damaged as a result of his prodding stick. He noted that sinks and bathtub didn't hold water, but they do. The new roof "could" puddle in a place yet did not test it, just suggested it as a problem. I could ramble on as he did in a 106 page report that is filled with hypothetical issues. This is not what I paid for and has terrified my buyer's. Just the facts could have helped, but now I'm in repair mode from the prodder and recovery from his opinions that I didn't ask for and was told we could adjust for accuracy. Super disappointed! read more

I have to honestly say this company is great and did a very thorough job at my property that I'm selling by conducting an inspection for Home and Termite. I had a family situation that caused me to reschedule and were able to fit me in right away. Melissa and Brittany were really helpful and great through out the entire process. The inspector Jim was also so kind, came in on time and was careful throughout the property to not damage anything. He was very cheerful and even asked me if I had any questions for him and is a very knowledgeable person. I will definitely recommend this company to my father who will be selling his home soon too. read more

We used NBI for home and termite inspections for a number of years. The main issue we had originally was the uneven quality of the inspectors. If you're a buyer, you can end up losing a property because an issue gets blown out of proportion in an inspection and you misjudge it on that basis (which almost happened with our first inspection). If you're a seller, you can lose a buyer that you're in escrow with, obliging you to go back on market, taking a big hit on your pricing. If you're the real estate agent, you can lose both the transaction and a client. So there's a lot at stake in the quality of the inspections. We solved this issue, for a while at least, by engaging only the owner of the company to do our inspections. In our experience, he was the only one there who did consistently good work, though he was not always available when inspections were needed. Initially, the owner was a very pleasant, modest fellow, who welcomed constructive feedback. Over the years, his persona changed, into something quite different. It was as if success had really gone to his head. He no longer had time for common courtesies, such as responding to a simple question by email, even when given many days to do so. He took offense at the idea that customers' names on the inspection reports they pay hundreds of dollars for should be corrected if misspelled. He became imperious and overbearing. It was a sad transformation to witness. Fortunately, we discovered that by searching on Yelp for home inspection companies in San Francisco, we could find some very good ones, which share our values and cover the entire Bay Area, including the South Bay. "All's well that ends well," as the saying goes. read more

I would never hire this company. The inspector who came to our property almost blew the sale of our home because he was hypothesizing on what could potentially happen down the road - not based on any evidence he could see, just lots of "Well, this could lead to a problem in the future" type of statements. When he would say those things, I'd ask, "Can you be specific? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years??" and he would say he couldn't pinpoint a definite time or show any concrete evidence... so not really sure why he was even saying it at all. Not only that, but he was very defensive - to the point of being RUDE - I was shocked. Home inspectors are supposed to be neutral and state the facts, not create elaborate tall tales because their giant egos are getting in the way of being professional. This guy had a huge chip on his shoulder. Maybe the rest of the company is fine, but I would never ever ever ever hire them again for fear that the jerk would come back. read more

We were recommended this company through our broker. The inspector was very pleasant and told us the property had good bones and needed minimal work. Work that could be done over time. Since this was an income property we planned our priorities and purchase price on this verbal assurance. NBI does not perform work, so we called out a contractor to begin the work cited by NBI once escrow closed. In the course of this we were told that the damage was much more severe than noted. A lot of this analysis, which was visible, would have come with years of familiarity of stucco buildings and water patterns. It turns out we have over $100k worth of work that is needed to be done. How is that "good bones"? We attempted to work something out with NBI and they have all but washed there hands of us. They have their insurance company managing the matter, along with their lawyer, and are not willing to acknowledge their err. Bad business ethic and I dont recommend them. read more

I have been using NBI for about 7 years. They are an immense asset to the Real Estate industury. They are very professional and incredibly helpful. During the entire process of an inspection, they will go above and beyond to make it a pleasant and painless experience. NBI is also very accommodating to everyone involved, their schedule, needs, and concerns. They are a true pleasure to work with! I would not use any other company (if I can help it) Leslie Prudential california Realty read more

Excellent, thorough honest and professional. Customer service is above and beyond any call of duty. We are homesellers and had them do a whole house inspection so we could fix any issues prior to showing house - They were here for over an hour and checked out with care but with respect. Report was easy to read and recommendations made sense - contractors could easily see what needed to be done and give bids, then complete with minimum of confusion. Robert and James have been our inspectors and they are excellent. Timelines are often short during the offer/contingency periods - they went above and beyond to be sure everything went smoothly and was complete. I hope the people that sell to us use them as I now know that their standards are tough but once you get signoff, it's gold. Due to no fault of theirs - one of our buyers hired a psycho off brand inspector who managed to actually damage the house siding and doorframes in an attempt to create work, then hold the deal hostage for signoff unless using them and their inflated repair costs ($6K plus). Thankfully NBI called 'em on it - the deal fell through but they're even coming back to clear or clarify that some of the psycho findings were created, or false. It should be noted that the office staff has been great - Jessica really works well with the field team and is great to work with in scheduling and getting reports going to the assorted corners of the universe. Thanks, Jessica! Very reasonably priced as well - give them a call. read more

Hi NBI, I wanted to thank you for the great inspection last week! Derek had done the inspection and was very professional and informative. My client really enjoyed his services. He even was able to get into a crawl space that the seller's termite inspector last week did not go into or at least said he could not. Dereck did not give up and was able to look at it all! So once again I am very happy as a Realtor 15 years in the business and will use your company every chance I can! Dereck and Jack have been my inspectors and I truly highly recmmend NBI. Their office staff is very nice and are also very professional. Thanks again and give your inspectors a big Thank You for the great work! read more

I arranged an inspection through NBI through a recommendation of my agent + these Yelp reviews helped. Overall, I was very satisfied with the services. Don Nicks, who's the chief inspector there, was able to come out with fairly short notice and during the inspection. He was also very flexible during the service (we decided to go with the full pest inspection after he got here, which takes more time, and he was able to do that with no problem.) Don was honest, thorough, and even funny. He listened to all of our concerns and was able to explain to all of us what he say and answer all of our questions. There are a couple of reviews saying that they are not available for any follow-up questions but Don was very available to us and offered us to call his cell over the weekend with any questions. Bonus: He was able to turn around the report over the weekend. I couldn't be happier with Don and NBI and will recommend them to anyone. read more

I have been a Realtor for 20 years and cannot say enough about Jack Burnett at NBI. He is the best. read more

Our inspector was very thorough. Have to take 1 star off because he missed something major (a large section of the wall behind the bathroom had dry rot so bad that all the studs had been eaten away--found with a remodel where we removed the bathroom walls so don't know if he could have known). Otherwise was happy with knowing all the issues/ potential issues that he pointed out. read more

They only assigned $$$$ costs estimates to termites which is the industry standards. There are a few inspectors out there who will assign costs to any property that needs work. NBI is definitely NOT one of them and will cost you a couple of hundred dollars more than average. Worst of all, the inspector does not return calls. I will never use NBI again. read more

We needed an inspection done on a unit we had put a contract on in a very short time frame, and NBI was able to do so. The inspector did a pretty thorough job and was easy to work with and answered our questions. read more

Team NBI was recommended by our realtor (Doug Palacios- he is beyond great!) and I am so grateful he did!!! We are buying a 1951 house in need of repairs, so of course I had ALOT of questions and concerns. JACK BURNETT IS AWESOME! He performed our home inspection (including termites). He is Chief Inspector and I can see why! Jack made recommendations to the best of his knowledge --(and boy, did he have a lot of wisdom and he does a lot of remodeling of his own home himself). Being a family-oriented man (He has twins!), he reassured my concerns regarding the safety and health of my kids especially my Autistic daughter (he was very sympathetic as his own son is highly-functioning). He showed me what needed to be done and how it can be done. Some really important things he acknowledged were that we needed a new roof as it was still the old existing roof when built and the rot underneath the bathroom even though it was remodeled. He even marked our outlets that needed surge protectors. I also got to learn a lot about termites! At the end, he even offered to give him a call if we had any more questions and concerns. He had an amiable attitude despite me hovering over him during the inspection. So if you can, ask for JACK! He is professional and thorough. The Team NBI secretaries (Melissa and Brittany) are great as well. Very friendly and attentive. Definitely recommend!!! Thanks Team NBI! :) read more

Ron in the north bay is a really great inspector. I am a real estate agent. My clients, buyers and sellers both need accurate, clear and thorough information about the home of interest and they need a well written report. At my first inspection with Ron, he handed me his card and told me I could call him if I have any questions. He really does crawl under each house and goes in each attic for a thorough inspection. As it turns out I have called Ron to discuss items on a report. He remembers every house and every client. He has patiently explained items to my clients several times if needed. Brittany and Melissa in the office are easy to deal with and they remember their clients too. I have been successful getting inspections on very short notice if needed and the reports come quickly too. The combined pest and home inspection is a very good value. read more

My experience with NBI and their "Chief Inspector" has been very negative. He misdiagnosed termites...I called in Terminix in they said, "We'd love to sell you a treatment plan, but you don't have any active termites." NBI's "Chief Inspector" also makes a point of reminding everyone he's the chief...so often, you'll eventually get it. & His attitude was start-to-finish CYA = his own. He misdiagnosed "standing rain water" under the house, which, in fact, was a small area under a drain pipe that broke many years ago....all of the ABS drain pipes were replaced in 2013, when it happened...and, he failed to note that, too. He did commend the property for a "serviceable" evaporative cooling system under the AC section....when, in fact, there is no evaporative cooling system...the house has one little window AC unit in the master bed walk-in closet. He also chose to comment on the installation of a deck beam during original construction in 1975....which my contractor, his licensed AE and a 2nd licensed deck contractor all said was perfectly fine. My experience with NBI sucks. The property is a $1.6 million home in Peacock Gap. I would avoid NBI like the plague. read more

NBI have been my inspectors for about 6 years. Derek Poe is always accommodating to my clients beyond the call to duty. First time buyers always need a little extra help in understanding the process, Derek and NBI has always been extremely professional and thorough. read more

I am a Realtor in the SF bay. Hands down, BEST building inspection you will find in the bay. No question. Jack is meticulously thorough. His report is laid out beautifully, thoughtfully, and user friendly with many color pictures. I had him do an inspection when I was working with a seller. When the buyers hired someone to come do an inspection for them, they kept referring to Jack's report that I had available for ideas. Also, the buyer's inspector told me five times that they were beyond impressed with Jack's work and presentation. Jack and NBI are truly leaders in their industry, and I will never use anyone else. read more

I am a Realtor in the East Bay and have recommended my clients use National Building Inspectors. I really appreciate the time Robert Swickard takes with my clients to explain his findings and answer their questions. I also really appreciate that he takes a lot of color photos and puts them in the report. I highly recommend them. read more

After reading my report, I had a concern about the grading of the house and called NBI. I described my concern to Melissa, one of the many talented scheduling coordinators at NBI who know exactly how to explain the inspection report, and NBI came back out to take measurements from the crawlspace again. That is first class service. The reasons why I chose NBI to begin with are: 1. they are unbiased. They do not stand to gain from inflating problems because they don't fix the problems and they don't get a commission from contractors for referring customers, to my knowledge. 2. they are able to do the home and termite inspection together by the same person on the same visit, which is a scheduling efficiency. 3. their reports contain a summary of the action items which make it easy to see at a glance what's wrong without having to skim a 50 page report each time. Now that I have worked with them, I feel their customer service is excellent and I am very happy I chose them. read more

Derek Poe is the BEST!!I recommend him to all of my clients and all the agents in my office. Trustworthy, reliable and realistic. I have no doubt that he accurately asses the property and is great at explaining his findings. Reports are always neat, organized and easy to read, and only one trip to the house you can get the pest and whole home inspection done together!!! Wouldn't go anywhere else! read more

We had Robert from NBI come do our house and termite inspection for us this weekend. I was very pleased with how thorough he was. Definitely left no stone unturned! He informed us of of every little detail that needed to be addressed. While checking the attic crawlspace he found evidence of a fire that had occured but was properly repaired and treated to prevent future issues. I would recommend Robert to any friends and family that is looking for a quality inspection to be performed. Spent a total of 2.5 hours on a 1100sq foot house. Courteous, on time and very knowledgeable of his field. Thank you! read more

Had an expedited inspection for a potential purchase scheduled recently and NBI was thorough, detailed, and professional throughout the entire process. Chief Inspector Jack Burnett spent a good 2.5 hours on all parts of the property and provided a very complete report of the condition of multiple subsystems with detailed photos and write-ups. Jack was able to access a very tight crawl space even though a previous home inspection company utilized by the Seller had indicated the area was inaccessible. This was important to me to rule out foundation damage and gave me the peace of mind to go on with my purchase. Very well done Jack! Jack even took the time to explain his findings real-time to me during the inspection - he is current and knowledgeable on building codes, and, has extensive experience at recognizing evidence of pest infestation. I know that most workers (including myself) would hate it when you were peeking over their shoulders while they were performing work, but Jack was pleasant, courteous, and informative during all aspects of his very thorough inspection. Highly recommended - call NBI (and Jack Burnett) for your home inspection needs! read more

Its been a few years since I have bought a house (25 years )Things have changed .So really I don't know a lot about it .Although I do know good customer service both on the phones and in the field and found that N.B.I has both .I talked to Jessica and another young lady in the office .I had to change times and ad things at the last moment They were very nice and patient as I like many other rookies had many questions I felt I needed answering right away. They sent out a very nice man named Don In uniform very clean very professional with all his tools in good working order a nice clean truck ,ladder etc .He was there over three hours .When he was done he went over everything with my wife and I and answered all our questions with a smile on his face (He even attached a plastic cover on a light switch for us the painter's forgot ) not a big deal but I really appreciated it.So if your un sure like I was before I used this company I really hopes this helps you make an informed descison.Thank National. read more