Two levels of inspection, said simply

We examine what is in reach: the firebox, the damper, the cap and whatever part of the flue shows. This is a visual check and nothing more. It suits a house you already own and use.

Same visit, with a video camera sent down the whole flue. The question it answers is simple. Is the liner whole from the firebox to the top? Where we can get in, we check the attic, the crawlspace and the roof as well.

Photos from the camera show a crack or a gap as it is. No scare talk, only pictures.

The standard here is NFPA 211. It picks a Level 2 for four situations, and a house changing owners is the first.

If the report finds conditions under that standard or your local building code, it lists them with photos. That is not a government grade. A buyer may answer a list like that by asking the seller to fix items, to lower the price, or to let us return after the work. The parties and their agents handle it. We leave contracts and legal questions to others.

You pick the recipients. Agent, buyer and seller are all possible. We inspect in Ventura and Oxnard, and on to Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Ojai.