BuildFax Overview

With BuildFax's easy-to-read, standardized report, you can run a Property "Background Check" before heading out to your next job.

• BuildFax Data
  • 8 billion data points on more than 80 million U.S. commercial and residential structures
  • Construction history on properties in 8,500+ cities, counties, and townships
  • Remodels, new construction, pools, demolition, and roofs
  • Covering all the trades — mechanical, electrical, plumbing
  • Data points include inspection/contractor history and more
• Know Before You Go: Arm yourself with the construction history of the property so that you know more about the property going in, especially by using BuildFax's 19-point risk factor summary.
• Better Documentation: Share documented repairs (such as HVAC updates and roof replacements) and value increases (such as additions and remodels) with your clients to help them have peace of mind in the property purchase.
• Build Referrals: Keep up with the competition and get referral business by including (or even re-selling) a BuildFax report with your inspections.
• Even Better and Easy with HomeGauge After purchasing a BuildFax report it will show up in your list of reports beside your home inspections and you have the option to share or not share it with your customer.
• Run a report for any address here now — See BuildFax Report

FAQs

• Why use BuildFax Property History Reports? BuildFax provides inspectors with deep insight into a property, including all details of permitted home improvements and renovations made to the structure. This includes additions, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing updates, roof replacements, renovations, demolitions, and more. In addition to permitted updates, BuildFax Property History Reports Reports can also show spans of time when updates haven't occurred (often great indicators of aging systems).
• What is the cost? The cost of a BuildFax Property History Report is $5.00 for HomeGauge inspectors, which is more than 70% off the public price. In addition, HomeGauge inspectors can resell BuildFax Property History Reports to their clients as a value-add.
• How can I better understand coverage in my area? BuildFax has permit information on the majority of permits issued in the U.S. In some areas, coverage is 90% or higher. In other, more rural areas, permit information is still being gathered, and more data comes online every day. It's important to note that areas where an inspector may do business may have differing levels of coverage. Just because one address cannot be found, don't stop searching.
• Where does BuildFax get its data? BuildFax data is primarily sourced from permit data and collected directly from the source - the building department. This collected data is standardized into a common report format and mined using advanced data analytics to highlight the information that matters to inspectors and weed out the cryptic "noise" often found within permit text. The net result is an easy-to-read report that arms inspectors with the life story of a property.

Turn on the BuildFax Option

1. From your HomeGauge Dashboard, click Account Settings.
2. Select HomeGauge Partners.
3. On the following page, select Buildfax Options.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the next page, turn the settings on and click Save Changes.

This will create a Buildfax button for your uploaded reports, located right below the cover picture and address on your Dashboard list of reports.

How to Preview the BuildFax

There are three ways to preview the BuildFax Data before you decide to buy:

Preview BuildFax From New Appointment

1. Start from a New Appointment on the HomeGauge Dashboard. To learn about creating appointments click here. 
2. After you type in the Address, City, State, and Zip code the preview, if available, will appear below the address. 

Preview BuildFax From All Reports

1. Start on the HomeGauge Dashboard and click on the menu option All Reports.
2. If you already have an appointment, or documents listed under an address, navigate to that address. 
3. Under that address will be the BuildFax button with the number of Permits listed. 
4. Click the BuildFax Report Button to see a preview of the property report. 

Preview BuildFax From Dashboard Search

1. Start on the HomeGauge Dashboard.
2. Click More Tools.
3. Click BuildFax Manual Search. 
4. Type in the property address and Click Check For Availability to see a preview of the BuildFax report.