Chewning Inspection Services Inc. began as a one man, sole owner operation in April 1993. Roger Chewning, PE, met with a couple of builders and realized there was a need for HUD inspectors who could or better, would provide excellent and timely customer service. The usual turn-around time provided by existing home inspectors was 1 to 2 weeks from initial request to the inspection report provided to the customer.
The fact that Roger Chewning is a Professional Engineer set him apart from the existing inspectors. He took the required course and set himself up as a sole owner of the business which operated out of his home. He purchased a word processor, a FAX machine and a thick spiral note book. He was working with an inventory service at the time.
He would get up at 3 or 4 in the morning, go to work for the inventory service and then go out to do inspections during the day. He would go home and write up the inspections, FAX a copy to the requestor and hand deliver the original inspection report to the mortgage company. He then carefully entered each inspection into that spiral note book. This all happened within 24 hours, which was unheard of in the industry. From April 19 to December 31, 1993 he did only a little more than 300 inspections. Needless to say, he couldn’t quit the inventory service yet.
His reputation was slowly spreading “word of mouth” by his customers who were raving about his customer service, quick and professional reports that he provided “same day” or “next day.” Business grew very quickly and has continued a steady growth to this day. After a couple of years, his son, Loren, joined his dad helping out with the inspections. Shortly after that, his daughter, Robin worked only one day a week entering the inspections in the spiral notebook recording request date, address of property, the lender name, date delivered and date paid.
In 1997 the company purchased a computer – the word processor and the spiral notebook were both retired. The company records were now kept on an Excel spreadsheet. CIS had gone “high tech”. Two new phone lines were installed, one for calls and a dedicated line for the FAX machine. Over the next few years the company continued to grow and profit. We used a couple of sub-contractors who helped us out in other cities. We also hired a full time inspector to perform inspections for us in Central Florida. Roger’s sister Nancy joined us doing inspections and then documentation for us.
In April 2003, Chewning Inspection Services incorporated. At the same time, another daughter, Lisa came on board and became our full-time, one-man Billing and Collection department.
In October 2004, we had outgrown the three rooms of the house and decided to purchase office space away from the home. We are currently in the same location. We hired a General Manager and several other full time employees. This is a family owned, family run business. If any employee comes on board, they quickly are made “part of the family” in every sense of the phrase.
The spiral note book has now evolved into 15 computers, 7 fax machines and an interactive Internet based data base system. The one man operation has evolved into a staff of 28 performing over 5000 inspections annually.
Chewning Inspection Services, Inc. is the premier inspection company in Florida, providing just about any type of inspection that may be required anywhere in the state. We now promise fast 24 – 72 hour turnaround and in most instances the report is in the hands of our customer the next day.
We are known for our customer service and professionalism. We appreciate your business.