Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Construction Defect and Construction Damage Documentation
Dated photographs, video and measurements of construction conditions as they exist on the day of the visit. Delator Claims Division records what is visible and measurable for owners, builders, carriers and counsel, without offering opinions on workmanship or code compliance.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
Construction disputes tend to turn on what a condition looked like before someone repaired it, covered it or built over it. A cracked slab is ground and patched. A stained ceiling is repainted. A trench is backfilled. Once that happens, the only record of the original condition is whatever was captured beforehand. A field visit fixes the condition to a date, with wide, mid and close photographs, a scale in frame and notes on where each image was taken.
The assignment is observational. Field personnel are licensed Tennessee private investigators trained in evidence documentation, not engineers, building inspectors or contractors. They do not say whether work meets a code, a specification or a standard of care, and they do not identify the cause of a crack, leak or settlement. They record location, extent and appearance so that a qualified expert, adjuster or attorney can evaluate the condition later from a reliable record.
Situations that call for a dated construction record
- A homeowner sees cracking, staining or separation in a newly built house and wants it recorded before the builder's warranty crew makes repairs.
- A contractor needs the condition of adjacent structures, driveways and landscaping documented before excavation, demolition or heavy hauling begins next door.
- Work by one trade is alleged to have damaged another trade's finished work, and the area will be repaired within days.
- A builder's risk or general liability carrier wants a dated record of a partially completed structure after a collapse, wind event or water intrusion.
- Counsel needs the same condition photographed again at intervals to show whether a crack, stain or gap is changing over time.
Conditions recorded on a construction site visit
- Cracks and separations
- Location, length and width of visible cracks and gaps, photographed with a scale or crack gauge in frame and tied to a room, elevation or grid reference.
- Moisture staining and residue
- Stain patterns, efflorescence, rust trails and visible microbial growth, with their position relative to windows, penetrations, roof lines and plumbing runs noted but not interpreted.
- Level and plumb readings
- Readings from a level or digital inclinometer on floors, walls and door frames, recorded as numbers with the instrument and location shown in the photograph.
- Exposed assemblies before cover-up
- Framing, flashing, fasteners, membranes and penetrations that are open on the day of the visit and will later be hidden behind drywall, siding or concrete.
- Site and stage of completion
- Overall views of each elevation, material staging, temporary protection and weather exposure, showing how far construction had progressed on the documented date.
- Labels, stamps and markings
- Product labels, lumber grade stamps, manufacturer tags and inspection stickers that are visible on site, photographed legibly so they can be reviewed later by others.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
Why the date of the record matters
Construction conditions are unusually perishable because the normal response to a problem is to fix it. Punch-list crews patch and paint. Subcontractors return to replace a section of flashing or regrade a swale. Even when nobody intervenes, the next phase of work covers the last one. Documentation completed before those steps gives every party the same starting point. Each photograph carries a timestamp, and field notes state the weather, the areas that were accessible and the areas that were not.
Repeat visits are common on these assignments. When a crack or stain is photographed from the same position, with the same scale, at set intervals, the series shows whether the condition is stable or progressing without anyone having to describe it from memory. Reference marks placed with the owner's permission, or fixed features such as outlet boxes and window corners, allow later images to be matched to earlier ones. The notes record what changed between visits, including any repairs made in the interim.
What the file contains and what it leaves out
The delivered file is a factual record: photographs, video walk-throughs, measurements, a photo log and field notes. It does not include an opinion on whether work was defective, who performed it, whether it complies with a building code or contract, or what repairs would cost. Those questions belong to engineers, licensed inspectors, contractors, adjusters and the court. Delator Claims Division is not an engineering firm and does not perform destructive testing, material sampling or structural analysis.
Experts retained later often cannot see the original condition for themselves. A complete, well-indexed photo set lets an engineer or building consultant review the condition as it stood on a known date, and decide what further inspection is needed. For owners and pro se individuals the service is neutral documentation only. Carriers and their counsel may separately retain Delator for claim investigation, which is described on the insurance investigation pages of this site.
On this assignment Delator field personnel record what is physically present: photographs, video, measurements and factual notes. They do not adjust, appraise or value the loss, do not determine coverage, cause or fault, and do not represent any party to the claim.
Delator Claims Division is not a law firm, an insurer or an engineering firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Common questions about this service
Will the report say whether the work was defective?
No. The report describes and shows what was present: where a condition is, how large it is and what it looked like on the date of the visit. Whether that condition is a defect, a code violation or normal tolerance is a question for an engineer, a licensed inspector or the court.
Can you document an active job site?
Yes, with permission from whoever controls the site. Field personnel follow the site's safety rules and document only areas they can reach safely. If an area is closed off, unstable or requires equipment we do not carry, the notes say so and that area is recorded from the nearest safe position.
Do you open walls or remove finishes?
No. Documentation is non-destructive. If a contractor or expert is opening a wall, lifting flooring or exposing a foundation, we can be on site to photograph each stage as it is uncovered, so the hidden condition is recorded before it is repaired or closed again.
How soon can someone be on site before repairs start?
Routine assignments are on site in one to two days, Rush in 12 to 20 hours, and Emergency in 30 minutes to four hours, anywhere in Tennessee. If a repair crew is scheduled, tell dispatch the date and time so the visit can be placed ahead of it.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.