Check box vs. Narrative reporting style
Since the information discovered during our home inspection is useless until it is understood by you, written communication is our most important tool. Most home inspection reports fall into two categories: narrative and check box.

Check Box
Check box home inspection reports are great...for inspectors. They are generally far easier to prepare than narrative reports. The inspector writes down their observations once, checks the applicable boxes, separates the NCR sheets, and whoala, they're finished. There is nothing to take back to the office to rewrite, polish, edit, or modify, so they will be less time consuming. What could be easier? The only problem is that this type of report is generally weak in communication pertinent information, contains hand writing (on a clip board while walking) which can translate into miscommunication.

Narrative Reports
On the other hand, narrative reports can communicate very well. The drawback with this type of report is important information buried inside could get lost or be very time consuming to find. It will generally demand significantly more time and double or triple entry could mean errors and possible missed information.