For my personal residence. The developer in the area is blasting a area near my home for new development to remove lime stone.

A company sent a letter to my street and said that they were hired by the developer to do home inspections and take videos of the interior and exterior of all houses in the area before the blasting takes place. I can verify this pretty easily directly with the developers.

I am a little ticked to say the least that they are blasting so close to homes and that they expect to take a video inspection of every square inch of my home inside and out. I understand that they may need to do something like this to continue developing but the letter insinuated that they wouldn't cover any damage if they don't do the inspection.

Maybe I am wrong but I don't see why I can't take my own pictures rather than have then come in and video my house. Can anyone see a reason why I would HAVE to let them do the inspection in order to protect myself if there is some damage due to the blasting?

Maybe it is just a CYA on the developers part and not really any threat of damage.

Worst case I can see is my insurance covers any damage and then they go after the developer.

You need to let them do this. If not, you're on your own if there's damages.

When we blasted, we had to be clear 800' of any structures without waivers, etc.. Luckily we were the first house going in as a demo in the development, so it wasn't a problem. There sure were some hoops to jump through on our end.

It's in your best interest, because where they blast could affect veins of bedrock, etc. under your house.

On a side note, try to watch when they blast, is AWESOME!!!

When we blasted, it literally took a 40' wide by 80' long by 10' deep chunk of rock and earth and heaved it about 4' out of the ground. Just a loud rumbling BOOM underfoot, it was so cool.

Just how close are they going to be blasting?

I would find out just how invasive they expect to be. No issue with the exterior.

I would also find out who issued the permit for the blasting, and what the license is of the person responsible for the blasting. Tell them you want the name of the person responsible and what their ATF registration number is. Then, contact the ATF to verify. Also check with your state. Ask for a copy of the environmental impact study. Make sure it complies with the department of natural resources.

You better check the laws before you tell them no. Although you don't HAVE to let them in, it's probably in your best interest to do so.

There are laws to protect the blasters just like there are to protect you.

Around here, with natural gas drilling, if you don't have some sort of baseline water test done before drilling takes place and they ruin your well water, good chance your screwed.

Ken brings up a good point too, you may want to test your well if you have one. Quality and flow maybe. Just incase.

As for the laws that protect the blasters, they may relieve them of responsibility if you deny them the ability to document.

This blast is within 500 feet of my house. So I guess another good question is do I have any recourse to prevent them from doing this if it can cause damage to my house?

If its not likely to do more than crack some drywall seams its not a big deal but if there could be substantial damage I don't see how they can do it without approval from the people near the blast site.

I don't mean to be a pain for the developer but their rock problems are not my problems if it means my house can be damaged.

NE,

If you don't let them in, then they cannot evaluate your house to establish the condition prior to the blasting. Thus, if you later claim damage, then they can claim that the damage existed prior to the blasting. It is to YOUR advantage that they videotape, and that they do the videotaping.

In my state, we have a department of natural resources. They have to be involved if blasting.

Have they done an environmental study?

I would not allow them in, or even onto my property.

However, I would do my own videotape, interior and exterior, every extensive and detailed. I would not share my video with them unless and until I had damages from the blasting.

If their letter insinuated that they are not responsible for damages unless you allow them to take videos, I would write back, certified mail, demanding a citation to the law that so provides. Because, notwithstanding NE's confirmation of this position, I greatly doubt that that is the law.

I'm guessing, based on nothing but common sense, they have no rights at all to enter your property. They can't deny a claim down the road either. that would be like an insurance company turning down a claim because the damage "might" have been preexisting.

the videotaping of your home is for THEIR protection ... it's evidence against you.

Bit, the video is for your protection as well as theirs.If they are blasting limestone,shouldn't be too bad,its soft compared to the hard rock in some areas.So your house is a mess,they don't care,so why should you?

In my area blasting withing 100 or 200 feet of an existing building is common. In order to obtain the blasting permit they have to offer to do a preblast survey of any structure within 800' of the blast site. The size & number of charge used for each blast is determine by the type of rock (ours is mostly granite. During the actually blasts signs & audible warnings must be given. At least 1 representative from the local fire department must be present when the charges are being set, when fire & for at least 1 hour after the blast.

The estimate for the last preblast survey that I was involved in was over $15,000.00. When all of the costs including fire details, police details, surveys, drilling, blasting, permits, etc were taken into consideration, we elected to use a 80,000 pound hammer drill to breakup the rock.

They can not force you to allow them onto your property to preform a preblast survey. However unless you have an independent survey done prior to the blasting in could end up costing you a lot of time & legal fees to be compensated for any damages which might occur.

You might want to consult with your local fire department, building department and your own insurance agent to get their take on this.

I am a private person, so I would not be happy about someone coming in, Of course you don't have to let them, but what do you give up by doing that? I would think you have less recourse for them to pay for any damage if you don't let them do a preblast survey. How do they know your foundation didn't shift a few years back? Your insurance might not even cover it because you didn't take advantage of their insurance. A lot of this has come about because people want to be covered in case anything happens.

Blasting is not what it used to be. Everything is calculated out. I live near a huge quarry, 20 years ago, you could tell when they blasted, now they time the explosions by computer and they cancel each other out. We really don't hear them any more. There is probably little chance of damage, but a lot of times people don't realize the technology and are afraid and want protections. Seems like the company is trying to accommodate that.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

My house is not a mess either! Its about privacy and having some valuable items that are hard to hide.

I don't have any control over how this company would handle safety of the material. All it takes is for one crooked employee to look at all the videos they have archived or for them to place a copy of all videos on their network, they get hacked and the videos are floating around on the internet. Not likely and not likely that it would result in anything bad but I don't really care about the chances, its about my privacy.

They are doing something risky that could result in damage and they're willing to pay for any damage that occurs. That's commendable. They just want to make sure they only pay for damages and not home improvements.

It's like a story I remember hearing about on the news. An empty bus crashed into a car in a major city. A large group of people rushed onto the bus immediately after the wreck so they could fake crash related injuries and sue the city. They were all arrested.

I don't blame them for wanting inspections. If I were developing land and doing the same type of blasting I would do the same thing for sure.

On a personal level I don't want to be forced to lose my privacy for something I have nothing to do with and no control over.

Mike45 [NV] posted some good steps to take I think. I am checking with my insurance company also to get their input.

I don't blame them for wanting inspections. If I were developing land and doing the same type of blasting I would do the same thing for sure.

On a personal level I don't want to be forced to lose my privacy for something I have nothing to do with and no control over.

Mike45 [NV] posted some good steps to take I think. I am checking with my insurance company also to get their input.

A large tree falling on your property and damaging it is totally different. There will be a noticeable cause-and-effect right there. You will be able to see the tree smashed through your roof and destroying your windows and gutters and your deck.

You also be able to photograph it quickly and there will be no argument.

NE, I hear ya. The main point is just about an invasion of privacy.