Choosing which company inspects a foundation really matters. It’s often the largest purchase decision of someone’s life, and the inspection shapes whether you move forward, renegotiate, or walk away. The wrong company can cost you—either by missing something critical or by steering you toward unnecessary repairs because of an inherent conflict-of-interest.

Here’s what sets us apart and why we think you should choose BEAR.

Independence

To our knowledge, BEAR Engineering is the only foundation inspection company in the Bay Area that does not perform repairs or design work in any way shape or form. This matters more than most people realize. Many companies use inspections as a lead generator for their repair business. Find a problem, quote the fix. It’s the fox watching the hen house.  We’ve written about this at length on a blog post, but the short version is simple: when someone stands to profit from what they find, you should question what they find in this context. Foundation inspection exists to give you objective data so you can make an informed decision. Not to funnel you into a sales pipeline. We have no skin in the game. No conflict of interest. Our only job is to tell you the unbiased truth.

Availability

Real estate moves fast, especially in the Bay Area so you need a company with capacity. We currently have 7 inspectors, and we're continually hiring. That’s more engineering-background inspectors than any comparable firm and we prioritize real estate transactions. About half our business now comes from homeowners who need help understanding their own property—and we want to serve them too. But we know that a transaction has a clock on it. When you’re in contract, delays cost money and can kill deals. We have a dedicated form on our website for urgent scheduling if there isn't anything on our main schedule that works for you. We can also turn reports around same-day when needed which many companies can't do.  If you’re in a time crunch, reach out. We’ll try our very best to make it work.

Experience

BEAR Engineering has been doing this for 15 years. We’ve performed over 7,000+ inspections. That experience compounds. We’ve built a rigorous training program for new inspectors, developed internal systems for quality control, and seen enough edge cases to know what’s serious and what’s cosmetic. When you’re evaluating any inspection company, ask how long they’ve been in business. A couple years isn’t enough—not given what’s at stake, and not given the complexity of Bay Area soil conditions, construction styles, and seismic considerations.

Proprietary Data Sets

Crucially, we are the only company with a proprietary dataset on foundation conditions across the Bay Area—settlement patterns, horizontal cracking, vertical cracking, chemical spalling and groundwater. Without data, you’re relying on an inspector’s gut feel or fading memory. With data, you get hard numbers. You can see what’s common and what’s not. You can understand whether your situation is typical or an outlier. We can show you that. No one else can.

Reputation

We have the largest number of positive reviews of any foundation inspection company in the Bay Area. Yelp. Google. Across the board. But don’t take our word for it. Ask around. Check Reddit. Check the Slack channels and Teams groups where agents share referrals. Ask your network. Do your homework. We’re confident in what you’ll find. BEAR Engineering has become the go-to for foundation inspections in this market. That reputation wasn’t bought. It was built—inspection by inspection, over 15 years.

The Bottom Line

Independence. Availability. Experience. Proprietary Data. Reputation.

That’s what we offer. That’s why people hire us. And that’s why, when you’re making the biggest purchase decision of your life, you want someone in your corner who has no agenda other than giving you the truth - backed up by data.