Most purchase contracts include an inspection contingency: a window, typically 7 to 14 days from offer acceptance, in which the buyer can have the property inspected and then renegotiate — or walk away with their earnest money. Miss the window and the leverage is gone: the buyer is committed to the purchase, defects and all.
That deadline is the reason a buyer's agent books an inspection at all, and it is why FastInspector treats it as a first-class piece of every booking.
Where the deadline shows up
At booking. Step 2 of the wizard asks for the contingency deadline alongside the property. It is optional, but leave it blank and the app cannot help you with any of the below.
In choosing a company. Step 4 shows the companies whose service area covers the property. With a deadline set, the ones with the lightest backlog before it — the fewest open jobs due first — rank first, then by rating. There is no availability calendar; backlog is the proxy for "can fit you in".
On every booking. Your bookings list shows Contingency: N days left on each card, turning red inside two days. The booking detail shows the date in full.
In reminders. Seventy-two hours and twenty-four hours before the deadline closes, you get a notification if the report has not been delivered yet. The company and inspector get their own nudge when a report is overdue.
In the refund rules. If an inspector never delivers, your money comes back automatically — and the deadline is part of how soon. The payment guide has the exact rule. The short version: past your contingency date a late report is worthless to you, so the app does not make you wait the full window for one.
When the report lands
The report arrives grouped by severity — safety hazards first, then major, moderate, minor and informational findings — each with photos. From it, the repair request builder turns the findings you care about into a clean list of repair / credit / replacement items you can hand to the listing side, still inside the window. The agent guide covers both.
Practical advice
- Put the real contractual date in, not a buffer. The app already applies the buffer by ranking companies on fit.
- Book as early as the contract allows. A 10-day window with a 2-day wait for an appointment and a 48-hour report SLA leaves you six days to negotiate; a 7-day window leaves three.
- If a company declines, use Choose another company on the booking rather than starting over — the payment carries across.