These five men have access to every bedroom, bathroom and basement of every rental property in Ames. If you’re a tenant, chances are they’ve probably been through your place at one time or another.

But they aren’t peeking in your window or ripping off your stereo. They’re more interested in making sure your dryer is properly vented and your smoke detector works.

The state of Iowa requires any municipality with more than 15,000 residents to have a housing inspection system in place. Ames employs five housing inspectors, and nearly half of their collective time is occupied by rental housing inspections and complaints, said housing inspector Mike Fry.

In Ames, rental housing units must be inspected every three years. When inspection time rolls around, one of five inspectors contacts the landlord and sets up a date to check out the property, Fry said.

On the designated date, the inspector looks over the property and records any violations on the inspection report. The landlord is given a reinspection date, usually about two weeks later, Fry said, by which time any violations must be corrected.

Once everything is up to par, the property is reinspected, and if the inspector is satisfied with the repairs, the landlord receives a letter of compliance.

Craig Hageman is another building inspector for the city.

Last Friday, he inspected a duplex in West Ames.

From the outside, the house looked to be in good shape. The property owners, James and Lucy Sperfslage, were waiting in the driveway to meet him. They drove two hours from Central City, where they live, to witness the inspection.

Although they employ a property manager who lives in Ankeny to deal with everyday problems, they always make a point to personally see the inspection.

Hageman grabbed a blank inspection report, a flashlight and a wooden rod from the back seat of his Ford Escort. He chatted amiably with the Sperfslages for a few minutes before heading inside the first side of the duplex.

“Most of what I do is observation,” Hageman said.

He scanned the living room. One of his first duties was to check the smoke detector on the ceiling. According to city code, each level of a rental unit must have a working detector.

“I bring this along because I’m usually about one inch too short,” Hageman said, using the tip of the wooden rod to press the detector’s test button. It emitted a shrill beeping sound.

“Yep,” he said. “It works.”

But just in case it didn’t, Lucy Sperfslage was prepared. She carried a plastic bag full of batteries “just in case anything needs to be replaced,” she said. “You always need batteries.”

Hageman, followed closely by the Sperfslages, climbed the stairs to the bedroom area, checking the handrail for loose bolts on his way up.

If any doors are closed, Hageman said, he always knocks first. And once inside a room, he never touches or moves anything. “We try to be as unobtrusive as possible,” he said. “We want to respect people’s space.”

In the bathroom, Hageman checked for leaky faucets and a properly working bathroom fan. Next he scoped out the garage, then the kitchen.

Afterward, he descended to the basement, home of one of the most important stops on the inspection: The mechanical room. It contains the heating, plumbing and electrical systems. Hageman examined the flue pipes and connectors for rust and other indicators of damage.

Before he began working for the city, Hageman was employed as an HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) specialist, so inspecting the mechanical room is old hat for him. He can tell right away if equipment is in good shape. It was, and he moves on.

His final task was to check the fire extinguisher. According to city code, each rental housing unit is required to have at least one fire extinguisher that is no more than six years old.

The extinguisher under the sink in this duplex was from 1989. It didn’t cut the code’s mandate.

Like smoke detectors, expired fire extinguishers are a common and easily amended problem, Hageman said. But he still makes note of it on the inspection report; it was the only violation the duplex received.

He kept the master copy of the report for himself, and the carbon went to the Sperfslages. They were given two weeks to get the extinguisher replaced, although they quickly assured Hageman they wouldn’t need that.

“We’ll go get a new fire extinguisher right after this,” James Sperfslage said.

“We’ll do it right away – today – before we leave for Central City,” Lucy Sperfslage added.

Hageman thanked the Sperfslages for their time and was on his way.

The whole process took less than 20 minutes.

“By and large, property owners and managers are good people to deal with,” Hageman said. “Their intentions are good.”