What should I expect my Home Inspector to do?

This is a question I get all the time. Not in these exact terms, most of the time the question is something like. ” What exactly are you going to inspect?”  This is a really good question and one that has a clear and concise answer.

The technical definition is: “Home inspection” means a visual analysis for the purpose of providing a professional opinion by a licensed home inspector, of the condition of a residential dwelling and the dwelling’s attached garages and carports, any reasonable accessible installed components, and the operation of the dwelling’s systems, including any controls normally operated by the owner of the dwelling, for systems and components in the standards of practice established by the board. Home inspection shall not include a code compliance inspection, or an inspection required under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. secs. 5401 et seq., as amended, and rules and regulations issued thereunder, or KRS 227.600 regarding manufactured homes; This definition was taken directly from the Kentucky Board of Home Inspectors web site: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/198B00/700.PDF.

This is quite technical so what does it mean. In simple terms it just means the inspection is visual and non-invasive. It also says the inspection is to be performed within the boundaries of the standards of practice established by the Kentucky Board of Home Inspectors. This standard of practice is actually one of three nationally recognized standards. In essence all of these standards are essentially the same with only minor variations in what is to be inspected and how it is to be inspected. So now you know that your home inspector is required to do a visual inspection of the property and provide you a professional opinion (the report) about the condition of the property. Sounds simple doesn’t it! Well not exactly. You see the standards are the minimum required by the inspector. Some inspectors follow the standards to the letter, others choose to do a little more while others may go way above and beyond the standards. This is totally up to the individual inspector whether he or she goes beyond what the standards say. For instance: Some inspectors use pre-printed forms to do their reporting while others use computer generated reports. Either is acceptable based on the standards but the end product can be drastically different. Another example would be inspection of the roof. One standard says if possible inspect from arms length. Another says report methods used to inspect. The third says inspect from ground level or eaves. As you can see there is quite a bit of discretion allowed to the inspector. In my practice I always try to go above and beyond the standards when my skill level allows that. I try to do a home inspection in terms of giving the client as much information as possible. This allows them to make an informed buying decision. If you would like more information about this topic please feel free to contact me via the contact information on this web site.

Curtis Adams