| About
Home Inspections
National home
inspection standards of practice exist that describe the minimum
and uniform standards for private, fee-paid home inspectors.
Home inspections performed to these standards of practice are
intended to provide the client with information regarding the
condition of the systems and components of
the home as inspected at the time of the home
inspection. In addition to the inspection industry standards
of practice, the pre-inspection agreement presented to the
Client by the Inspector also clarifies the scope of a home
inspection; what it is and what it is not.
The purpose of this document, “What
is a Home Inspection,” is to provide my clients
with additional information on the home inspection process
to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding about what a home
inspection is and what it is not. I want to ensure that the
expectations of my clients before, during and after the home
inspection match what they will receive from their home inspection.
Please visit www.goffhomeinspections.com/nachisop.html or
www.nachi.org/sop.htm for
a copy of my Standards of Practice which includes the limitations
and exclusions of a home inspection.
I (the Inspector) am a home inspection
consultant hired by you (the Client) to provide you with
a general evaluation of the systems related to residential
properties, apply independent judgment, and render an opinion
based on what I can observe. I provide the client with information
about the property based on a “visual inspection of readily accessible areas,” as
the property exists “on the day and time of the inspection.” Why
is the “visual inspection of readily accessible areas” and “on
the day and time of the inspection” emphasized? Please
read on . . .
I (the inspector) cannot move the personal property of the
seller due to liability and potential injury. Therefore, I
can only inspect what I have access to and what I can see.
I cannot disassemble items nor see anything that is hidden
(buried, behind something, inside something, obstructed from
view) like drain tiles, sewer pipes, the inside of walls, inside
the furnace (like the heat exchanger), inside a chimney flue,
and/or where a visual inspection cannot be performed due to
excessive storage of items, snow on the roof or grounds, and
more.
Trying to predict future conditions and/or trying to project
when things will fail is impossible. I cannot predict when
a house component or system will fail. Just like a person cannot
predict when a car will not start, when a tire might go flat,
or when a water pump will fail, no one can predict when a home
component or system will fail. An inspection typically takes
2-3 hours. During this amount of time, I look at what is evident today, at
the time and on the date of the inspection in order to provide
you with the best overall assessment of the home. If there
is water in the basement, if the roof is leaking, if the furnace
is not producing heat during the time of the inspection, these
conditions will be reported. If these conditions appear at
a future date, these are conditions that could not be identified,
reported on, and/or predicted based on the observable conditions
that existed at the time and on the date of the inspection.
The goal of
a home inspection is to give the client a much better understanding
of the physical condition of the structure and of the major
home systems, along with brief instruction on the normal operation
and maintenance of the property’s
components and systems. To achieve this, I conduct a visual
inspection of the home and its systems. The visual inspection
is my opinion of the condition of the home as it exists on
the day and time of the inspection.
Typical homes take 2-3 hours to inspect. When the client arrives,
I present a pre-inspection agreement and other documents to
my client to be reviewed and signed. At this time the client
provides me with payment for the inspection. I then give the
client a verbal overview of the inspection process to help
clarify client expectations and clarify the scope of a home
inspection (this verbal overview is in addition to the many
written documents the client has already reviewed). I then
provide information on additional services I provide as part
of and/or after the inspection and invite the client to accompany
me during the inspection.
The home inspection industry operates according to national
standards of practice (for example the National Association
of Certified Home Inspectors - NACHI). The NACHI Standards
of Practice can be viewed at www.nachi.org/sop.htm.
I inspect at a minimum the following:
- interior (non-cosmetic)
- exterior (non-cosmetic) / grounds / decks / garage
- foundation / basement / crawlspace
- framing / structure
- roof / attic / insulation / venting
- chimney (exterior) / fireplace
- kitchen / appliances / laundry / bathrooms
- plumbing system / electrical system / heating system
- air conditioning system
Additional items such as pools, hot tubs, barns, and other
outer structures (except primary garage), docks, sea walls,
lawn sprinkler systems, fences and gates are not included in
a home inspection, but can be included for an additional
fee. I will also schedule, on your behalf, other licensed
contractors to perform the following fee paid services,
which are not part of a home inspection, such as:
- wood destroying insects (pest inspection)
- well & septic inspection
- radon testing
- water testing
- lead testing
- asbestos testing
- formaldehyde testing
- carbon monoxide testing
A
home inspector is a “generalist” in the inspection
of all areas of residential homes. I will be looking for symptoms
and evidence of things that do not look standard throughout
the home, pointing these out, and suggesting actions for you
to take after the inspection is complete and prior to the expiration
of your home inspection contingency. If any component/area
of the home raises several “red flags,” or any
single item is considered dangerous or beyond the technical
scope of a home inspection (i.e., testing, engineering, etc.),
I will recommend further evaluation and/or remediation by a
specialist. A specialist is a person who works full-time in
an occupation where extensive training and licensing is often
required (i.e., electrician, plumber, or engineer). A good
analogy is when you go to your doctor (a generalist) for a
sore knee and based on their examination, they send you to
a specialist (an orthopedic doctor) for further evaluation
and treatment.
My inspection and reporting
process follows the National Association of Certified Home
Inspectors-Standards of Practice. A Goff Home Inspection, however,
goes beyond the scope of these standards in some areas (please
ask). The verbal and written information and conclusions I
provide are related to what I see (a
visual inspection of readily accessible items) during the inspection
process. I verbally explain my observations to you (the client)
so that through your own eyes, you see things in the same context
as I do. My written report is a written account of what we
(you and I) see and verbally discuss during the inspection.
I
encourage my clients to participate in the inspection process.
This helps to achieve a high level of communication and understanding
between my client and me and about the inspection. Face-to-face
discussion provides for feedback and allows me an opportunity
to repeat or modify my comments to ensure a good understanding
of topics being discussed. During my inspection “cosmetic” items
are not my focus (a small hole in a wall, a busted piece of
trim, stained carpeting, etc.). My focus is looking for and
pointing out any safety related and/or big expense items that
need to be repaired/replaced. With client participation, I
can also discuss maintenance issues related to some of the
home systems for the benefit of my client. Upon completion
of the inspection, I will review the inspection report, discuss
what was discovered and answer the client’s questions.
The client then receives a written or computer generated report
of the findings. The report is the client’s property;
no other party is entitled to the report.
Sometimes damage can occur to a home and the home systems
between the time of the inspection and when you take possession.
I believe the purpose of your final walk-through (often with
your real estate agent) is not only to make sure that any requested
items have been repaired, but to also make sure additional
damage and/or destruction beyond the normal wear and tear of
the moving process by the seller has not occurred. I recommend
a careful, slow, and thorough observation of the home with
your realtor at your final walk-through to ensure your satisfaction.
What a home inspection IS NOT:
- It is not a Pest Control Certification
- It is not a Well/Septic/Drain Field Inspection
- It is not a Warranty or Guarantee of the Home
- A Prediction of when any House Component or System will
Fail
The
inspector’s job is to inform the client of the condition
of the home as it exists on the date and time of the inspection.
The Inspector can describe any problems discovered and even
suggest repair recommendations. The inspector should not recommend
contractors, estimate repair/replacement costs, recommend whether
or not the client should purchase the home, comment on its
market value, or benefit in any way from the repair or sale
of the home.
Component
A part of a system or house
Dismantle
To take apart or remove any component, device, or
piece of equipment that would not be taken apart of removed
by a home owner in the course of normal and routine home owner
maintenance.
Home Inspection
The process by which an inspector visually examines
the readily accessible systems and components of
a home and which describes those systems and components in
accordance with home inspection industry standards of practice.
Inspector
A person hired to examine any system or component of a building
in accordance with home inspection industry standards of
practice.
Inspect
To examine readily accessible systems and components of
a building in accordance with industry standards of practice,
using normal operating controls and opening readily
openable access panels.
Normal Operating Controls
Devices such as thermostats, switches or valves intended to
be operated by the home owner.
Readily Accessible
Available for visual inspection without requiring moving of
personal property, dismantling, destructive measures,
or any action which will likely involve risk to persons or
property.
System
A combination of interacting or interdependent components,
assembled to carry out one or more functions.
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