Hire a home inspector that complies with maintenance checkup standards developed by reputable house inspection associations, such as the nonprofit International Association of Certified Home Inspectors Incorporated.
If you hire any of the certified members of InterNACHI or other reputable national organizations, you will be getting service from someone trained and experienced in home inspection, who have passed inspection examinations and who is continually required to take up continuing education courses in residential inspection.
During house inspection, your certified inspector will examine material defects and safety issues and then provide you with a complete written inspection report.
Under InterNACHI standards of practice, the parts and systems of your house that should be inspected are the roof, exterior parts, basement, crawlspace, foundation, fireplace, windows, doors, interior parts, attic and the heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, ventilation and insulation systems.
For every part or system of the house, there are particular standards that the house inspector should comply with, including particular tasks that should not be done.
When inspecting the roof, for instance, the inspector should inspect the roof covering, gutters, downspouts, vents, chimney, flashings, skylights and other roof parts, but should not examine underground downspout diverter pipes and should not predict the remaining life of the roof.
In the exterior inspection, the home inspector examines all exterior doors, stairs, steps, porches, railings, soffits, but is advised not to examine shutters, awnings, outbuildings and fences. Other exterior features like swimming pools, septic systems, sprinklers, erosion systems and solar systems are also excluded in the regular inspection.
When inspecting the basement and foundation, the inspector should not enter crawlspaces difficult to access and areas where movement could cause damage to the property.
Heating systems should be inspected using only normal operating controls. All other parts that do not operate and that pose a threat to the safety of occupants should be included in the report. Inspectors, however, are advised not to inspect fuel tanks and to evaluate the adequacy and quality of the system.
During electrical inspection, the inspector should examine the meter socket enclosure, the part used to disconnect the service main, panelboards, breakers, fuses, the receptacles and circuit breakers of the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter and report any inspected electrical component that could cause an accident.
Among the reasons the home inspector is advised not to inspect certain parts and systems of the house during regular inspection are the possible damage to the property, possible inspection accidents and possible liability lawsuits.
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