The Scope and Purpose of a Home Inspection

Purchasing property involves risk

The purpose of a home inspection is to help reduce the risk associated with the purchase of a structure by providing a professional opinion about the overall condition of the structure. A home inspection is a limited visual inspection and it cannot eliminate this risk. Some homes present more risks than others. We cannot control this, but we try to help educate you about what we don’t know during the inspection process. This is more difficult to convey in a report and one of many reasons why we recommend that you attend the inspection.

A home inspection is not an insurance policy, warranty or guarantee

This report does not substitute for or serve as a warranty or guarantee of any kind. Home warranties can be purchased separately from insuring firms that provide this service.

A home inspection is visual and not destructive

The descriptions and observations in this report are based on a visual inspection of the structure. We inspect the aspects of the structure that can be viewed without dismantling, damaging or disfiguring the structure and without moving furniture and interior furnishings. Areas that are concealed, hidden or inaccessible to view are not covered by this inspection. Some systems cannot be tested during this inspection as testing risks damaging the building. For example, overflow drains on bathtubs are generally not tested because if they were found to be leaking they could damage the finishes below. Our procedures involve non-invasive investigation and non-destructive testing which will limit the scope of the inspection.

This is not an inspection for code compliance

This inspection and report are not intended for city / local code compliance. During the construction process structures are inspected for code compliance by municipal inspectors. Framing is open at this time and conditions can be fully viewed. Framing is not open during inspections of finished homes, and this limits the inspection. All houses fall out of code compliance shortly after they are built, as the codes continually change. National codes are augmented at least every three years for all of the varying disciplines. Municipalities can choose to adopt and phase in sections of the codes on their own timetables. There are generally no requirements to bring older homes into compliance unless substantial renovation is being done.

This is just our opinion

Construction techniques and standards vary. There is no one way to build a house or install a system in a house. The observations in this report are the opinions of the home inspector. Other inspectors and contractors are likely to have some differing opinions. You are welcome to seek opinions from other professionals.

The scope of this inspection

This inspection will include the following systems: exterior, roof, structure, drainage, foundation, attic, interior, plumbing, electrical and heating. The evaluation will be based on limited observations that are primarily visual and non-invasive. A home inspection will not reveal every concern that exists or ever could exist, but only those material defects observed on the day of the inspection. A material defect is a condition with a residential real property or any portion of it that would have a significant adverse impact on the value of the real property or that involves an unreasonable risk to people on the property. The fact that a structural element, system or subsystem is near, at or beyond the end of the normal useful life of such a structural element, system or subsystem is not by itself a material defect.

This inspection and report are not intended to be technically exhaustive. For a review of the Standard of Practices for Inspection a residential property visit: Click here

Your expectations

The overall goal of a home inspection is to help ensure that your expectations are appropriate with the house you are proposing to buy. To this end we assist with discovery by showing and documenting observations during the home inspection. This should not be mistaken for a technically exhaustive inspection designed to uncover every defect with a building. Such inspections are available but they are generally cost-prohibitive to most homebuyers.

As a homeowner, you should expect problems to occur. Roof will leak, basement may have water problems, and systems may fail without warning. For these reasons, you should keep a comprehensive insurance policy current.

Your participation is requested

Your presence is requested during this inspection. A written report will not substitute for all the possible information that can be conveyed verbally by a shared visual observation of the conditions of the property.

Thank you for your business

We are proud of our services, and trust that you will be happy with the quality of our report. We have made every effort to provide you with accurate assessment of the condition of the property, and its components, and to alert you to any significant defects or adverse conditions. However, we may not have tested every outlet, and not open every door and window, or identified every problem. Also, because our inspection is essentially visual, latent defects could exist. We cannot see behind walls. Therefore, you should not regard our inspection as a guarantee or warranty. It is simply a report on the general condition of the property at a given point in time. As a homeowner, you should expect problems to occur. Roof will leak, basement may have water problems, and systems may fail without warning. For these reasons, you should keep a comprehensive insurance policy current.

This report was written exclusively for our Client. It is not transferable to other people. The report is only supplemental to Seller's Disclosure Statement.

Thank you for taking the time to read the report, and call us if you have any questions. We are always attempting to improve the quality of our service, and our report. Thank you for choosing our home inspection service.

We are grateful for your business, and look forward working with you again, or with your friends in the future! 

How to Read This Report

Getting the Information to You

This report is designed to deliver important and technical information in a way that is easy for anyone to access and understand. If you are in a hurry, you can take a quick look at our "Summary Page” and quickly get critical information for important decision making. However, we strongly recommend that you take the time to read the full Report, which includes digital photographs, captions, diagrams, descriptions, videos and hot links to additional information.

The best way to get the layers of information that are presented in this report is to read your report online (the HTML version), which will allow you to expand your learning about your house. You will notice some words or series of words highlighted in blue and underlined – clicking on these will provide you with a link to additional information. The HTML version of this report also contains streaming videos. Short video clips often contain important information and critical context and sounds that can be difficult to capture in words and still pictures.

For the most reliable viewing experience, I recommend viewing the report on as large a screen as practical, as much detail can be lost on small devices like smart phones. For similar reasons, reports should only be printed in color to retain as much detail as possible and minimize misinterpretation of photographs.

This report can also be printed on paper or to a PDF document.

We recommend to save a PDF for future references.

Chapters and Sections

This report is divided into chapters that parcel the home into logical inspection components. Each chapter is broken into sections that relate to a specific system or component of the home. You can navigate between chapters with the click of a button on the left side margin.

Most sections will contain some descriptive information done in black font. Observation narrative, done in colored boxes, will be included if a system or component is found to be significantly deficient in some way or if we wish to provide helpful additional information about the system or the scope of our inspection. If a system or component of the home was deemed to be in satisfactory or serviceable condition, there may be no narrative observation comments in that section and it may simply say “tested,” or “inspected.”

Observation Labels

All narrative observations are colored, numbered and labeled to help you find, refer to, and understand the severity of the observation. Observation colors and labels used in this report are:

• Disclaimers:
  Disclaimers for various systems
• Major Concern:
  Repair items that may cost significant money to correct now or in the near future, or items that require immediate attention to prevent additional damage or eliminate safety hazards.
• Repair:
  Repair and maintenance items noted during inspection. Please note that some repair items can be expensive to correct such as re-finishing hardwood floors, but are considered simply repair items due to their cosmetic nature.
• Recommended Maintenance:
  These are repair items that should be considered "routine home ownership items," such as servicing the furnace, cleaning the gutters or changing the air filters in the furnace.
• Improve:
  Observations that are not necessarily defects, but which could be improved for safety, efficiency, or reliability reasons.
• Monitor:
  Items that should be watched to see if correction may be needed in the future.
• Future Project:
  A repair that may be deferred for some time but should be on the radar for repair or replacement in the near future.
• Efficiency:
  Denotes observations that are needed to make the home more energy efficient as well as to bring the home up to modern insulation standards. This category typically includes windows and insulation. Other items, such as lighting and appliances, are not inspected for their energy status.
• Functional:
  Items that are in operational condition
• Note:
  Refers to aside information and /or any comments elaborating on descriptions of systems in the home or limitations to the home inspection.

Summary Page

The Summary Page is designed as a bulleted overview of all the observations noted during inspection. This helpful overview is not a substitution for reading the entire inspection report. The entire report must be read to get a complete understanding of this inspection report as the Summary Page does not include photographs or photo captions.