A Home Inspection Report is not the same as the Standards of Practice.
A home inspector (outside of Texas) may create a home inspection report any way they want as long as it meets the State requirements.
Often times I receive a blank or template report form from an inspector asking me if their blank report meets State requirements. A common problem area is when line item components are combined and not inclusive of the same deficiency.
For example, many Standards of Practice combine roof penetrations on the same line. Something like... Inspector shall inspect: Chimney, Skylights, Roof Penetrations. In a Standards of Practice it makes sense to combine these items on the same line since they are all included in the set of Roof Penetrations.
However, in the inspection report the inspector communicates in writing to the client the condition of: Chimney, Skylights, Roof Penetrations. Clearly the condition of the chimney may be different than the condition of the skylight. Lets not forget the general roof penetration reference. The home inspection report needs to identify the roof penetration. Is it a plumbing vent? Is it an antenna? Is it a roof vent?
The report is not the same as the SOP. The report needs to clearly indicate the condition of the chimney. The report needs to clearly indicate the condition of the Skylights. The report needs to clearly identify other roof penetrations and their condition.
It annoys me to see line items like this in an inspection report. It is worse when I read a completed report and their is a check box rating for all the items combined, and the narrative report areas describes a different condition rating for each of the components on the line item.
I understand the inspection time with the home inspector is the paid for service and that the report summarizes the inspection to meet State requirements. Report wrting may not be the glamorous part of the job, yet the SOP text verbatim is not always appropriate for the inspection report.
Hopefully this tip prevents a complaint.
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