Admin

Florida Home Inspector Regulations - 10 Must Ask Questions When Hiring an Inspector

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Platinum Elite Realty 3219203

In Florida, under House bill 713, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is responsible for the oversight of home inspectors; however there is currently no professional board. Under Chapter 468 part XV of the Florida Statutes enforcement for the regulation began July 1, 2011. Under Chapter 468 Florida allowed for three new groups of professionals to apply for licensure by grandfathering as a home inspector which include individuals with current certification as one and two family dwelling inspector issued by the International Code Council or the Southern Building Code Congress International, individuals with current certification as one or two family dwelling inspector issued by the Florida Building Code Administrators and Inspectors Board and individuals with a current Division 1 contractor license under part 1 of Chapter 489. These three groups of professionals will be allowed until July 1, 2012.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation require new home inspectors to complete a total of 142 hours of education and training including 20 hours of hands on training. In addition new home inspectors must pass the National home Inspector Examination and obtain $ 300,000 in commercial general liability insurance.  

With the new regulations all home inspectors will either be grandfathered based on experience or have the minimum education and insurance as required by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations. So what is important when selecting a home inspector? I recommend interviewing any home inspector prior to hiring them. Here are some excellent questions to ask.

1.       How many years experience do they have conducting single family dwelling home inspections?

2.       How many single family dwelling home inspections have they completed?

3.       How many inspectors are at a typical home inspection?

4.       Do they perform defective drywall inspections?

5.       Do they include pest / bug / terminate inspections in their typical inspection?

6.       What do they charge for a home inspection?

7.       Do they have professional liability insurance?

8.       Are any of the inspectors a licensed general contractor?

9.        Does the inspection include photographs?

10.   What format is the report comes in? Do the inspectors complete the report on site?

A home inspection is highly recommended when purchasing a home. Many times an inspector can identify damages in areas that are not readily visible to the buyer such as water damage in the attic or electrical issues.

Show All Comments Sort:
Team Honeycutt
Allen Tate - Concord, NC

Great Post.  The 10 Must Ask Questions to ask a Home Inspector should be very helpful in making a good choice of an Inspector. Thanks for sharing.

Betty

Jul 24, 2011 10:44 AM