When buying a home, many people are overwhelmed and may even feel inadequate when doing a final walk through. For this reason, some decide to hire a home inspector. This is a good option in many cases, but hiring the right inspector is very important. An inexperienced or unqualified home inspector can be as dangerous and annoying as having your “know-it-all” brother-in-law along.
Home inspectors differ greatly from building inspectors. A building inspector is highly trained to insure that a home is built to comply with all current building codes. Home inspectors are required to inspect and report only defects that are either a safety concern or that represent a current or future maintenance issue. These inspections are primarily intended for existing homes where defects and safety issues may exist. Home inspectors are not supposed to report code deficiencies as they are many times inspecting older homes that were built under previous building codes.
Until last year, there was not even a licensing requirement in Florida for home inspectors. Consequently, there were many unqualified and untrained people offering advice to buyers on one of the most important decisions of their lives. Even though there is now a requirement to be licensed in Florida to perform home inspections, there was a “grandfathering-in” process in 2011. This allowed many of these unqualified inspectors to gain licenses, so it is still critical that you check all credentials before hiring a home inspector.
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