Home Inspection Checklist for Texas Home Inspectors

Nice to see you Carl. I am not sure waht is going on. I am able to click on the term New Checklist and it opens up the pdf that I saved on my own site. If you cannot pull it up here, I can e-mail it to you.

You know that there is a change here and a change there, so I thought some type of guide would help.

You know Carl, there are the changes in language, but then there is a small thing here and there that we have to remember to add on. Checking the static water pressure will be one that I will have to remember to make a note on the report.

I was in negotiations with one specialty home builder to start doing the phase inspections, but that fell apart. Everyone wants us to lower our price when our costs are going up. My main business has been real estate investors (and oddly enough Realtors buying homes for themselves). With the number of inspectors in Houston trying to take advantage of the new TRCC rule to the ratio of new homes being built it seems that it will be hard to develop that business line, but we have to keep plugging away at it.

Carl- I figured a checklist such as this one may not be the best, but you can quickly scan over the items to see if you hit upon the new practice. I was thinking of highlighting them in yellow. (Some I did underline in this version). Many of these changes are items that I was covering anyway, but I was not marking them as in need of repair. For example, I would state if the home had AFCI breakers or not, and why that was important, but I would not check the in need of repair box. Now I just have to remeber to check the box.

I would prefer dealing with the customer too. Most builders are great, but some of them see us as a hindrance. Considering that it was builders behind the formation of the TRCC, they should adhere to the standards.

Robert, yes TREC is good about such things, but I just took the SOP and set it up as a checklist. My third child was born yesterday and I was in a green building class this week, so I have not had time to give this a better once over. This checklist is just meant until we get use to the new requirements.

Dale- thanks for dropping by, and of course you can use it; anything to help a friend out. I have been working on a newer version, but I only have notes for it so far. I need to sit down and type it.

Jay- you bring up some valid points that we are grappling with here in Texas. Firstly, there are small changes in throughout the SOPs, and I created this checklist as a tool to remind me not to skip a new standard. For example, when I check out a water heater, I take down vital information off of the tag, but now I need to remember to report its capacity on my report. That was not something I thought the homeowner needed to know, but the intention is that they should know if the unit is appropriate for the house, which I always did report on.

The SOPs represent the minimum that an inspector should do, and it was written by inspectors. Generally, there is another section of the procedures which states that deficiencies are judged by current best practices. Many inspectors, including myself, question how can we ensure that all inspectors are working at the same level if there is not a clear direction on what is meant by current best practices. The rule is vague on one hand to allow inspector knowledge come into play. For example, I report when there is no insulation over an attached porch or grarage, because I know that this is an energy drain, so I hope to show the homeowner how to reduce his utility bills. This is a current best practice among builders who are working towards "green" standards, but it is not a code requirement. Most inspectors will not report the missing insulation, because it is a standard practice. I report on it, because I think it is helpful for the potential homeowner to know that they can reduce their bills with this action. Currently, we inspectors are trying to find a way to help us define what is meant by the SOPs.

The language was changed from "in need of repair" to "deficiency" to reflect that an item does not neccessarily need to be repaired, but that it just does not meet the best in current practice. For example, my home does not have AFCI breakers for my bedroom areas. It has been fine for the past 42 years. Eventually I will be updating my panel to correct this situation. I want to inform my clients that this is a great new way to protect their homes, but should they force a seller to install them? The state wants every new homeowner to know about this feature, so that is why I am required to report on it, but the first page of the new report states that no one is required to make repairs based upon the findings in the report. We are just information providers, and the state wishes to use us to spread information on new technologies. It is up to the buyer and seller to negotiate any terms that may arise form our reports.

Dale- I was thinking about you and Carl the other day. I was going to send an email to you next week; it has been a busy weekend. I have been focusing on a marketing campaign to homeowners (instead of buyers and sellers) that has been paying off (more work, but less money for each job, but then again less work on each job). Things like roof inspections and such. Then I have been busy with real estate investors. I was on a couple of inspections in Deer Park recently.

The family is doing well. My wife is concerned about being lay offs at the hospital, but I think she may be alright. My son wants me to build a bio-reactor with him, and the girls are amazing. I hope that your family is good. I will send that email soon.

Dale, I do go out that way. He sent me the same email, and I did respond to him. I think maybe that he is trying to become a hoe inspector, so he is checking up on some facts.