What is a Home Inspection?
What is a Home Inspection?
What exactly is a Home Inspection?
I prefer to not call it a Home Inspection, I would rather call it a "Home Information Report".
Inspection infers a "pass/fail" scenario, you will find that the inspection and the report are more informative than judgemental. Just a few examples would be that the Home Inspection will point out where emergency shut offs are, the location of systems and components.
A Home Inspection does not take cosmetic items into consideration, such as the color of the paint, the style of the light fixtures, or that there is shag carpeting, etc.
The State of New Jersey defines a Home Inspection as:
NEW JERSEY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
HOME INSPECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
"Home inspection" means a visual, functional, non-invasive inspection conducted for a fee or
any other consideration and performed without moving personal property, furniture, equipment,
plants, soil, snow, ice, or debris, using the mandatory equipment and including the preparation
of a home inspection report of the readily-accessible elements of the following components of a
residential building: structural components, exterior components, roofing system, plumbing
system, electrical system, heating system, cooling system, interior components, insulation
components and ventilation system, fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances, or any other
related residential housing component as determined by the Board, in consultation with the
Committee, by rule, but excluding recreational facilities and outbuildings other than garages or
carports.
How does that translate into Plain English?
- Visual and non-invasive.
- Home inspectors will look at things without taking them apart and without moving things to get a better look.
- Functional.
- Home inspections determine if things work, not how well they work.
- Mandatory Equipment.
- Home inspectors are required to have and use certain tools, testers, and equipment to assess required parts of the house.
- Readily Accessible Elements.
- Things that can be inspected without moving things or taking things apart.
- Home Inspection Report.
- A written summary of what was inspected, what was not inspected and why. Information about the findings of the inspections. See (Home Inspection Report)
- Residential Building.
- A building with 4 or fewer individual dwellings. (More than 4 is considered a commercial inspection)
Structural components, exterior components, roofing system, plumbing system, electrical system, heating system, cooling system, interior components, insulation components and ventilation system, fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances, or any other related residential housing component.
Excluding recreational facilities and outbuildings other than garages or carports.
Only Garages and Carports are required to be included in the inspection, other outbuildings are inspected only by negotiating with the inspector.
Are there different kinds of Home Inspections?