What is Non-Invasive? What Can’t Home Inspectors Do?

As home inspectors, we often get questioned about what is and what isn’t a home inspection and what can and what can’t we do in the course of a home inspection.

Firstly, a home inspection is a non-invasive visual evaluation of the major systems of a home. We are looking at the roof, electrical, plumbing, central heating and cooling systems, structural components, siding, etc. We are evaluating if these systems are functioning as intended. We report if there are visual indications of component or system failure, unsafe conditions, etc. A home inspection is defined in the PA Home Inspection Law (Act 114) as:

“A noninvasive, visual examination of some combination of the mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems or the structural and essential components of a residential dwelling designed to identify material defects in those systems and components, and performed for a fee in connection with or preparation for a proposed or possible residential real estate transfer.”

Non-invasive means that we are visually inspecting these systems without taking the systems or components apart. We don’t move the seller’s furniture, shelving, stored items, boxes, etc. We, of course, don’t put holes in walls, pull up carpeting, move ceiling tiles, move insulation, etc. We can only inspect what we can see. Very importantly, this also means that we can’t see through walls and ceilings, through furniture and bookcases, etc. Consumers need to keep in mind that a home inspection is a 3 hour-long snapshot in time documenting the visual condition of the home’s major systems. Issues within walls and ceilings, behind furniture, areas covered by insulation, just to name a few examples, can and will be missed simply due to the mere nature of a home inspection. As a seller, would you want (or even permit) strangers coming into your home and causing damage?

Even the most thorough home inspection won’t find everything ‘wrong’ in a home because the inspector can’t see and inspect every inch of the home. A home inspection is designed to help minimize the risk in buying a home, not eliminate it.

There are things that sellers can do to help minimize the issues that can be hidden. It is important that sellers properly prepare a home before the buyer’s inspection takes place. I always email a ‘how to get the home ready’ list to the listing agent for them to provide to their seller ahead of time. Things like making sure the attic, basement, and/or crawl space is fully accessible and there aren’t boxes, furniture, shelving, or other belongings blocking safe access to these areas. Otherwise, we can’t access and inspect these areas. We must respect the seller’s property when in their home and we can’t take it upon ourselves to start moving their belongings. If things are damaged or broken, the inspector may be held liable.

A few times over the many years that I’ve been inspecting homes, I’d had agents or buyers ask ‘can’t you move the shelving blocking the attic entrance?’ or ‘can’t you turn on the gas valve at the fireplace?’. The simple answer is no. All utilities and systems must be operational prior to the inspection and all areas (including attics, basements, and crawl spaces) must be readily and safely accessible. I’ve had a few clients and agents over the years that took it upon themselves to move things or turn on gas or water valves only to end up breaking something or causing a gas or plumbing leak. Again, remember, we are guests in the seller’s home and it is not our right or function to do these things.

About 12 years ago or so during an inspection, the buyer’s agent took it upon herself to turn on the valve behind a toilet. I advised the agent to leave it off and the toilet’s status would be noted in the report. Even the buyer, her client, advised her not to touch it. Shortly thereafter, when we started the inspection of the basement, we saw water pouring into the basement below the same toilet through the finished ceiling. Voila.. the seller had turned off the water to the toilet, didn’t tell anyone (didn’t list the toilet issue in the disclosure either), and the buyer’s agent caused considerable damage in the finished basement. The seller should have alerted us beforehand to the toilet being turned off AND the buyer’s agent should not have took it upon herself to turn on valves that were off. About a month later, I talked to the agent and found out she ended up having to pay over $17,000 to repair the water damaged ceiling, flooring, insulation, and stored items (boxes of 40 year wedding photos were stored in the basement almost directly below the leak). At the time, the agent figured ‘I am helping my client to get a full inspection’, yet soon learned the bad consequences of this idea that she had to pay out of her pocket to the seller. No idea if the transaction closed, by the way. This is a good example of why home inspectors don’t assume things (such as why things are turned off) and leave things as we found them, yet document our findings in our reports.

Inspectors who are members of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) follow a recognized standard called the ASHI Standard Of Practice. It sets a baseline to what we must inspect and what we are not required to inspect. The ASHI SoP also includes the ASHI Code of Ethics. Specifically listed as things that we are not required to inspect such as areas that are unsafe to enter, things that may cause damage (such as moving the seller’s belongings), not having to inspect systems that are not operational (such as gas, electric, or water turned off to them), etc. I email my inspection agreement along with a link to the ASHI Standard of Practice and ASHI Code of Ethics to my clients days before the inspection is scheduled to occur so they can read this information and have reasonable expectations ahead of time of what the inspector can and can not do.

Matthew Steger is a Certified Level 1 Infrared Thermographer, an ASHI Certified Inspector (ACI), and an electrical engineer. He can be reached at matthew@thehomeinspectorsnotebook.com. No article, or portion thereof, may be reproduced or copied without prior written consent of Matthew Steger.