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Home inspection

A home inspection is a limited, non-invasive examination of the condition of a home, often in connection with the sale of that home. Home inspections are usually conducted by a home inspector who has the training and certifications to perform such inspections. The inspector prepares and delivers to the client a written report of findings. The client then uses the knowledge gained to make informed decisions about their pending real estate purchase. The home inspector describes the condition of the home at the time of inspection but does not guarantee future condition, efficiency, or life expectancy of systems or components.

Sometimes confused with a real estate appraiser, a home inspector determines the condition of a structure, whereas an appraiser determines the value of a property. In the United States, although not all states or municipalities regulate home inspectors, there are various professional associations for home inspectors that provide education, training, and networking opportunities. A professional home inspection is an examination of the current condition of a house. It is not an inspection to verify compliance with appropriate codes; building inspection is a term often used for building code compliance inspections in the United States. A similar but more complicated inspection of commercial buildings is a property condition assessment. Home inspections identify problems but building diagnostics identifies solutions to the found problems and their predicted outcomes. A property inspection is a detailed visual documentation of a property’s structures, design, and fixtures. Property Inspection provides a buyer, renter, or other information consumer with valuable insight into the property’s conditions prior to purchase. House-hunting can be a difficult task especially when you can’t seem to find one that you like. The best way to get things done is to ensure that there is a property inspection before buying a property.

Inspection

An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. The results are usually compared to specified requirements and standards for determining whether the item or activity is in line with these targets, often with a Standard Inspection Procedure in place to ensure consistent checking. Inspections are usually non-destructive.

Inspections may be a visual inspection or involve sensing technologies such as ultrasonic testing, accomplished with a direct physical presence or remotely such as a remote visual inspection, and manually or automatically such as an automated optical inspection. Non-contact optical measurement and photogrammetry have become common NDT methods for inspection of manufactured components and design optimisation.

A 2007 Scottish Government review of scrutiny of public services (the Crerar Review) defined inspection of public services as “… periodic, targeted scrutiny of specific services, to check whether they are meeting national and local performance standards, legislative and professional requirements, and the needs of service users.”^[1]

A surprise inspection tends to have different results than an announced inspection. Leaders wanting to know how others in their organization perform can drop in without warning, to see directly what happens. If an inspection is made known in advance, it can give people a chance to cover up or to fix mistakes. This could lead to distorted and inaccurate findings. A surprise inspection, therefore, gives inspectors a better picture of the typical state of the inspected object or process than an announced inspection. It also enhances external confidence in the inspection process.^{[1]: 28}

Building inspection

A building inspection is an inspection performed by a building inspector, a person who is employed by either a city, township or county and is usually certified in one or more disciplines qualifying them to make professional judgment about whether a building meets building code requirements. A building inspector may be certified either as a residential or commercial building inspector, as a plumbing, electrical or mechanical inspector, or other specialty-focused inspector who may inspect structures at different stages of completion.^[1] Building inspectors may charge a direct fee or a building permit fee. Inspectors may also be able to hold up construction work until inspection has been completed and approved.^[2]

Some building inspection expertises like facade inspections are required by certain cities or counties and considered mandatory. These are to be done by engineers and not by contractors. An example of a city that adopted this law is Quebec followed by a fatal incident that occurred due to negligence of the state of a facade. These inspections are often included in a contracted building inspection but might not be carefully analyzed and diagnosed like an engineer would.

Building inspectors

Building inspectors are often employed by governments and are frequently certified by the State, the International Code Council (ICC), or the Certified Commercial Property Inspectors Association (CCPIA) though are not always required to have any certification. Inspections are done to assure compliance with building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical or specialty codes, such as swimming pool codes, that are being enforced by the jurisdiction in which they work. There are many categories and levels of ICC certified inspectors.

Building inspectors are often contacted by strata managers or body corporate with storm water design issues, structural design proposals or civil design modifications. In addition, individuals are often required by councils to carry out dilapidation reports and building inspections of adjoining properties and associated council properties before and after construction, to establish that no damage has occurred due to the work carried out. Additional functions of a Building Inspector often include the evaluation of existing structures which have been subjected to physical damage from earthquakes, wind events, floods and fire, as well as investigations involving non-permitted construction.

Consulting engineers often carry out structural building inspections for strata properties where there are structural elements of the building found to be unsafe. Whether it is the balconies, balustrades or cracking due to settlement in the walls, consulting engineers provide building inspections of the property and make the appropriate assessment and provide dilapidation reports followed by proposals for remedial action.

Property condition assessment

Property condition assessments (PCAs) (also known as the property condition report, or PCR) are due diligence projects associated with commercial real estate. Commercial property and building inspections are important for clients seeking to know the condition of a property or real estate they may be purchasing, leasing, financing or simply maintaining. Commercial building inspectors generally follow industry accepted guidelines of ASTM E2018 or the International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties (ComSOP).^[1] These commercial inspection standards help both the commercial building inspector and the client to understand the scope agreed to for the inspection, including the systems or areas to be inspected, and is used as a guide to develop said scopes and procedures. Often they are done as part of a property transfer and are done along with a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. PCAs are not to be confused with facility condition assessments, which are similar in nature but serve a different purpose.

Depending on client needs or accepted risks, and property types, some inspections can require the involvement of specialists, and some can be done by a general commercial building inspector or engineer. Each varying degree of review or assessment will involve various costs and time frames.

Once the PCA is completed, a written report is compiled and delivered to the client within an acceptable time frame. The report may include such items as concerns observed, recommendations for repairs or further inspections, opinions of the likely cost of future capital projects, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance surveys.

Real estate inspection

A property condition assessment is the examination for purposes of evaluating a commercial or business property’s condition often as a part of a due diligence investigation for a company to know what it is buying. Building code officials do a building inspection to determine code compliance in new or altered buildings before issuing a certificate of occupancy. Residential inspections not for code compliance are called a home inspection. There are numerous types of more specific real estate and infrastructure inspections such as windstorm inspection, energy audit, and pipeline video inspection.

Real estate

Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more generally) buildings or housing in general.^[1][2] In terms of law, real is in relation to land property and is different from personal property while estate means the “interest” a person has in that land property.^[3]

Real estate is different from personal property, which is not permanently attached to the land, such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, tools and the rolling stock of a farm.

In the United States, the transfer, owning, or acquisition of real estate can be through business corporations, individuals, nonprofit corporations, fiduciaries, or any legal entity as seen within the law of each U.S. state.^[4]