25 Important Issues Excluded From Home Inspections 

Hiring a pre-purchase home inspection is nearly standard practice for home buyers.  However, the scope and depth of what is included or excluded from the inspection is far from standard.  No government agency or law regulates what your home inspector will ignore.  And these 25 exclusions could potentially overlook serious health, safety or value issues for your family.

No home inspection can include all issues.  Some possible issues would take so long to examine, (for example, a 90-day radon test, or an air conditioning test preceding a January sale), that it would discourage the buy-sell parties from completing the deal.  Some of the tests and examinations would require a small army of specially trained experts.  Many home buyers simply would not have the inspection if it cost $5,000.

These are not minor items!  Some of them can be dangerous or expensive.  Every home buyer should make careful and deliberate decisions whether to have these items inspected.  For a start, your real estate agent should be able to advise on where to find experts to help you with these items.

So it’s a compromise among inspector’s fee amount, home buyer risk, and time available.  As a result, the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors provides the following list of 25 exclusions in its Standards of Practice. 

1. property boundary lines or encroachments. 

2. the condition of any component or system that is not readily accessible.

3. the service life expectancy of any component or system. 

4. the size, capacity, BTU, performance, or efficiency of any component or system. 

5. the cause or reason of any condition. 

6. the cause for the need of repair or replacement of any system or component. 

7. future conditions. 

8. compliance with codes or regulations. 

9. the presence of evidence of rodents, animals or insects. 

10. the presence of mold, mildew or fungus. 

11. the presence of air-borne hazards. 

12. the presence of birds. 

13. the presence of other flora or fauna. 

14. the air quality. 

15. the existence of asbestos. 

16. the existence of environmental hazards. 

17. the existence of electro-magnetic fields. 

18. the presence of hazardous materials including, but not limited to, the presence of lead in paint. 

19. any hazardous waste conditions. 

20. any manufacturer's recalls or conformance with manufacturer installation, or any information included for consumer protection purposes. 

21. operating costs of systems. 

22. replacement or repair cost estimates. 

23. the acoustical properties of any systems.

24. estimates of the cost to operating any given system.

VIEW MORE POSTS LIKE THIS AT MY WEB SITE:
www.BlackHillsMarketWatch.com