NOT!!
Home Inspectors are not experts on every aspect or system of a home, but we are very good generalists. The Home Inspector can inspect a home and report upon the home’s condition as it was at the time of the inspection. That is the main responsibility of the Inspector.
A home inspection does not include predictions of future events, house warranties, or guarantees that nothing will ever go wrong. Future events (such as roof leaks, water intrusion, plumbing leaks, and heating failures) cannot be predicted and are not within the scope of a home inspection. Future issues that arise are also not the responsibility of the Home Inspector. So, who is responsible? The homeowner.
The most important thing for a homeowner to understand is that things will break. As time goes on, parts of the house will wear out, break down, deteriorate, leak, or simply stop working.
The inspection image above shows moisture stains in the corner of the ceiling. These stains indicate that water has leaked from something in the past. It could have been from the roof, plumbing, or even condensation from the HVAC system. The Home Inspector may be able to determine what caused this stain in the past, but if the issue has been repaired, the Inspector cannot guarantee that it won't happen again or that new issues won't arise in the future. One could assume that the homeowner would likely know of this moisture problem since it appears to have been an issue for some time.
In a real estate transaction, the inspection report is only supplementary to the seller’s disclosure (what the seller knows about the home). The report provides additional information to the potential home buyer so they can make a more informed decision on purchasing the home.
The inspection image above shows a shingle tab that lifted up in the wind and cracked in half. This damage happened during a storm a few days after the home inspection was performed and was noticed by the buyer during their final walk through before closing. The buyers called the Home Inspector, initially upset that they were not informed of roof damage during the inspection; but photos taken of the roof during the inspection showed that there was no damage present at the time of inspection. Therefore, this problem is not the responsibility of the home inspector, but of the homeowner. And it's likely that the homeowner wasn't aware of the problem until the buyers saw it. Home Inspectors often get blamed when issues arise after the home has been purchased, but most of the time they are problems that were not present during the inspection and could not have been predicted by the Inspector. It's unfortunate, but it is also one of the many aspects of owning a home.
Things will break!
Comments