Are you buying a home? One of the most important aspects of hiring the home inspector is the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and understanding of his/her experience. An in-depth understandings of the principles of residential construction are paramount and should be considered vital in your pre-inspection interview.  

In the State of Mississippi, to help eliminate inconsistent reporting and establish a more unified profession, certain standards were adopted.  In order to create this standard Mississippi chose the American Society of Home Inspectors’ (ASHI) Standards of Practice as a guideline. The state also adopted ASHI’s Code of Ethics to guide inspector conduct.

 Section 2.1 of the standard reads in part:  “The purpose of these Standards of Practice is to establish a minimum and uniform standard for home inspectors”…  However, the establishment of a minimum does not limit the inspector to the quantity of information reported, the means by which the report is delivered or the arrangement of the report details. Each individual inspector is left to provide the details of the report as they deem appropriate, as long as they include, at the very least, the minimum standard adopted.

In section 2.2. the SOP reads:

The Inspector shall:

• adhere to the Code of Ethics of the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• inspect readily accessible, visually observable, installed systems and components listed in these Standards of Practice.
• report :
• those systems and components inspected that, in the professional judgment of the inspector, are not functioning properly, significantly deficient, unsafe, or are near the end of their service lives.
• recommendations to correct, or monitor for future correction, the deficiencies reported in 2.2.C.1, or items needing further evaluation. (Per Exclusion 13.2.A.5 inspectors are NOT required to determine methods, materials, or costs of corrections.)
• and give reasoning or explanation as to the nature of the deficiencies reported in 2.2.C.1, that are not self-evident.
• systems and components designated for inspection in these Standards of Practice that were present at the time of the home inspection but were not inspected and the reason(s) they were not inspected.

After your inspection report has been delivered, read all of the report and at the very least the home inspection report should include:

• what’s been inspected
• the recommendations to correct or monitor those items
• the reasons for including the deficiencies, if any are found
• and if a system or component is not inspected, you should have a reason why in the report

Care should be taken to assure that your home inspector has included the above items in his/her reporting methods. The inspector’s perspective, reporting methods and opinions will vary based on the apparent facts and the inspector’s ideals.

Click here for a complete copy of the standards and code of ethics for Mississippi.

Gary Smith – Professional Home Inspector