Texas Minimum Inspection Standards

What is the standard for home inspections in Texas? It's not what you think. The good new is that it is tougher than the national ASHI or interNACHI inspection standards. The bad news is that you don't know if the inspector will follow it as you may not appear to be the real person he or she is trying to impress in order to gain referrals. You also don't know if the inspector really understands the inspection standards. There's no check and balances. Secondly, the Inspection Standards were not designed to be a repair list for buyer or seller. There are no required repairs. You better get a good inspector. In fact the previous "In Need of Repair" box was removed and replaced with "Deficient". The political reasoning for real estate sales is that something can be deficient but not in need of repair. They left it up to the Buyer to decide what to do with the information.

The Texas Minimum Standards of Practice are of a written limited visual inspection standard developed by the Texas Real Estate Commission. Some buyers may not understand that this bare minimum standard tells the inspectors what to look for but is certainly not comprehensive and a minimum is never a good, better or best standard. Many believe you should never exceed the minimum and they work hard not to. Doing more upsets people. Besides you'll never know.

The Texas Minimum Standards of Practice was originally designed based on the CABO One and Two-Family code and the Standard is still based on the current codes and standards that CABO was rolled into. One needs to understand the building and mechanical codes in order to effectively follow the Texas Minimum Standards of Practice. Unfortunately all inspectors will tell you they don't do any code inspections and that's correct because a great number are not ICC code certified. They can't follow the Standard because they don't want know what it is as you aren't their real client. Find out yourself. Call one and ask. They won't follow the Minimum Standard which is the same thing as the code and you have to know the code in order to follow the Standards. Ouch! My head hurts!

* Texas Real Estate Commission Chapter 535, General Provisions, Rules Adopted at the October 27, 2008 Meeting, Page 01, Excerpt - "The reasoned justification for the new sections is increased clarity for inspectors and consumers alike regarding what a home inspector is and is not required to inspect, as well as standards that more accurately reflect current technology, codes, an practices that form the basis of many of the standards.

A detailed comprehensive inspection is available with specialists but option periods do not allow enough time to arrange those. They also require approval from the Seller as it exceeds the Minimum. They can run over $5,000.00 and may need a 10-20 day option period after necessary approvals for the team it takes can get on the same schedule. An average substandard inspection takes less than 2 or 3 hours. There is too much to check for in such little time. Everybody likes the inspector that doesn't find anything. He's great. If you follow the Texas Minimum Standards of Practice you will find plenty in in Texas with unlicensed home builders and contractors. If you don't understand the Standards you won't.

Look at social media pages and web sites. Most inspectors rely on sales agents for continuous work and are always vying for their attention. Plus when you follow the Facebook postings of inspector clubs and associations you can see many do not understand the standards and actually don't know what to inspector for. They post daily pictures and ask others if "it" is a problem. You generally have incompetent asking the incompetent. You shake your head. You see less than 20% in any industry is actually good. The rest are marginally qualified or worse.

Licensing helps in some ways as it keeps out sex offenders and some (but not all) felons but licensing also legalizes incompetence.

Flip burgers, take a class, pass a test and you can become licensed to learn how to inspect on the job and in someones' home. The state does not teach anyone on how to inspect. They issue a license and a license is not a credential. You can't teach experience. You can't teach all the construction trades with minimal hour classroom education from a for-profit school under pressure to keep the passing rate high.

No. The inspection is not arbitrary or a free for all. It should follow the mandated Inspection Standards of Practice which is codified.

If you the Buyer want more then you need to commission a comprehensive inspection ahead of time and secure the necessary approvals.