Pennsylvania has changed its law regarding home inspectors and inspections. Here's how it affects you

The climate for home inspection in Pennsylvania, and the rules for home inspectors in the Commonwealth, changed significantly on Dec. 20, 2001, when the state Home Inspection Law (PA Act 114 of 2000) took effect. The law changes in several ways the terms and conditions under which home inspectors may operate.

The following is adapted from information available from the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS (the PAR; http://www.parealtor.org/).

The Home Inspection Law amends Title 68 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to regulate certain aspects of the performance of home inspections in order to increase professionalism throughout the home inspection industry. It is one of three Chapters (Chapter 75) of the Residential Real Estate Transfers Law. Pennsylvania previously had no statutory provisions regulating the performance of home inspections or requiring a certain level of professionalism by home inspectors.

The law defines a home inspection as “a noninvasive visual examination of some combination of the mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems or the structural and essential components of a residential dwelling designed to identify material defects in those systems and components and performed for a fee in connection with or preparation for a proposed or possible residential real estate transfer. The term also includes any consultation regarding the property that is represented to be a home inspection or that is described by any confusingly similar term. The term does not include an examination of a single system or component of a residential dwelling such as, for example, its electrical or plumbing system or its roof. The term also does not include an examination that is limited to inspection for, or of, one or more of the following: wood destroying insects, underground tanks and wells, septic systems, swimming pools and spas, alarm systems, air and water quality, tennis courts and playground equipment, pollutants, toxic chemicals and environmental hazards.”

A home inspector is “an individual who performs a home inspection.” In certain situations, however, the law requires that a home inspection be performed by “a full member in good standing of a national home inspection association…”

In general, any home inspector may conduct a home inspection. HOWEVER, where the inspection is conducted as part of a contingency in an Agreement of Sale (i.e., where the results of the inspection may trigger certain duties to repair or renegotiate), the inspection must be conducted by “a full member in good standing of a national home inspection association” or by an inspector who is not a full member but is supervised by a full member who signs the inspection report.

As defined by the law, a national home inspection association: (1) is operated on a not-for-profit basis and not operated as a franchise; (2) has members in more than 10 states; (3) requires that a person may not be a full member unless the person has performed or participated in more than 100 home inspections and has passed a recognized or accredited examination testing knowledge of the proper procedures for conducting a home inspection; and (4) requires that its members comply with a code of conduct and attend continuing professional education classes as an ongoing condition of membership.

Some organizations meet the above standards. Most such organizations have highly specific membership requirements (see items 3 and 4 in the paragraph above) that may involve both time and cost to which some home inspectors have heretofore been unaccustomed.

This, obviously, is a brief and incomplete summary of the law, and pertains primarily to its effect on current and prospective home inspectors. The law is extensive, and has other provisions with other effects on real estate transactions and licensed real estate professionals.

Polley Associates will continue to schedule a limited number of home inspection courses annually at locations in both Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. If you're interested in attending these courses, please call us at (610) 353-6776 or send us an e-mail to polley@polleyassociates.com .