January 2008 Newsletter                               View an index of all our newsletters
 

Home Inspection Standards of Practice - A Reality in Maryland

Home inspector licensing in Maryland is now a reality. All Alban inspectors are licensed and the Maryland Commission of Real Estate Appraisers and Home Inspectors has finally approved the Home Inspection Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Effective January 1, 2008, they now establish standards for all Maryland home inspections.

This is the first of three articles on the Maryland home inspection licensing law. The following discussion outlines what is required of home inspectors during an inspection. The second article will discuss more fully what must be included in an inspection under the Standards of Practice, with the final article focused on the exclusions and limitations expressed in the Standards.

The law specifies that mandatory disclosure language must be presented to every client prior to the home inspection. “Only home inspections performed by Maryland licensed home inspectors will be recognized by the Buyer as a valid home inspection under a real estate contract.” If, from the buyer’s perspective, a home inspection performed by an unlicensed inspector is not valid, sellers certainly will not be obligated to recognize an inspection by an unlicensed inspector.

If a sale is an “As Is” sale and an inspection is for information purposes only, an inspection by an unpaid and unlicensed inspector for the buyer’s benefit is not illegal. Any home inspection by a paid, unlicensed inspector is illegal under the home inspection licensing law. However, for any home inspection that will potentially be used by a home buyer for requesting repairs under Paragraph 21, the property condition clause, or for negotiating purposes to request repairs of deficiencies not covered by the property condition clause, the homeinspector must be licensed.

Section 16-4A-01 of the law mandates that every home inspector must satisfy five requirements in order to perform a fully legal home inspection. The first is that the report must be in writing and the written report must be delivered within 7 days of the inspection.

Quickie inspections with verbal reports are not allowed. There is a home inspector in another jurisdiction that for $75 would do a half hour inspection and deliver a verbal report. For an additional $25, he would write a hand- ritten report on a lunch bag. This behavior is prohibited.

The report form must state the scope of the inspection and exclusions. The most obvious exclusion is that a home inspector cannot observe hidden or latent defects. Without x-ray vision, areas behind walls and under floors are, unfortunately, impossible to inspect. The language in the Standards of Performance is “visual inspection of the readily accessible areas of the included items” and “inspections may not identify concealed conditions or latent defects.”

The heart of the law is the third requirement, which states that the written report must state the conditions observed during the inspection of components of the home that are subject to the Standards of Practice. This is where the Standards of Practice is incorporated into the inspection process. The Standards create “minimum and uniform standards of performance to be exercised” by a licensed home inspector. The Maryland Standards of Performance are excellent and benefit every home buyer. I believe the Standards will raise the quality of home inspections throughout the State. What is good for a Realtor’s client benefits the Realtor. The written report must include the inspector’s license number.

Uncle Louie can no longer muddle your real estate transaction with off-the-wall findings. If an inspector’s performance is inadequate, the enforcement aspects of the law are available to a Realtor’s client. If Uncle Louie is loony, the client has recourse. Every Realtor knows how troublesome a complaint to the Real Estate Commission can become. There are similar investigative and enforcement protocols written into the home inspector licensing law.

Finally, the report must include the State’s four paragraph disclosure language, printed in 14 point bold type. The disclosure tells the client that the inspection is intended to assist in the evaluation of the home based on visible and apparent conditions, that latent or concealed defects are excluded from the scope of the inspection, that the client has a right for a second opinion regarding any finding of the home inspector, and that only licensed home inspectors may perform the inspection.

The above information describes the home inspection licensing law from a viewpoint of the rights of the home buying client and the expectations of his or her Realtor. The best part of the law is the adoption of excellent Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Problematic is the lack of testing applicants for proficiency and lack of continuing education for licensed inspectors, but over the years, these issues should be resolved.

Alban is proud to offer FREE Continuing Education Courses in Real Estate Offices!
Call Tina to schedule one of our educational seminars, for additional information, or to schedule our services at 800-822-7200 or 301-662-6565.

From the Desk of
Arthur Lazerow

Alban Does it All
(except bugs)

Back to work! 2007 is behind us, whether
pretty or ugly, successful or not. 2008 is
ahead, which opens opportunities for build
on the past and move forward. As I reflect
on last year, one impression from home
inspecting last year and talking with
Realtors is the growing importance of
environmental and energy related issues to
their home buying clients.

One Realtor with whom we have had a long
relationship took me to task for not doing a
better job informing Realtors that Alban
offers services beyond just home inspecting.
He was ordering mold and radon testing
from others and was pleasantly surprised
that he could make one call to Alban for his
clients’ needs.

This past month several Realtors who had
never had a client use Alban called Tina
Yarborough, our scheduling manager, to
schedule home inspections, together with a
number of environmental tests. Each of
these Realtors had received our newsletter
announcement and noted that Alban
inspectors also perform mold, lead, radon
and water testing. A similar comment was
made that each Realtor was searching for a
home inspection company that could multitask. Convenience and the need for
responsiveness due to contingency dates are of paramount importance.

Permit me to repeat that Alban inspectors
are qualified not only to perform
outstanding home inspections both as
licensed inspectors and nationally certified
ASHI inspectors, but also in the areas of
environmental testing, which includes
radon, lead-based paint, mold investigations,
and water and septic testing. Joe Dempsey is also a fully trained energy utilization
surveyor and offers analytic services to both
buyers and homeowners.

Realtors are protected. Often overlooked
but of significance is that Alban maintains
Errors and Omissions insurance. Our policy
has a Realtor protection clause. Should there ever be a claim, our policy protects the
buyer’s agent from liability should Alban be
found liable because our home inspector
missed a serious deficiency that should have been observed and reported. Realtors can feel secure when their clients utilize Alban Home Inspection Service, Inc..

Looking For Polubutylene Water Pipes

Leaking water pipes are a major source of headaches for homeowners. Most pipe materials last many years and are resistant to leaking. PVC and copper pipes fit this description, although thinwall copper pipes are experiencing pin-hole leak problems. Polybutylene (PB) water supply pipes have a history of failure and over the long course, all PB will be replaced. The issue is timing?

When visiting a home that a client is interested in either selling or purchasing, look for two types of Polybutylene pipes. The first is the main water supply pipe. This can be observed at the location of entry of the water service, which is usually located in the basement or lower level. PB supply pipes appear as plastic pipe and turquoise in color. The second type of PB is water distribution pipes and these are also plastic, but are mostly gray in color and are flexible, snaking through areas of the home.

If PB pipes are observed, we recommend that the history of water problems, if any, be obtained from the owner. A licensed plumber should be consulted. Being forewarned and prepared is the best way for an owner to deal with Polybutylene