Bob, what did your inspector say about the air handler/ HVAC system in your report? Was it simply documented as operable or was any recommendation made to have repairs made or the system serviced?

The SOPs Billy attached state in the limitations that equipment is not to be dismantled but then it also says in the HEATING section LIMITATIONS on page 7 that "A - The inspector is not required to: 3) Disassemble equipment by any means other than panels provided by the manufacturer for inspections and/or service." If you go by this, then the inspector should be opening access panels. But the question is what constutues "a panel provided by the manufacturer for inspections and/or service"? All panels that make up the cabinet for the air handler are removeable in some way and may need to be removed for proper servicing of the system. How much of the system/equipment is the inspector required to open?

What type of split system do you have Bob? Is it a heat pump or is the split system for AC only? The verbiage is conflicting in those SOPs and states nothing in the COOLING section about opening or not opening panels on a cooling system. However, there is the general LIMITATIONS disclaimer at the bottom of the 1st page in the SOPs that states "No disassembly of equipment".

I think this comes back to whether or not any visible condition was present during the inspection that would have necessitated a call for repairs or servicing by an HVAC professional. Any pics or report verbiage about the system would be helpful Bob.