Thread: Question for Texas Inspectors

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Robert, I think we are required to give a written report.
I would think you could easily disclaim everything except one item, say maybe the foundation or something simple; write the report factually accurate on that one item and then check off "not inspected" with "not inspected by client request" on each other section of the report, and your done. I could be wrong on this, but that is the way I would CYA on this.
Jim

If you received payment, I'd write the report regardless.

They may need the report to get out of the contract or to show the buyer their reasons for opting out of the contract.

Don't write a vague report either because if the client decides to buy it anyway they'll have you by your sphere's latter on.

rick

I think I would write it anyway. Their choice to delete it or dispose of it. People change their minds - often.

Yup... Just as others have said. Write'em up.

Remember to mark those *MANY* things that the customer stated that you didn't have to inspect as "NI" (NOT INSPECTED) and make notes in the comments section such as:

"Per request of the buyer (John, David, whoever), this section of the inspection was not inspected under normal operating conditons, but does apply to the reporting process by the nature of it's presence. Any note or comment stated herein does not, in anyway, represent an inspection in accordance with the Texas Real Estate Commissions Standards of Practice. Therefore, under the departure provisions noted below no inspection was provided, per the request of the client:"

RULE §535.227 Standards of Practice: General Provisions
a) Definition of terms.
(5) Inspect--To look at and examine accessible items, parts, systems or components without, except as required by the rules of the Texas Real Estate Commission, laboratory, scientific or engineering evaluation or testing, destructive tests or the dismantling or removal of parts, members or components.
(8) Report--A written or oral communication of the inspector's opinions, observations, determinations, and findings in an inspection.

(b) Scope.
(2) The inspector shall:
(F) complete the standard inspection report form under §535.223 of this title (relating to Standard Inspection Reports) if that section applies;

(c) Departure Provision.

(2) An inspector may exclude any part, component or system required for inspection by the standards of practice which is inaccessible, cannot be inspected due to circumstances beyond the control of the inspector, or the inspector's client has agreed is not to be inspected.

TREC requires a written report;

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/inspecto...tor-recent.asp

Q. What requirements does TREC impose on inspectors/consultants who perform maintenance consultations? For example, if a homeowner wanted to hire a consultant to perform a cursory, major defect visual inspection, including the foundation, roof, plumbing, electrical, and major appliances, would TREC require any written report?

A. TREC's jurisdiction over real estate inspections is limited to inspections performed for a buyer or seller of the property. If the inspection you are proposing relates to a purchase or sale transaction, then TREC's Standards of Practice would apply, and a written report would be required. If the inspection you are proposing is not in connection with a purchase or sale, then TREC's requirements would not apply, and the parameters of the inspection would be governed by the agreement between the inspector and his or her client. For further information, please see Sections 1102.001 and 1102.002 of the Texas Occupations Code and rule 535.223 of the Rules of the Texas Real Estate Commission for further information.

Yeah, after further contemplation, if you inspected it, you need to report it. As has been brought up many times, our reports need to reflect the verbal opinions. You never know what might come back to haunt you. If you don't write the report today and the buyer changes their mind and needs the written report a few days later, would you be able to do it from memory?

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

Yeah, after further contemplation, if you inspected it, you need to report it. As has been brought up many times, our reports need to reflect the verbal opinions.

"(8) Report--A written or oral communication of the inspector's opinions, observations, determinations, and findings in an inspection"

Does not mean "write" it up.

You never know what might come back to haunt you. If you don't write the report today and the buyer changes their mind and needs the written report a few days later, would you be able to do it from memory?

*THAT* is a different reason to "write" it up - a good reason to.

(b) Scope.
(2) The inspector shall:
(F) complete the standard inspection report form under §535.223 of this title (relating to Standard Inspection Reports) if that section applies;

If it is there.... it applies.

rr

Robert,

Friday nights are not like Friday nights when we were 17yrs. old.

You'll be up all night sounds like writting up that POS.

Hope you at least got the check. Thats what its all about.

rick

(I highlighted the word "report" by making it larger and red)

Originally Posted by Richard Rushing

(b) Scope.
(2) The inspector shall:
(F) complete the standard inspection report form under §535.223 of this title (relating to Standard Inspection Reports) if that section applies;

If it is there.... it applies.

a) Definition of terms.
(8) Report--A written or oral communication of the inspector's opinions, observations, determinations, and findings in an inspection.

Not my standards, but the TEXAS STANDARDS YOU GUYS are posting.

Read the word "report" ... read the definition of the word "report" ... notice that it says "or oral" ...

Which means the:

(F) complete the standard inspectionreport form under §535.223 of this title (relating to Standard Inspection Reports) if that section applies;

may be completed *orally*.

Robert,

Maybe fax a blank copy and go over on the phone.

JP--

Don't get too hung up on the word (by definition) "report". From that same part of the standard;
"standard inspection report form" under §535.223

That is talking about a a written report-form not just by definition what consititutes a report.

They put the difinition of 'report' is in there to back up the inspector if he/she had (verbally) told the buyer, agent, seller an item was in need of repair or replcement.

Bottom line is this; if the home is being sold during the course of a real property transaction, then any inspection performed would have to be a written inspection.

rr

The following is an excerpt from the actual law. Red underlining and larger font are added by me.
It is pretty evident that the intent of the law is for all reports to be in writing on "the form".
Oral won't cut it if called on the carpet.
Now Jerry may disagree, but he won't be there with you in court to dispute the matter, will you Jerry? I for one don't want to be the test case. As you can see by the last line, the legislature takes this pretty seriously.

(a) The Texas Real Estate Commission adopts by reference Property Inspection Report, REI 7A-0, approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission in 1998 and published and available from the Texas Real Estate Commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188.

(b) Except as provided by this section, inspections performed for a prospective buyer or prospective seller of one-to-four family residential property must be reported on Form REI 7A-0 ("the form"). Licensed inspectors shall complete the applicable portions of the form and provide the report within a reasonable period of time to the persons for whom the inspection has been performed.d) When using form REI 7A-0, the inspector may make the following changes.

(1) The inspector may select the type and size of the fonts, provided the fonts are no smaller than those used in the printed version of the form adopted by the commission.

(2) The inspector may use legal sized (8 1/2" by 14") paper.

(3) The inspector may select the information to be inserted below the caption "Property Inspection Report" and above the text of the form relating to TREC rules; however, the inspector must include the name of the inspector's client, the address or other identification of the inspected property, the date the inspection was performed, and the name and license number of any inspector participating in the inspection. If the person performing the inspection is licensed as an apprentice inspector or real estate inspector, the license number and name of the inspector's sponsor also must be included, and the inspector supervising an apprentice must sign the report.

(4) The inspector may select other information to be inserted in the space on the first page of the report and may allocate additional space on page 2 for that purpose; provided the caption "Additional Information Provided By Inspector" is not deleted.

(5) The inspector may delete inapplicable provisions relating to the optional systems and re-letter the remaining provisions.

(6) The inspector may add footers to each page of the report except the first page and may add headers to each page of the report.

(7) Whether the form is reproduced by computer or is preprinted by the inspector, the inspector may allocate such space for comments as the inspector deems necessary or may attach additional pages of comments to the report.

(8) The inspector may renumber the pages of the form to correspond with any changes made necessary due to adjusting the space for comments or deleting text.

(9) The inspector may list other built-in appliances and additional captions, letters and check boxes for those items.

(10) The inspector may add numbers or letters in parentheses to the right of the caption for each item and may place the property identification and page number either at the top or bottom of the page.

(e) This section does not apply to inspections performed for a lender or for a person other than the prospective buyer or prospective seller.

(f) This section does not apply to quality control construction inspections of new homes, including phased construction inspections, inspections performed solely to determine compliance with building codes, warranty or underwriting requirements, or inspections required by a municipality and the builder requires use of a different report, and the first page of the report contains a notice either in bold or underlined reading substantially similar to the following: "This report was prepared for a builder or builder's employee in accordance with the builder's requirements. The report is not intended as a substitute for an inspection of the property by an inspector of the buyer's choice. Standard inspections performed by a Texas Real Estate Commission licensee and reported on Texas Real Estate Commission promulgated report forms may contain additional information a buyer should consider in making a decision to purchase." If a report form required for use by the builder or builder's employee does not contain the notice, the inspector may attach the notice to the first page of the report at the time the report is prepared by the inspector. If the inspector attaches the notice, the inspector is not required to use a form adopted by the commission to report the inspection.

(g) This section does not apply to the following:

(1) inspections of remodeling or re-inspections; or

(2) inspections for which federal or state law requires use of a different report.

(h) Failure to comply with this section is grounds for the suspension or revocation of an inspector's license or the imposition of an administrative penalty by the commission.

Jim L,

I tried to down load that 3 times as a pdf. All I got was garble and it went into System file 32 or something I had to use search feature to find.

I started thinking Texas didn't want you to copy it.

Billy, the law is listed in two different formats and locations. I just did the copy and paste function, you may have been trying to get it from a different source location and format than I did.

IMO, it is clear that if you do the kind of inspection that is regulated by that section, then they want you to use their report form or something similar to it (which they then specify what can and cannot be changed).

Lifting one word out of context isn't going to fly if you go back to the context that it is used and the intent is clear.

In context, the term is not "report", it is "standard inspection report form"... which is what RR has already said further up the thread.

Robert,

Give him a couple days and if you don't hear from him, call his office manager and ask to speak to his broker regarding this matter.

He'll pay up.

rick