What Are Standards of Practice in Home Inspections?

Most professional home inspectors belong to a governing organization or association, in addition to some requiring state licensure.

These organizations provide training, certification, and hold their member inspectors to a Standards of Practice (SOP) when performing inspections. 

The Standards of Practice document defines the scope of work that the inspector will perform. It includes:

• The detailed areas of the home the home inspector will cover
• The areas of the home the home inspector is not required to inspect
• Limitations, exceptions and exclusions
• A glossary of terms

There 2 major home inspector associations/organizations that most professional home inspectors belong to. Here are links to each organization's Standards of Practice in PDF format.

InterNACHI Standards of Practice

ASHI Standards of Practice