Occasionally potential home owners will bypass the inspection in favor of a family friend who happens to be a “contractor”. Typically, this is someone who builds, remodels, or repairs houses, or components of houses. However, this does not qualify them to inspect a house. There are two aspects to consider if you are thinking a contractor should inspect your home to “save some money” on the inspection fee:
- Experienced and skilled home inspectors have been trained to evaluate the home and its systems. The systems work together. For example, the plumbing system (water supply) runs to the water heater, then to the fixtures. The water heater (a gas water heater) then exhausts the by-products of combustion to a safe location and with appropriate materials installed. So to inspect “just the water heater” would involve checking the heater, supply pipes, fixtures, exhaust method, and then the drain lines. Many contactors are trained in specific aspects of building a home, but don’t have the general knowledge for all They also don’t have the practice of inspecting all the systems as they work together. For this reason it is highly recommended to hire an experienced, licensed home inspector.
- Anyone can look at a home and give you an evaluation. However, in 40 + states, for any negotiations to occur after the inspection, it must be done by a licensed home inspector. There are some states that don’t require licensing, but even then, a seller is not going to accept the recommendations from someone that is not a home inspector. You can still get information, but it will likely be limited and not accepted by the other side. We suggest always getting your home inspected by an inspector that is qualified, insured, and backs up his work.