According to InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice for Performing a General Home Inspection (and any other state-mandated SOP you’re required to follow), you’re performing a non-invasive, visual examination of the home’s systems and components that is designed to identify defects. When you perform any type of testing to verify functionality, you’re using normal operating controls under normal conditions, and assuming regular maintenance.
So, when the photo-electric eyes on the garage door become stuck in the “on” position and the door or motorized components overheat, become disabled, or simply break, you’ve just identified a major defect and serious safety hazard. Your client should be grateful that it was a trained inspector who discovered the defect, rather than the family’s inexperienced teenage driver who may panic and try to hide the problem from mom and dad.
Likewise, although roofs aren’t made to be regularly walked on the way stairs and sidewalks are, they’re constructed to support multiple roof layers, as well as snow loads, and even workers repairing or replacing them. So, if you manage to put your foot through the roof, you’ve discovered a severely weakened area that was likely going to give the next time heavy weather hits, or when dad tries to install a satellite dish, clean the gutters, or mount a lighted holiday display. You haven’t caused damage; you’ve actually spared your client from disaster.
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Download your free copy of SLEEP WELL: A Home Inspector’s Guide to Managing Risk.
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