Scope of Inspection
The purpose of the Home Inspectors Association BC (HIABC) is to establish a minimum, uniform standard for its home and property inspector members.
The HIABC Scope of Inspection identifies the range of services and activities that the licensed members of this professional are educated and legally required to provide. The document describes the professional activities and areas of professional practice. The HIABC Scope of Inspection defines the minimum standard of practice for all HIABC home inspectors in British Columbia. The scope of work of an individual home inspector must meet the requirements outlined in this document but may include additional inspection services where the home inspector is qualified and / or has special knowledge. The scope of the home inspector’s review of a home is a contractual matter, therefore, any additional services provided to the client beyond the Scope of Inspection must be communicated through a contractual signed agreement with the client.
The working premise of this document is that licensed home inspectors will demonstrate minimum, entry level competencies and will conduct their work competently in a variety of home inspection environments. The practice requirements represent the expectations of a ‘typical’ not an ‘expert’ home inspector. A specialist may be hired to provide additional analysis and opinion of adverse conditions or defects identified, beyond this Scope of Inspection.
A home inspection is a limited, non-invasive, visual examination of the current condition of a residential building. A home inspection is designed to report observed deficiencies within specific systems and components of a home. A home inspection provides a description of the condition of the home based on observation of the visible and apparent condition of the structure and components at the time of the home inspection. A home inspection does not guarantee future condition, efficiency, or life expectancy of systems or components. It is not an inspection to verify compliance with any applicable building codes, municipal bylaws or other regulations. A home inspection will not reveal every problem that exists or could ever exist and is not a technically exhaustive inspection.