New Jersey Home Inspection Standards of Practice
Dynamic Inspections offers professional, unbiased, quality home inspections by licensed New Jersey home inspectors. We follow the New Jersey Standards of Practice as outlined by the New Jersey Home Inspection Advisory Committee Statutes and Regulations. At Dynamic Inspections LLC we believe in clear and concise communication. We strive to go over and beyond to ensure that both our client’s expectations and what we will provide during our inspections are clearly defined. While it is important to know what we will provide during our inspections it is just as important to identify what we will not do and what will not be covered. The following is a summary of what can be expected during your home inspection.
Home Inspectors are not required to:
- Enter any area or perform any procedure which is, in the opinion of the home inspector or associate home inspector, unsafe and likely to be dangerous to the inspector or other persons;
- Enter any area or perform any procedure which will, in the opinion of the home inspector or associate home inspector, likely damage the property or its systems or components;
- Enter any area which does not have at least 24 inches of unobstructed vertical clearance and at least 30 inches of unobstructed horizontal clearance;
- Identify concealed conditions and latent defects;
- Determine life expectancy of any system or component;
- Determine the cause of any condition or deficiency;
- Determine future conditions that may occur including the failure of systems and components including consequential damage;
- Determine the operating costs of systems or components;
- Determine the suitability of the property for any specialized use;
- Determine compliance with codes, regulations and/or ordinances;
- Determine market value of the property or its marketability;
- Determine advisability of purchase of the property;
- Determine the presence of any potentially hazardous plants, animals or diseases or the presence of any suspected hazardous substances or adverse conditions such as mold, fungus, toxins, carcinogens, noise, and contaminants in soil, water, and air;
- Determine the effectiveness of any system installed or method utilized to control or remove suspected hazardous substances;
- Operate any system or component which is shut down or otherwise inoperable;
- Operate any system or component which does not respond to normal operating controls;
- Operate shut-off valves;
- Determine whether water supply and waste disposal systems are public or private;
- Insert any tool, probe or testing device inside electrical panels;
- Dismantle any electrical device or control other than to remove the covers of main and sub panels;
- Walk on unfloored sections of attics; and
- Light pilot flames or ignite or extinguish fires.
What is included in your home inspection:
Structural Systems- Inspect & Describe
Foundation.
Floors.
Walls.
Ceilings.
Roof.
Probe structural components where deterioration is suspected unless such probing would damage any finished surfaces.
Describe in the home inspection report the methods used to inspect under-floor crawl spaces and attics.
Roof- Inspect& Describe
Roofing surface, excluding antennae and other installed accessories such as solar heating systems, lightning arresters, and satellite dishes.
Roof drainage systems including: Flashing, Skylights, Exterior or chimneys.
Roof surface.
Roof drainage systems.
Visible Flashing.
Skylights.
Chimneys.
Employ reasonable, practicable, and safe methods to inspect the roof such as: Walking on the roof, Observing from a ladder at roof level, Visual examination with binoculars from ground level; and describing the methods used to inspect the roof.
Exterior- Inspect & Describe
Exterior surfaces, excluding shutters, and screening, awnings, and other similar seasonal accessories.
Exterior doors excluding storm doors or safety glazing.
Windows excluding storm windows and safety glazing.
Attached or adjacent decks, balconies, stoops, steps, porches, and their railings.
Vegetation, grading, drainage, and retaining walls with respect to their immediate detrimental effect on the condition of the residential building, excluding fences, geological and/or soil conditions, sea walls, break-walls, bulkheads and docks, or erosion control and earth stabilization.
Attached or adjacent walkways, patios, and driveways.
Garage doors including automatic door openers and entrapment protection mechanisms, excluding remote control devices.
Describe exterior wall surface type and material.
Plumbing System
. Interior water supply and distribution systems including functional water flow and functional drainage, excluding wells,
well pumps, well water sampling or water storage related equipment, determination of water supply quantity or quality and water conditioning systems and lawn irrigation systems;
ii. All interior fixtures and faucets, excluding shut off valves, wells, well pumps, well water sampling and water storage related equipment;
iii. Drain, waste and vent systems;
iv. Domestic water heating systems, without operating safety valves or automatic safety controls, and excluding solar water heating systems;
v. Combustion vent systems excluding interiors of flues and chimneys;
vi. Fuel distribution systems; and
vii. Drainage sumps, sump pumps and related piping; and
40. Describe:
i. Predominant interior water supply and distribution piping materials;
ii. Predominant drain, waste and vent piping materials; and
iii. Water heating equipment including energy sources.
Electrical System- Inspect & Describe.
Inspect:
i. Service entrance system;
ii. Main disconnects, main panel and sub panels, including interior components of main panel and sub panels;
iii. Service grounding;
iv. Wiring, without measuring amperage, voltage or impedance, excluding any wiring not a part of the primary electrical
power distribution system, such as central vacuum systems, remote control devices, telephone or cable system wiring,
intercom systems, security systems and low voltage wiring systems;
v. Over-current protection devices and the compatibility of their ampacity with that of the connected wiring;
vi. At least one of each interior installed lighting fixture, switch, and receptacle per room and at least one exterior installed lighting fixture, switch, and receptacle per side of house; and
vii. Ground fault circuit interrupters; and
Describe:
i. Amperage and voltage rating of the service;
ii. Location of main disconnect, main panels, and sub-panels;
iii. Type of over-current protection devices;
iv. Predominant type of wiring;
v. Presence of knob and tube branch circuit wiring; and
vi. Presence of solid conductor aluminum branch circuit wiring.
Heating System.
Inspect:
i. Installed heating equipment and energy sources, without determining heat supply adequacy or distribution balance,
and without operating automatic safety controls or operating heat pumps when weather conditions or other circumstances may cause damage to the pumps, and excluding humidifiers, electronic air filters and solar heating systems;
ii. Combustion vent systems and chimneys, excluding interiors of flues or chimneys;
iii. Fuel storage tanks, excluding propane and underground storage tanks; and
iv. Visible and accessible portions of the heat exchanger, removing the flame roll-out shield if applicable
Cooling System.
Inspect:
i. Central cooling system, excluding electronic air filters and excluding determination of cooling supply adequacy or
distribution balance and without operating central cooling equipment when weather conditions or other circumstances may cause damage to the cooling equipment;
ii. Permanently installed hard-wired, through-wall individual cooling systems; and
iii. Energy sources; and
Describe:
i. Cooling equipment and distribution type; and
ii. Energy sources.
(l) When inspecting the interior of a residential building, a home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
Interior
Inspect:
i. Walls, ceilings, and floors excluding paint, wallpaper and other finish treatments, carpeting and other non-permanent
floor coverings;
ii. Steps, stairways, and railings;
iii. Installed kitchen wall cabinets to determine if secure;
iv. At least one interior passage door and operate one window per room excluding window treatments
Installed Appliances
Household appliances limited to:
(1) The kitchen range and oven to determine operation of burners or heating elements excluding microwave ovens and the operation of self-cleaning cycles and appliance timers and thermostats;
(2) Dishwasher to determine water supply and drainage; and
(3) Garbage disposer.
(m) When inspecting the insulation components and ventilation system of a residential building, the home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
Insulation & Ventilation
Inspect:
i. Insulation in unfinished spaces without disturbing insulation;
ii. Ventilation of attics and crawlspaces; and
iii. Mechanical ventilation systems; and
Describe:
i. Insulation in unfinished spaces adjacent to heated areas; and
ii. Evidence of inadequate attic and crawlspace ventilation.
Fireplaces & Solid Burning Appliances
Inspect fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances, without testing draft characteristics, excluding fire screens and doors, seals and gaskets, automatic fuel feed devices, mantles and non-structural fireplace surrounds, combustion make-up air devices, or gravity fed and fan assisted heat distribution systems; and
ii. Chimneys and combustion vents excluding interiors of flues and chimneys; and
Describe:
i. Type of fireplaces and/or solid fuel burning appliances;
ii. Energy source; and
iii. Visible evidence of draft characteristics.