Can someone tell me if the home inspector is required to disclose if a permit was or was not pulled for a hot water heater, boiler, deck, or electrical work. Also if one of those items are not up to clode are they required to tell the homeowner at the time of the inspinspection?
Typically, no and no…
Typically I will comment and report if I see that work was not competently performed. If there are obvious deficiencies or obvious remodeling work performed I also recommend that the prospective owner research and inquire with the agencies who are responsible for issuing permits to ascertain if proper permits were drawn.
It is not an inspectors responsibility to research code compliance but rather observe and report in a non invasive manner what the state of things are.
It depends on the inspector. I do a permit search on every home I inspect. If I arrive at the property and there are items that have been recently replaced, I ask if any permits were pulled and if not, make my client aware of it.
Home inspectors are NOT required to perform permit searches. Some inspectors may do so as a added benefit in some localized RE markets. Permit searches are part of a Buyers “due diligence”, and should have been discussed with the Buyers Agent. Typically a call or visit (by the Buyer) would be appropriate. Some Agents will perform this for their clients as an added benefit in some localized RE markets.
Bottom line… NO, this is not on the Home Inspector. If someone suggested this to you, you should immediately “FIRE THEM” and report them to whomever oversee’s Ethics in their profession/office/company.
Permit searches and code compliance certification are well outside of any Home Inspection SOP that I am aware of and as far as I know are not part of any standard of care for home inspections. They are typically expressly excluded from the scope of a home inspection. Unless your home inspector specifically advertises that they provide these as part of their home inspection service, you should have no expectation for them to perform either function.
There are many defects that are part of the typical home inspection SOP which are also are related to building codes. You should expect to see these defects listed in a home inspection report, though most inspectors will not related the defect to the codes. You would need to describe a specific defect to determine if it should have been reported under the applicable Standard of Practice.