Realtors asked for this and are now upset there is too much in the summary page.
Yep. on top of the mile long summary page, they’re going to start complaining about the number of defects in the report.
The whole report will now be labeled summary page…congratulations on more unnecessary gov’t regulation…
LOL!
Be careful what you ask for… 
I’m not a smart man… Nick, can your legal team give us a layman’s interpretation of what this means we exactly need to be changing? I see the defect language etc but a good break down for the non lawyers type with no college education would be great
Jason,
Here the gist of the new law: “Among other provisions, home inspectors must now use the term “defect” in their inspection reports when referring to a condition they have observed and believe meets the definition of a defect. In addition, inspection reports must include a summary page that lists the conditions that are defects and other items that may need further evaluation or maintenance, with references to where detailed information for those items may be found in the report.”
The mandatory summary page must include
- A list of conditions, labeled as defects (see the note below), that are observed.
- Other than items labeled as defects, a listing of components needing repairs, components needing further evaluation, items to monitor, and maintenance items.
- The summary page shall include references to the page, heading, or item number in the detailed account for further information.
- The summary page shall include all of the following statements:
NOTE: This summary page is provided for convenience and is not a substitute for reading the entire report and should not be relied upon as the complete list for the client’s reference.
For the purposes of the report, “defect,” as defined in section 440.97 (2m), Wis. Stats., means a condition of any component of an improvement that a home inspector determines, on the basis of the home inspector’s judgment on the day of an inspection, would significantly impair the health or safety of occupants of a property or that, if not repaired, removed, or replaced, would significantly shorten or adversely affect the expected normal life of the component of the improvement. The contract of sale may define “defect” to also include a condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value
of the property, but such a condition may not be labeled a defect in the report unless it meets the definition in section 440.97 (2m), Wis. Stats.
NOTE: A home inspector may not report on the market value or marketability of a property or whether a property should or should not be purchased.
I hope this helps
Great I did understand it correctly then
My system is setup to have summary PAGES, I have a summary for each of the categories required (defects, repairs, maintenance, eval and monitor)
I see that it says summary PAGE. Do we think there is an issue on the layout of a single page v multiple pages or do we think as long as we have a report summary with the required language and references to report sections we are all set?
I don’t think the number of pages matters as long as you meet the requirements listed. I’m experimenting with a new software and the layout I’m working on is going to end up being multiple pages at a minimum.
Did you catch that the new law also changed the difination of a defect to not match the realtors contracts. This whole new law seems to benefit us and not teh realtors
Since we have to had it in our report I was updating it last night.
The Wisconsin Stat. 440.97 (2m) definition of “defect” in the inspection report is as follows:
A condition of any component of an improvement that a home inspector determines, on the basis of the home inspector’s judgement on the day of the inspection, would significantly impair the health or safety of occupants of a property or that, if not repaired, removed or replaced, would significantly shorten or adversely affect the normal life of the component of the improvement.
Previous from 2018 that the realtors thought they could control:
“Defect” means a condition of any component of an improvement that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants of a property or that, if not repaired, removed, or replaced, would significantly shorten or adversely affect the expected normal life of the component of the improvement.
Yep. It helps us too. It makes it all subjective to the inspector’s opinion. If you don’t think it is a defect… it isn’t.
Nick, could you incorporate the new verbiage into the Wisconsin contract template?
Surprised nobody has mentioned this sentence as a concern!!
IMO, this reads that a defect can only be reported on anything that is not ‘original’ to the home… but only as an “improvement” on the home!
A home can be considered an improvement on the once vacant land. Our tax bills here even list the land and ‘improvements’ separately when determining the assessed value.