Inspection next to Gas Station…
Do you mention, suggest or report anything about environmental?
If i was buying a house next to gas station i would want to understand risk…
What do you think?
Not your concern! What “risk” would you write up. Concentrate on the property you were contracted to inspect.
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Tread lightly on what you say or put in your report. What I would probably do is note in the exterior section that the inspection and report exclude the history and existence of underground tanks on and near the property. You should also be away of site grading. Runoff from the neighboring property can affect the property that you are inspecting.
I have performed a few environmental “TSA” inspections. Dealing with properties that are or have been gas stations, dry cleaners, junk yards, landfills, ETC is pretty complex.
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If it’s an abandon station I would mention it in the report as you don’t know the condition of any possible buried tanks there may be.
If it was currently in use, I wouldn’t mention it in the report because of strict standards they are now required to follow, but I would inform my client verbally if they are from out of town.
I’d think the buyer noticed the gas station next door when they decided to buy the house.
I mean, if you do an inspection in a neighborhood known for a high crime rate, you warn them it’s a sketchy neighborhood? If it’s a rural house, do you warn them it’s a long drive to the nearest store?
I assume the buyers noticed the neighborhood and whatever is next door when they saw the house and put an offer on it. The inspection is on the house itself, and not the surrounding areas.
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That’s not your responsibility as a home inspector. So where do you draw the limit? There’s a farm field across the street, are you going to concern yourself with the chemicals that are going to be sprayed on the field? There’s a road in the front of the house am I going to be concerned with the car exhaust? Maybe we should have something in this industry called a standard of practice.
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Or take a picture of the right side exterior and the left side exterior and make sure the station shows up in your exterior pictures on your report.
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This 
And this
Wouldn’t even consider putting it in my report… unless there was fuel odor in the basement or crawlspace
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Thanks to everyone for the responses- Appreciate it.
I know its not in our standard of practice
I Did include comment in my report that no environmental scans or testing are included in my service.
I Do not want to cause any negative impact to the deal.
That being said- My reason for asking for feedback is:
I think it is easy to stay in guidelines…and we are trained to minimize liability.
But i do always try to consider the other side…I believe in general (no matter what our contract or standards of practice says) clients expect us to help them identify risks.
I understand it is difficult to draw the line (as are many things in life) but If i was a client spending 900k on a property and neither the agent nor my inspector raised the topic…and something goes sideways down the road I would be trying to figure out who’s responsible.
I actually think- the laywer will usually be the one to potentially raise the question/potential concern.
Anyway- thought it was worth a soundcheck…thanks
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I would look hard for any indications of an abandoned gas tank or oil tank located directly upon the inspected property. That could be a huge liability for the current or future homeowner. My concern would be that the property was once affiliated with the gas station or related industry. If anything looks (or smells) suspicious, I would definitely call that out for environmental investigation.
If the inspected property looks clean environmentally (at least I did not see anything in my visual-only inspection), then if the water supply is a private well, I would definitely include information on recommended isolation distances from potential contaminant sources for wells, as well as recommendations on annual water testing that would indicate that annual testing for VOC’s is recommended when the property is located within one mile of a gas station.
If the water supply is public and lacking any direct visual evidence of possible environmental concerns exclusively on the inspected property, I would likely not put anything in the report. If there is groundwater contamination coming from the next door gas station, my client should not be adversely impacted directly (i.e. not drinking from the ground water) and liability for any remediation would be on the gas station owner.
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The house may be perceived as impacting the deal negatively but you are just reporting what you see.
Clients should expect you to do what they agreed, by signing the inspection agreement, that you would do.
After having done your own due diligence, as a buyer, I would hope you would see yourself as responsible.
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Just the facts! The “impact” it has on the deal is not your concern.
The “other side” did not sign your contract. Again - not your concern.
Just do your job. Complete what you are contractually obligated. How the agent negotiates the deal or fails to negotiate is totally out of your hands. Not your concern.
You cannot please everyone. The agent will waste no time in throwing you under the bus. Your sole and only obligation is to reveal pertinent details of the property contracted to the client.
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Having grown up in farm country, the only thing I would report on in that vein would be proximity to pig or chicken farms.
The town I used to live in had several pig farms and unless you’re ready, your nose will feel like it’s getting a pig $h1t enema. Fortunately it was only like once every month, so when you learned the schedule, you could try to be elsewhere. Realtors worked around this schedule, my neighbor was one.
Chickens have that airborne bacteria that can travel a ways. Smell can be bad, but it’s just annoying. Getting sick is another thing.
That pig poo though is just a plain full out assault on your nose.
I don’t report on what is going on in the neighborhood. That is the agent’s job to find them a place in a “neighborhood” that suits their needs. I’m just there to look at the property in question, not the properties around it.
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The point of my question for the OP was where does he draw the limits of his inspection? Does he follow the SOP or does he want to describe everything going on in the neighborhood.
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Chickens have flies. My parents rented a property next to a chicken farm just before I was born. My older brother was taught as a toddler to wave away the flies before opening the screen door. The house they then bought had no chicken farm next door but my brother was still waving before opening the screen door! Habits are hard to break.
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Lol.
Hey, if it works for him!
Most all property next to and around a gas station will have many in ground wells which the ground water is monitored. Look for these they usually have a metal cap covering the 4" well. Inside it is a string attached to a cup like bucket, you can pull it up and inspect if there is gas floating in top of the water.
Tye EPA inspects these on a regular basis, as long as the gas station is active.
Meh…your client can see the gas station and traffic and smells as well as you can. Do the inspection and report what you find. Only if you find a problem directly associated with the gas station is the only thing you should report.
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I had one that was across the alley, downhill from a gas station. Concrete was stained and reeked of diesel. My comment was “Basement is not suitable for living space.” That stopped them from using it as their infant daughter’s bedroom. I know because they are friends with our daughter.