Doing a Home Inspection today where in the Sellers disclosure shows that a local home inspector company (one man operation) did an inspection for mold and then removed said mold the next day (two invoices). The inspection invoice(s) do not really say more than just price(s) (both dated about 2 1/2 months ago One invoice is titled “Mold Inspection Invoice” and the other is “Mold Removal Invoice”. There could have been more in a report from the inspector saying where found and what the procedure was for removal, but not attached to the seller’s disclosure. In the Sellers disclosure, they did do a roof repair just before the mold inspection and remediation. Disclosre just says a “small amount of mold found, removed, repaired and painting done”. I do not see any InterNACHI membership, but is showing NSHI affiliation. I did look up their standards on performing work on an inspected home but did not see anything against repairing what you inspect in their SOPs or Code of Ethics. (The Mold inspection looks to be a stand alone inspection, not part of a full inspection. I’m guessing as a follow-up to the roof repair)
Since I have been privy to this knowledge, at this point I think I will just advise that they get any other documents (if any) showing the extent of the problem and what was done for remediation. This may change if I find something during the inspection today. There are no licensing requirements as far as I can tell for sampling, testing and or remediation of mold in Utah.
Agent sent me the disclosures because the client is concerned about this…normally I only see disclosures in about 1 out of every 100 inspections.
Any other thoughts or comments on how to handle (word) this to the client?
I did a mold remediation job of a basement that was approx. 800 sq.ft. Bottom 3’ of drywall was removed, studs were bleached and then painted.
No air testing required, I thought it looked pretty good when I was done.
Took me 3 days by myself and I made $5000 on the deal.
Not bad for drinking money on the side.
Let the buyer decide on a re-test, or they can decide if the other test is OK. All you do is advise. Mold is very controversial. There are no local, state, or national mold parameters. Some are allergic, some people are not. Let them decide.
Check your SOP or Code of Ethics. Maryland’s COE states inspectors are not permitted to perform work on a home you have inspected for a period of one year.
B. A home inspector may not:
(1) Sell or offer to sell products for the repair of defects or the correction of deficiencies disclosed during an inspection of the client for period of one year from the date of the inspection;
(2) Provide or offer to provide services to repair defects or correct deficiencies disclosed during an inspection for a period of one year from the date of the inspection; or
(3) Express an appraisal or opinion of the market value of the inspected property within the context of the inspection.
After doing the inspection yesterday, found there were other areas where roof was leaking in the past and also at least one other area that was repaired but not listed on the disclosures. Roof as well as flashings “appear” (a wonderful Inspection term, we have to consciously avoid the overuse of in the report) to of had a lot of work done recently to avoid problems. Hard to tell whether everything is buttoned up completely until we have some good heavy rains.
The mold issue blinded these buyers so much that they really didn’t even want a full home inspection just another mold test…(which I do not do or even believe in) we are in a desert here and unless we have active plumbing leaks and or “monsoon season” rains and roof leaks, mold is not going to be an issue.
oh well can only inform to the extent that people will listen and or read the report…
oh yes this inspector is also a handyman so I guess it fits right into his business model… to inspect and make sure the repairs are made to his satisfaction…