Here’s a new checklist for inspecting bathrooms during a home inspection.
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Don’t forget ventilation, check for cracks in the porcelain and look for discoloration in vinyl flooring due to a leaking wax seal. I also report water damage to mirrors.
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Thank you! 
Each one as been added to the updated Inspection Checklist for the Bathroom - InterNACHI®. Thanks, @rmayo.
According to 2024 IRC R202, a bathroom is not a habitable space. It’s not used for living, sleeping, dining, or cooking. Therefore, it does not require a heat source, such as a supply register from a furnace (2024 IRC R325.8).
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Are we limiting to SOP here? I frequently find and report on sealant separation in the countertop to wall/backsplash or cabinet to wall. In some cases it’s minor and essentially cosmetic, but I have found some pretty beefy gaps before.
I learned about this one from all the inspection reports I’ve seen since I sometimes do repairs on the listing sides. Lots of inspectors who’ve been at this for 20+ years call it out, so I started calling it out too.
Most clients will not like getting out of the bath/shower in the dead of winter up north without a heat source.
Remember, code is a minimum standard.
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I agree with @lkage.
Also, at least in my area, bathrooms that are located adjacent to outside walls or unconditioned areas such as a garage are required to have a heat source, same goes for walk-in closets.
Bathrooms, usually powder rooms, with no outside walls located on the interior of the structure don’t require a heat source.
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Even here during cold and hot (cooling) weather it is the same thing. I always comment on it but not as a write-up.
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The ventilation illustration shows that it is prohibited to vent the bath through and out the soffit through a duct. Where is the prohibition on doing this?
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There is none! On the contrary, a ducted exhaust is required. iRC2021, Section 1507.4 states that - “The exhaust air shall not be discharged into attic, soffit, ridge vent or crawl space. The duct shall terminate outdoors either through a roof jack or wall cap.”
That is something I always note in the report. We don’t inspect to code. No heat source in the bathroom is an undesirable situation.
Many of the electrical items on that checklist do not exist in older homes and are not REQUIRED (code is not retroactive). They are noted in the report as being inconvenient.
The 20 amp bathroom circuit often works the lights as well and is allowed by code (not dedicated to outlets only). GFCIs that also extinguish the lights when tripped is always noted (code does not prohibit it, but it is undesirable, inconvenient.)
WORDING is important. Don’t say things are required - you don’t inspect to code and rarely know what code cycle is pertinent.
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According to property maintenance code, “Dwellings shall be provided with heating facilities capable of maintaining a room temperature of 68°F (20°C) in all habitable spaces, bathrooms, and toilet rooms…”.
The question each individual inspector needs to decide for themselves is to what extent will he/she exceed the SOP. Personally, I am not going to call out a soffit vent but not call out a bathroom that does not have at least passive heat.
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Richard’s reference to the International Property Maintenance Code is Section 602.
SECTION 602
HEATING FACILITIES
602.1 Facilities required. Heating facilities shall be
provided in structures as required by this section.
602.2 Residential occupancies. Dwellings shall be provided
with heating facilities capable of maintaining a room
temperature of 68°F (20°C) in all habitable rooms, bathrooms
and toilet rooms based on the winter outdoor design
temperature for the locality indicated in Appendix D of the
International Plumbing Code. Cooking appliances shall not
be used, nor shall portable unvented fuel-burning space heaters
be used, as a means to provide required heating. The
installation of one or more portable space heaters shall not be
used to achieve compliance with this section.
Note The IPMC is more relevant to what we do as home inspectors in many ways than the IRC which is a building code for NEW construction!
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Doors?
Do you mean the “Master Bath.” Most will not know what a “primary bathroom” is.
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It’s what kids call them these days.
Our MLS now calls them “primary bath.” I adjusted my written report to say “primary,” but in conversation, I almost always say “master bath.”
Well we wouldn’t want to confuse agents, would we.
The primary bath would logically be the one most accessible or most used. That would actually be the “hall” bath.
These word games all suffer from the ridiculous premise that the word “master” is racist. If that were true then you would have to include all those progressive intellectuals in “higher” education with master degrees. Acquiescence to this word nonsense created by progressives implies and endorses the fiction that we as a society are racist. Simply not true!
I make it a point to never let children dictate values or language!
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