Pennsylvania Home Inspections & COVID-19

Pennsylvania Department of Health posts guidelines and lists life-sustaining businesses at https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx

Be sure to consult with your local business attorney, and abide by the InterNACHI® Code of Ethics, which says that the “InterNACHI® member shall comply with all government rules and licensing requirements of the jurisdiction where he or she conducts business.”

Take InterNACHI’s free, online COVID-19 Safety Guidelines for Home Inspectors and Contractors Course.

I applied for an exemption for InterNACHI members in PA:

Got this response tonight:

"|### RA-dcexemption@pa.gov>|7:27 PM (1 hour ago)||

to InterNACHI

|

Nick Gromicko
InterNACHI
1750 30th Street, Suite 301,
Boulder, CO 80301
nick@internachi.org

RE: Request # e44426ee-8e93-4bf6-bf10-b32f20e10fb4

Dear Nick Gromicko:

By Executive Order dated March 19, 2020, and pursuant to powers granted to him by law, Governor Tom Wolf has ordered that no person or entity shall operate a place of business that is not a life-sustaining business, regardless of whether the business is open to members of the public. The Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued a similar order pursuant to powers granted to her by law. These orders (the “COVID-19 Orders”) are necessary to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

In response to your request for an exemption from the applicability of the COVID-19 Orders, pursuant to the powers granted by law to the Governor and Secretary of Health to cope with the present disaster emergency and to prevent and control the spread of disease, it has been determined that the business operations identified above must remain closed."

Pennsylvania virus update. InterNACHI has appealed to the Governor to deem essential those home inspectors who have passed InterNACHI’s free, online COVID-19 course: https://www.nachi.org/covid-19-safety-standards.htm

I applied for a PA waiver and got the same form letter. There’s hope for change by May 8.
Did you get a reply to your appeal letter?

Thanks for doing that Nick. I dont have my hopes real high but I do appreciate the effort!

Welcome back to our forum, John Hall!..Enjoy! :smile:

Nick, I certainly appreciate your efforts regarding a waiver for PA Inspectors. The Wolfe Administration has been pretty vague. Hopefully we will get some clarity to start back up May 8th. Quick question for you. I offer blower door testing services and can’t get a clear answer. Since construction is opening back up May 1st in PA do you feel we can do the blower door testing?

Thank you!
Mike Gelsick, CMI

Hi, Michael. It seems that PA is opening up and in areas permit inspections: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update - Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®. Yes?

PA Association of Realtors also have these guidelines for home inspections: https://www.parealtors.org/coronavirus/best-practices/

Hi Ben, We are back up and running in our area as of May 8th. People seem to appreciate the COVID-19 Certification and so far have been understanding towards our process. We are requesting to be alone during the inspection and have done some virtual reviews. Hoping we don’t get shut down again. We are booked pretty steady the next couple weeks.

We’re off to a good start here in Erie, but it will take getting used to. I always wear a mask in the attic, but during the whole inspection can be a challenge. Realtors are responding differently. One sent a health questionnaire ahead of time, and another thought the PAR Guidelines was only recommended, not required. As I read it, seems to me it’s required. I’m also having sellers/buyers sign the Occupant Virus Release from the COVID-19 Safety Guidelines course if they are present at the inspection.

1 Like