When a potential buyer hires me to inspect a house do i have to get written permission from the home owner/seller to enter the house for the inspection?
Not necessarily.
Permission for an inspection is given the buyer via the Purchase Agreement.
As long as your Client has a PA in place, you are good to go.
How you choose to verify there is a valid PA in place is up to you.
If you don’t trust the client, contact their Agent.
If a FSBO, contact the seller.
When in doubt, request a copy of the PA’s page with the Inspection Contingency clause and signature on it.
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Not usually. You should check your states home inspector licensing law for any such requirement.
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Yes, you still have to get permission. On occasion, there is a breakdown in communication between the inspector, buyer, agents on both sides, and the seller. You show up to the home and the seller has no idea that an inspection was scheduled. If the seller says that we are not allowed to do the inspection, we have no right to say otherwise.
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How would you enter without obtaining permission? I would not suggest breaking in.
If someone is home who is not aware of the inspection, then we are like vampires…we must obtain an invitation to enter.
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If you have access to ShowingTime, it is a great tool.
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I am sure there will be a video explaining this coming soon… 
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I would say in most cases you do not have to get permission directly as has been pointed out the seller agrees to have it available for inspection in their purchase agreement. And as long as all parties are communicating we will not need to obtain permission as it is implied. However you will find on occasion when you show up, the Seller or even a Tennent has not been notified because the Agent(s) have not done Their Job! Or communication after going through four or more people (you, buyer, buyer’s agent, seller’s agent, to Seller) your 8am start time on Tuesday has been interpreted to Wednesday at 1:00pm…My theory is Wednesday at 1:00 is when the Appraiser is to arrive and an agent didn’t a “Represent” their client and neglected to schedule you with the seller.
This has happened several times and in all cases (so far) the seller has been ok with it (sort of). I blame the agents, and I let the seller know this. You will find that some Agents are really crappy about “taking care of business”. And not just with scheduling.
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I send the listing agent an email stating the time and date I scheduled the inspection, see below:
If the buyer is attending the inspection I ask the listing agent to notify the seller so there are no surprises. if the agent doesn’t respond to my email I will call to verify.
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If I make a mistake, I own it. But fortunately, it is always the realtor 
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