Safety When Encountering Pests During Inspection

For the experienced Inspectors. When you encounter pests such as bees nests, spider nests, or a colony of bats what is your course of action? I know if it is dangerous conditions to leave the area. However would you just inform the agent/ client and finish the rest of the inspection? Would you reschedule to finish the inspection after the client has professionals remove the pests?
What sort of actions do you take in these sort of scenarios?

There’s really no right or wrong answer, nor any “one-size-fits-all” answer.

Just go with what makes the most sense for whatever situation you find yourself in.

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Yeah, case by case… A bear in the house? Yes, get out and reschedule. A bee’s nest in an eave outside? Probably okay to complete the job. Every encounter is different and the way you proceed will vary. Protect yourself, document with pictures or other evidence, when possible, and communicate clearly how the animal/pest restricted/limited/stopped the inspection. SOPs are generally very favorable to use in these instances.

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I thought you would be asking about the seller or the listing agent! Biggest pests I see at an Inspection.

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Leave, report as not inspected if it rises to the level of personal safety. Only time I can recall having done that is when I was waiting out a thunderstorm and watched a skunk enter the crawl space I was about to go in… “Crawl space - Not Inspected” check.
Everything else I just work around as close as I can safely. I do carry Wasp and Hornet spray and do not hesitate to use it. Snakes tend to move on when they are discovered but I keep a vigilant watch for their whereabouts. Personal safety is paramount, everything else just falls into place.

First off… good to see you here. IIRC, I used to see you at Inspectionnews years ago (15… maybe more?).

Back in Oregon most houses have crawl spaces and A LOT of them get inhabited by various critters… most aren’t dangerous. They just piss, poop and pull down insulation everywhere. Over the years I found agents and buyers just expected us to go in and would just lose their minds when we refused. I fielded many a phone call from an angry agent or buyer accusing my inspector of being a pansy for not crawling through rat crap.

Anyway, I learned to just carry a roll of plastic vapor barrier with me and throw down a piece and disappear 10 feet into the crawl space. I knew long before putting on my coveralls that I wasn’t going an inch past the end of my fresh plastic but the fact that I made an effort and disappeared under the house made all the difference. Of course, I’d write up that the crawl space is not accessible, heavily contaminated, etc., etc. There’s just something about not going in the crawl space that sets people off. Sure, I could argue and fight with them but my method is a pretty easy way of keeping the peace.

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As @ddagostino said, go with what makes sense.

If there are bats in the attic, it goes in the report. If there is a hornet nest outside the back door, it goes in the report.

If I go into a crawl or attic and see a Raccoon, it goes in the report.

If there is a wasp nest in the eave, it won’t make my report.

No, I’m finishing the inspection and delivering the report, if there is an area that I can’t safely access, I recommend that the area be made safe and then get inspected at a later date.

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I thought it would be good to add this little bit of info.

I was recently inspecting a large 1930’s barn when I ran across a pile of what looked like mice or rat feces. I stayed clear of it, only getting close enough for a picture. It only dawned on me latter (duh) that mice and rats do not do that, they scatter their poop wherever. Even though I could not see the attic ridge clearly, I figured there had to be a roost of bats above that location. I recommended to the owner to keep people out of the barn until the bats and guano are eliminated.


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Very true, most clients scatter once they see someone crawl into the hatch under a house, they think it’s some evil lair and that by going in you’re letting whatever’s in there, out.

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Sorry for the late reply! This was very helpful thank you!

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Thank you for sharing those photos and experience! I feel a little more prepared if i come across something of that nature to investigate!