When is any message board post not a matter of opinion?
I’m sure that you and I are well aware of that, but there are many on this board who will interpret a post as fact, simply based on the author of the post.
Shame on them? Sure, but there’s often a learning curve with newer inspectors 
At the point I’m doing a pre-purchase inspection on a house there are no competing buyers. If I’m doing a pre-purchase inspection, my buyer has a contract on the house, which means the first buyer has either walked or the seller is committing fraud by engaging in multiple contracts. Either way, I am not harming either of my clients.
Besides, the first buyer will have already hired me to inspect the next candidtae house they have selected.
This idea of harming the first client is a red herring.
An inspection report is a written record of an observation made of a home that was done prior to the moment that the report was published. In that regard, it speaks only of the past condition of the home … as it existed at the time that it was observed … prior to the publication of the report.
In this regard, an inspection report (regardless of the grammar or language contained within it) is a report of a past condition of the house and is obsolete as it is being read in that it does not refer to a real time or future condition of the home.
How’s that?
No, the red herring is whether the contract is executed or not. Again, if two clients hire you to inspect the same house, you harm your first client by revealing he/she exists to your second client. Has nothing to do with whether or not the sales agreement is executed or not.
If you need me to post hypothetical examples of how you are harming your first client, let me know and I’ll do it.
Not true.
On this, we can certainly agree 
Yep, exactly right. Every material, every system and component in a home is deteriorating every moment that home exists, it just a matter of how fast. If it happens to catch fire right after the inspection, that process may be very fast. An inspection report is a description of a past condition. Any offer of a warranty as to condition by an inspector implying that a home will remain in the same condition as when it was inspected for a specified time is absolute pixie dust.
We disagree. It’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last time.
I certainly won’t deceive a client by inspecting a house and pretending I’ve never seen it before.
I can only respond with regard to PA (Pennsylvania)
- The Report belongs to the Buyer
- Inspector can not disclose a prior Inspection unless authorized by the Client contracting the Inspection…
Perform as a new Inspection.
Not disclose that you had previously inspected (elements may have been repaired and/or additionally disclosed)
It is what it is…
Yep.
Well said Nick.
I don’t think we need to post any information to the new buyer.
They want a report, then that’s what we’ll do.
Thanks for all the comments.
That’s nuts. Since you are so willing to reveal to your 2nd client that your first client exists, do you also do the reverse by calling your first client to tell them about your 2nd? If you are going to harm your clients, you might as well harm them evenly.
The difference between us is that I will not pretend something that is not true. If your ethics are that malleable then so be it. There is a reason that I seldom take what you say at face value. One has to look beyond your words to understand your motives in order to parse the truth out of what you say.
To debate this is pointless. You will not sway my opinion and I will not bother to try to sway yours.
What is my motive for pointing out the truth that you harm your first client by revealing he/she exists to your second client?
And again, since you reveal to your 2nd client that your first client exists, do you also do the reverse by calling your first client to tell them about your 2nd? I’m just asking a yes or no question.
Could it be compliance with this:
The InterNACHI member shall not communicate any information about an inspection to anyone except the client without the prior written consent of the client, except where it may affect the safety of others or violates a law or statute.
From International Code of Ethics for Home Inspectors - InterNACHI InterNACHI Code of Ethics
In this case, “the client” being the first client for the first inspection?
I’ve been studying your position and while I can see no benefit at all to an inspector to discuss his previous inspection to his second client, I can see how his sharing information regarding his first inspection could (under the right circumstances) affect a negotiation process, unfairly.
Keeping in mind that the first inspection was expired and of no relevance to its present condition at the moment the inspector pulled out of the driveway and left the home the first time … I see no relevance to the second client to have knowledge of a previous inspection for which they did not pay for and pertaining to information that is expired, of no benefit to them and which they cannot use.
There is certainly no conflict of interest, or potential for one, that needs to be revealed.
So what happens when the listing agent blurts out, in front of your client, that you’ve already inspected the house.
This actually happened to me a few years ago and I’m interested in opinions. I also inspect homes more than once on a regular basis.
I don’t understand the significance. Maybe I’m missing something.
Do inspectors think that they owe a discount or something for having inspected the home before? If the client finds out … and are paying full price … that makes it a big deal? Is that it?
Jim, if two different clients have hired you to inspect the same house, they are each entitled to your confidentiality. If I were the first client, the one party in the world I wouldn’t want you to reveal that you just did an inspection on the same house… would be your second client. If you break your oath of confidentiality to your first client, your second client knows that another buyer is so interested in the home that they hired you to inspect it that morning. Knowing this confidential information you revealed would likely cause your second client to sweeten their offer… to the detriment of your first client.