Business Department and Juan P. Sanchez

Pennsylvania's Home Inspection Law protects you from inspector fraud, error or negligence

When buying a house, a home inspection should be used to protect your investment. But, how do you know an inspection was done properly? Additionally, what are your rights when an inspection was negligently performed? If you are buying or selling a property in Pennsylvania, you are protected by the Home Inspection Law (HIL), which regulates the profession of home inspecting. Enacted in 2000, the HIL defines the rights available for grossly negligent inspections and the criminal penalties for failure to comply with the law.

In the event of a grossly negligent home inspection, a homeowner can recover his or her actual damages and the court can award up to three times those damages, plus the cost of reasonable attorney's fees. The criminal penalties for a grossly negligent home inspection include a $500 fine and up to three months imprisonment for the first offense, which can increase to a $5,000 fine and one-year imprisonment for each subsequent offense.

Understanding the Home Inspection Law
The HIL defines a "home inspection" as a noninvasive visual examination of the physical structure and systems of a home, from roof to foundation, performed for a fee in connection with a possible real estate transfer. The term also includes any consultation regarding the property that is represented to be a home inspection or that is described by any confusingly similar term.

The HIL mandates that home inspector certification organizations have certain quality assurance measures in place to regulate the profession, but there is no law requiring home inspectors to be certified by any such organization. The HIL defines the scope and requirements of home inspections. Home inspectors may do home inspections and repairs as long as they are not doing repairs on a defect they found during an inspection in the past year. A home inspector may not:

• Be paid to inspect a property in which they have an interest without notice to buyer of such interest before sale;
• Offer or deliver any compensation or reward in excess of $100 per year to the seller of the inspected property or agent thereof for referrals;
• Write a report in which acceptance of the home inspection is contingent upon a certain result; and
• Give an estimate of the cost to repair any defect, except under certain conditions.

Error, Omissions and Negligence
Additionally, home inspectors must maintain insurance against errors and omissions in the performance of a home inspection and general liability. Most importantly, a home inspection contract may not place limitations on the liability of the home inspector for gross negligence or willful misconduct, nor waive or modify any provisions of the HIL. Therefore, a court will not enforce contract language limiting an inspector's liability if a homeowner can prove gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Home inspectors must conduct a home inspection with the degree of care a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise, as defined by the American Society of Home Inspectors "Standards of Practice." Like many professions, there are times when such standards are not met. Under the HIL, a homeowner who has suffered damages or economic loss as a result of a negligent home inspection can seek remedies afforded by Pennsylvania's Unfair Trades Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

In a recent case in Delaware County, a home buyer sued a home inspector alleging a grossly negligent inspection and received a judgment for nearly half the purchase price. While that case is unusual, all home buyers should be aware that they have rights to recover against a home inspector.

MacElree Harvey
17 West Miner Street
Post Office Box 660
West Chester, PA 19381–0660
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