New Jersey Standards of Practice
HOME INSPECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATUTES AND REGULATIONS
(page
37)
ADMINISTRATIVE
CODE
CHAPTER 40
STATE BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS
Subchapter 15
HOME INSPECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
13:40-15.16 Standards of practice
(a) All home inspectors and associate home inspectors shall
comply with the standards of practice contained in this
section when conducting home inspections. The scope of home inspection services
performed in compliance with the
requirements set forth in this section shall provide the client with objective
information regarding the condition of the systems and components of the home as
determined at the time of the home inspection.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a home
inspector or associate home inspector to:
1. Enter any area or perform any procedure which is, in the
opinion of the home inspector or associate home inspector,
unsafe and likely to be dangerous to the inspector or other persons;
2. Enter any area or perform any procedure which will, in the
opinion of the home inspector or associate home
inspector, likely damage the property or its systems or components;
3. Enter any area which does not have at least 24 inches of
unobstructed vertical clearance and at least 30 inches
of unobstructed horizontal clearance;
4. Identify concealed conditions and latent defects;
5. Determine life expectancy of any system or component;
6. Determine the cause of any condition or deficiency;
7. Determine future conditions that may occur including the
failure of systems and components including consequential
damage;
8. Determine the operating costs of systems or components;
9. Determine the suitability of the property for any
specialized use;
10. Determine compliance with codes, regulations and/or
ordinances;
11. Determine market value of the property or its
marketability;
12. Determine advisability of purchase of the property;
13. Determine the presence of any potentially hazardous
plants, animals or diseases or the presence of any suspected
hazardous substances or adverse conditions such as mold, fungus, toxins,
carcinogens, noise, and contaminants in
soil, water, and air;
14. Determine the effectiveness of any system installed or
method utilized to control or remove suspected hazardous
substances;
15. Operate any system or component which is shut down or
otherwise inoperable;
16. Operate any system or component which does not respond to
normal operating controls;
17. Operate shut-off valves;
18. Determine whether water supply and waste disposal systems
are public or private;
19. Insert any tool, probe or testing device inside electrical
panels;
20. Dismantle any electrical device or control other than to
remove the covers of main and sub panels;
21. Walk on unfloored sections of attics; and
22. Light pilot flames or ignite or extinguish fires.
(c) Home inspectors and associate home inspectors shall:
1. Inspect the following systems and components in residential
buildings and other related residential housing components:
i. Structural components as required by (e) below;
ii. Exterior components as required by (f) below;
iii. Roofing system components as required by (g) below;
iv. Plumbing system components as required by (h) below;
v. Electrical system components as required by (i) below;
vi. Heating system components as required by (j) below;
vii. Cooling system components as required by (k) below;
viii. Interior components as required by (l) below;
ix. Insulation components and ventilation system as required
by (m) below; and
x. Fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances as required
by (n) below;
2. Prepare a home inspection report which shall:
i. Disclose those systems and components as set forth in
(c)1 above which were present at the time of inspection;
ii. Disclose systems and components as set forth in (c)1
above which were present at the time of the home inspection
but were not inspected, and the reason(s) they were not inspected;
iii. Describe the systems and components specified in these
standards of practice;
iv. State material defects found in systems or components;
v. State the significance of findings where any material
defects in the systems and components of (c)1 above
were found; and
vi. Provide recommendations where material defects were
found to repair, replace or monitor a system or component or to obtain
examination and analysis by a qualified professional, tradesman, or service technician without determining the methods,
materials or cost of corrections; and
3. Retain copies of all home inspection reports prepared
pursuant to (c)2 above, for a period of five years upon
completion of the report;
(d) Subsection (c) above is not intended to limit home
inspectors or associate home inspectors from:
1. Inspecting or reporting observations and conditions observed
in systems and components in addition to those required in (c)1 above and
inspecting systems and components other than those mandated for inspection in
(c)1 above as long as the inspection and reporting is based on the licensee's
professional opinion, prior work experience, education and training, unless
these standards of practice prohibit the home inspector or
associate home inspector from inspecting such system or component;
2. Contracting with the client to provide, for an additional fee
additional inspection services provided the home
inspector or associate home inspector is educated, trained, certified,
registered or licensed, pursuant to the
provisions of N.J.A.C. 13:40-15.22 and other applicable statutes and rules; and
3. Excluding systems and components from the inspection if
requested in writing by the client.
(e) When conducting the inspection of the structural components,
the home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Foundation;
ii. Floors;
iii. Walls;
iv. Ceilings; and
v. Roof;
2. Describe:
i. Foundation construction type and material;
ii. Floor construction type and material;
iii. Wall construction type and material;
iv. Ceiling construction type and material; and
v. Roof construction type and material;
3. Probe structural components where deterioration is suspected
unless such probing would damage any finished
surface; and
4. Describe in the home inspection report the methods used to
inspect under-floor crawl spaces and attics.
(f) When conducting the inspection of the exterior components, a
home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Exterior surfaces, excluding shutters, and screening,
awnings, and other similar seasonal accessories;
ii. Exterior doors excluding storm doors or safety glazing;
iii. Windows excluding storm windows and safety glazing;
iv. Attached or adjacent decks, balconies, stoops, steps,
porches, and their railings;
v. Vegetation, grading, drainage, and retaining walls with
respect to their immediate detrimental effect on the
condition of the residential building, excluding fences, geological and/or soil
conditions, sea walls, break-walls,
bulkheads and docks, or erosion control and earth stabilization;
vi. Attached or adjacent walkways, patios, and driveways; and
vii. Garage doors including automatic door openers and
entrapment protection mechanisms, excluding remote
control devices; and
2. Describe exterior wall surface type and material.
(g) When inspecting the roof of a residential building, the home
inspector or associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Roofing surface, excluding antennae and other installed
accessories such as solar heating systems, lightning
arresters, and satellite dishes;
ii. Roof drainage systems;
iii. Flashing;
iv. Skylights; and
v. Exterior of chimneys;
2. Describe:
i. Roof surface;
ii. Roof drainage systems;
iii. Flashing;
iv. Skylights; and
v. Chimneys;
3. Employ reasonable, practicable and safe methods to inspect
the roof such as:
i. Walking on the roof;
ii. Observation from a ladder at roof level; or
iii. Visual examination with binoculars from ground level; and
4. Describe the methods used to inspect the roof.
(h) When inspecting the plumbing system, a home inspector or
associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Interior water supply and distribution systems including
functional water flow and functional drainage, excluding
wells, well pumps, well water sampling or water storage related equipment,
determination of water supply quantity or
quality and water conditioning systems and lawn irrigation systems;
ii. All interior fixtures and faucets, excluding shut off
valves, wells, well pumps, well water sampling and water
storage related equipment;
iii. Drain, waste and vent systems;
iv. Domestic water heating systems, without operating safety
valves or automatic safety controls, and excluding
solar water heating systems;
v. Combustion vent systems excluding interiors of flues and
chimneys;
vi. Fuel distribution systems; and
vii. Drainage sumps, sump pumps and related piping; and
2. Describe:
i. Predominant interior water supply and distribution piping
materials;
ii. Predominant drain, waste and vent piping materials; and
iii. Water heating equipment including energy sources.
(i) When inspecting the electrical system, a home inspector or
associate home inspect shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Service entrance system;
ii. Main disconnects, main panel and sub panels, including
interior components of main panel and sub panels;
iii. Service grounding;
iv. Wiring, without measuring amperage, voltage or impedance,
excluding any wiring not a part of the primary
electrical power distribution system, such as central vacuum systems, remote
control devices, telephone or cable system
wiring, intercom systems, security systems and low voltage wiring systems;
v. Over-current protection devices and the compatibility of
their ampacity with that of the connected wiring;
vi. At least one of each interior installed lighting fixture,
switch, and receptacle per room and at least one exterior
installed lighting fixture, switch, and receptacle per side of house; and
vii. Ground fault circuit interrupters; and
2. Describe:
i. Amperage and voltage rating of the service;
ii. Location of main disconnect, main panels, and sub-panels;
iii. Type of over-current protection devices;
iv. Predominant type of wiring;
v. Presence of knob and tube branch circuit wiring; and
vi. Presence of solid conductor aluminum branch circuit wiring.
(j) When inspecting the heating system, a home inspector or
associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Installed heating equipment and energy sources, without
determining heat supply adequacy or distribution balance,
and without operating automatic safety controls or operating heat pumps when
weather conditions or other circumstances
may cause damage to the pumps, and excluding humidifiers, electronic air
filters and solar heating systems;
ii. Combustion vent systems and chimneys, excluding interiors of
flues or chimneys;
iii. Fuel storage tanks, excluding propane and underground
storage tanks; and
iv. Visible and accessible portions of the heat exchanger,
removing the flame roll-out shield if applicable; and
2. Describe:
i. Heating equipment and distribution type; and
ii. Energy sources.
(k) When inspecting the cooling system, a home inspector or
associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Central cooling system, excluding electronic air filters and
excluding determination of cooling supply adequacy
or distribution balance and without operating central cooling equipment when
weather conditions or other circumstances
may cause damage to the cooling equipment;
ii. Permanently installed hard-wired, through-wall individual
cooling systems; and
iii. Energy sources; and
2. Describe:
i. Cooling equipment and distribution type; and
ii. Energy sources.
(l) When inspecting the interior of a residential building, a
home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Walls, ceilings, and floors excluding paint, wallpaper and
other finish treatments, carpeting and other non-permanent
floor coverings;
ii. Steps, stairways, and railings;
iii. Installed kitchen wall cabinets to determine if secure;
iv. At least one interior passage door and operate one window
per room excluding window treatments; and
v. Household appliances limited to:
(1) The kitchen range and oven to determine operation of burners
or heating elements excluding microwave ovens and
the operation of self-cleaning cycles and appliance timers and thermostats;
(2) Dishwasher to determine water supply and drainage; and
(3) Garbage disposer.
(m) When inspecting the insulation components and ventilation
system of a residential building, the home inspector or
associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Insulation in unfinished spaces without disturbing
insulation;
ii. Ventilation of attics and crawlspaces; and
iii. Mechanical ventilation systems; and
2. Describe:
i. Insulation in unfinished spaces adjacent to heated areas; and
ii. Evidence of inadequate attic and crawlspace ventilation.
(n) When inspecting fireplaces and solid fuel burning
appliances, a home inspector or associate home inspector shall:
1. Inspect:
i. Fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances, without testing
draft characteristics, excluding fire screens and
doors, seals and gaskets, automatic fuel feed devices, mantles and
non-structural fireplace surrounds, combustion
make-up air devices, or gravity fed and fan assisted heat distribution systems;
and
ii. Chimneys and combustion vents excluding interiors of flues
and chimneys; and
2. Describe:
i. Type of fireplaces and/or solid fuel burning appliances;
ii. Energy source; and
iii. Visible evidence of draft characteristics.
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