By Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
As a veteran home inspector, I take exception to a recommendation in one of your columns. You advised that home inspectors urge their clients to do a permit check at the local building department if additions or alterations to the property are apparent. Why are you making a recommendation that exceeds the standard scope of a home inspection? If all the work is done in a professional manner, and if no evidence of faulty workmanship is apparent, what's the rationale? By the same logic, an inspector should advise a client to check for permits on the original structure. Don't you think this advice should be amended? - Larry
Dear Larry,
You have unintentionally advanced an excellent point regarding permit checks: Home buyers should definitely check for building permits on original structures, not just on additions or alterations. In fact, many home inspectors routinely recommend that buyers check with the building department to verify all permits, final inspections, and age of buildings.
Why, you ask, am I making this recommendation? Because there's actually a small percentage of homes out there that were either built without permits or that were never signed off when construction was completed. Obviously, such cases are rare, but recommending that buyers check with the building department removes one more uncertainty and one level of disclosure liability. A permit check also helps to clarify the age of the building in cases where remodeling may have obscured evidence of actual vintage.
As a veteran inspector, you know that liability is a major business consideration. By simply recommending a permit check, you advance the cause of protecting your assets, while providing additional consumer protection for your home-buying clients.
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