Standards of Practice

THE ALLIANCE OF CANADIAN HOME INSPECTORS INC. is a non-profit, corporation dedicated to advancing the cause of consumers and its membership through education. The purchase of a property is typically the most significant investment that consumers make, and that investment needs to be protected. As a consequence, thousands of inspections are conducted daily that result in the production of legal documents, such as inspection reports, contracts, and a variety of agreements. It is essential that consumers understand what a property inspection does include and what it does NOT include.

A.C.H.I. property inspectors are professional individuals who in exchange for a fee agree to accept the responsibility of evaluating and reporting on the interrelated conditions and components of a property with a degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise. This inspection is “a non-invasive physical examination, performed for a fee,” undertaken in an attempt to identify “material defects” that could significantly “affect the value, desirability, habitability, or safety of the dwelling.” However, even this definition is subject to interpretation and debate, and what constitutes an A.C.H.I. inspection needs to be explained and
clearly understood, for practical, ethical, and legal purposes. To borrow an example from medicine, an A.C.H.I. property inspector is similar to a general practitioner, who has learned a lot about medicine and the human body but has not specialized in any one particular discipline.
Similarly, A.C.H.I. inspectors know a lot about the building trades, such as roofing, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical, but they are not licensed specialists. In fact, like general practitioners, it is their responsibility to defer to specialists. For this reason, A.C.H.I.I property inspections are limited in their scope.

A.C.H.I. property inspections are “non-invasive” and essentially visual and, as stated, are intended to alert  consumers in a “written report” to “material defects” that exist at the time of an inspection, defects that could significantly affect the value of a property or pose a threat to health and safety. A property inspection is not technically exhaustive, and is not intended to be, and will not reveal every defect and deficiency. For instance, a property inspection does not include research to establish code-compliance, recall notices, or prior reports. Therefore, an inspection report should not be regarded as a substitute for the seller’s transfer disclosure statement (TDS), which the sellers may be required to provide, or as an insurance policy, warranty, or guaranty. Some defects may be latent, and / or become apparent at a later point in time, which is why inspections have
been sensibly characterized as snapshots in time. And it is essential that consumers understand this and, thereby, have reasonable expectations. However, the terms “non-invasive” and “visual” also need further explanation. For example, an inspector may remove the interior cover from an electrical panel, which could be said to be invasive, and inserting an electrical tester into a wall outlet could be construed as being more than a visual examination. Regardless, most inspectors remove cover panels and use a variety of specialized instruments in the service of their clients, but the use of such instruments does not distinguish them as specialists; only a licensing authority can legitimately confer that distinction. A.C.H.I. inspectors adhere to clearly defined standards and laws, and to this extent A.C.H.I. standards are intended to be legally binding.

For more information see The Alliance for Canadian Home Inspectors.