New York licenses home inspectors and sets a legal minimum for what an inspection must cover, in Title 19 NYCRR, Part 197. Buyers are rarely told this. It is worth ten minutes, because it tells you how to read any inspector's report — including ours.
If a report you are handed is missing these, that is worth a question.
The regulation requires the inspector to observe the main and branch circuit conductors after removal of the readily accessible main and sub electric panel covers.
The duty is qualified: a cover that cannot be removed safely, or without risking damage, is a different matter — and then the report has to say so. But looking only at a closed panel door is not the New York standard.
The inspector must report on the methods used to observe the roof.
Walked, viewed from a ladder at the eaves, seen from the ground with binoculars, flown — these are very different inspections, and you are entitled to know which one you paid for. A report that describes a roof without saying how it was looked at is incomplete.
If the inspector did not observe a system or major component, it must be listed as not observed together with the reasons why.
So a crawl space that was never entered cannot simply be absent from the report. It has to be named, and the reason given. That turns a gap you would never have noticed into a question you can act on.
New York requires a pre-inspection agreement, and it dictates two clauses that must appear in it word for word — one explaining what a licensed inspector may and may not do, and one about disclosing immediate threats to health or safety.
They are not ours to reword, and we do not. If you are handed an agreement that does not contain them, the inspector has skipped something the State does not treat as optional.
A home inspector's license does not by itself authorize engineering or architectural services — those require separate professional licensure. An inspection is a limited visual examination of what is readily accessible, and it is not technically exhaustive: concealed conditions, latent defects and code compliance sit outside it.
When a report recommends a specialist, that is the system working, not the inspector passing the buck.
Opening a ceiling hatch, pulling a dead front off a panel and getting a light into a crawlspace is what the regulation is describing. It takes longer and it is the part that finds things.
If an inspector never leaves the floor, there are findings the report cannot contain — and under 197-5.3(c) each of them should be listed as not observed, with the reason.
A New York home inspector may not pay or receive a referral fee in connection with an inspection, and may not take payment that depends on what the inspection finds or on whether the sale goes through.
That matters more than it sounds. It means the inspector your agent recommended cannot be paid for the recommendation, and no inspector has a financial reason to go quiet about a problem that might cost someone a commission.
Your report is also yours: it cannot be given to anyone else without your consent.
The Department of State publishes a public register. It takes about a minute and it shows the license number, when it was issued, and when it expires.
Opens the New York Department of State licensee search. An inspector can give you their number, and it is on the public register either way.
Where the cover is readily accessible, yes — the inspector must observe the main and branch circuit conductors after removing it. The duty does not extend to a cover that cannot be removed safely or without risking damage.
Yes. New York requires home inspection reports to describe the methods used to observe the roofing — walked, from a ladder, from the ground, or otherwise.
A system or major component that was not observed must be listed in the report as not observed, together with the reasons why.
No. A New York home inspector may not pay or receive referral fees in connection with an inspection, and may not accept payment contingent on what the inspection finds or on whether the sale completes.
The Department of State publishes a licensee register anyone can search. It shows the license number, the issue date and the expiration date. Lou's is #16000039568, expiring June 9, 2028.
Lou has held a New York license since 2010 and inspects to this standard. Pick a time, or call and ask him anything first.
Already have a report from someone else and cannot make sense of it? Call him — he will talk you through what the standard covers, whoever did the inspection. You can also read what a standard inspection covers or see a real report.