Why Is There Confusion About Whether I Should Use An Engineer Or A Home Inspector?
Some people would have you believe that only an engineer is qualified to perform home inspections. In some cases consumers have been led to believe that a home inspection involves engineering analysis and therefore requires the use of a licensed Professional Engineer.
Visual home inspections do not involve engineering analysis, even when performed by PE's. In fact, engineering is an entirely different type of investigation, which entails detailed scientific measurements, tests, calculations, and / or analysis. Such a technically exhaustive analysis involves considerable time and expense, and is only appropriate when visual evidence exists to indicate a problem that warrants further specialized investigation.
In most states a Professional Engineer can simply state that he/she is a PE, regardless whether the degree was obtained in mechanical, electrical, civil, sanitary, structural or any other discipline of engineering.
There Are No Engineering Degrees In Home Inspection. You should be aware that the title of "certified inspector" or "home inspection engineer" is not given out or granted by any state agency. You should also check to determine whether your state requires home inspectors to be licensed.
There are home inspection training programs offered by private organizations which upon completion of a one or two week program allow the inspector to
use the term "certified." The certification means almost nothing if the individual has little or no actual home inspection experience.
Although some home inspection companies will provide you with a pre-printed hand written checklist at the conclusion of the home inspection, these boiler plate formats often do not provide the level of detail and advice and that a formal detailed written home inspection report can provide.
It is one thing for the home inspector to check off good, fair, poor, acceptable, or not acceptable, but it is another thing to describe what’s wrong, why its wrong, and what needs to be done about it.
Anybody can check off a form that indicates that a stairway is tilting, but a written home inspection report by a Professional Home Inspector can tell you why the stairway is tilting and what needs to be done about it.
