Home Inspection Checklist
Most checklists online are invented. This one is the rule an Oregon inspector is actually held to, item by item, with the citation beside each.
Where this checklist comes from
Oregon adopts a standard of practice for home inspections in OAR chapter 812, division 8, rules 812-008-0200 through 812-008-0214. It is law, not guidance. An inspector working to that standard must address every listed item in a written report, and OAR 812-008-0202 states it is not sufficient to hand over a report listing only deficiencies.
So the useful checklist is not somebody's opinion of what matters. It is the ten system categories the rule names, plus the exclusions that decide what you have to arrange yourself.
What the inspector must examine
Ten system categories, each its own rule in division 8. Ask for any of these by number.
What an inspector is not required to report
This list settles most post-inspection disputes, and almost no consumer-facing checklist reproduces it.
- Life expectancy of components
- Causes of needed repairs
- Methods, materials or costs of correction
- Suitability for specialized use
- Code compliance
- Advisability of purchase
- Presence or absence of pests, wood-damaging organisms, rodents or insects
- Cosmetic items
- Underground items
- Non-permanently installed items
- Detached structures
The four that sit outside the standard
These are the expensive ones in Oregon housing, and the exclusion above is exactly why a general inspection will not cover them.
- text
- Inspections undertaken in accordance with division 8 are visual and are not technically exhaustive.
- rule text verbatim
- Inspections undertaken in accordance with division 8 are visual and are not technically exhaustive.
- text
- Inspectors are not required to report on cosmetic items, underground items, or items not permanently installed.
- text
- The plumbing standard covers only ABOVE GROUND oil storage.
- why outside
- Underground items are excluded, and the oil storage standard reaches only above-ground tanks.
- page
- /issues/decommissioned-oil-tanks
- specialist
- DEQ-licensed service provider
- why outside
- Underground items are excluded, and the inspection is visual and not technically exhaustive.
- page
- /issues/sewer-scope-clay-laterals
- specialist
- Sewer scope contractor
- why outside
- Inspectors are not required to determine the presence of environmental hazards or contaminants.
- page
- /issues/radon-testing-oregon
- specialist
- NRPP or NRSB certified measurement technician, since Oregon does not licence them
- why outside
- Structural scope is limited to visible components, so concealed connections, hold-downs and foundation reinforcement are out.
- page
- /issues/seismic-retrofit
- specialist
- Engineer, or a retrofit contractor working to Portland's prescriptive standard
- type pages
- Every /types/ page should state its exclusions from OAR 812-008-0204 rather than from a trade association's version.
- general exclusions full list
- See statewide/licensing.json, standards_of_practice.general_exclusions, for the complete OAR 812-008-0204 list.