[J77]

On March 29, 2012 , I about a 30 years old ranch in a condominium in PA .
I employed a home inspector. After inspecting the crawl space and structure of the building he said verbally that everything is fine and well done.
Based on his professional comment I bought the house.
After finalizing the deal I found out that there are several important construction engineering neglections which are not acceptable by engineering and applicable construction codes.
I referred to the home inspector’s report and found out he has stated “The structure of the property is reported to be maintained by the association and was not inspected.” .
In reply to my reaction and asking about source of his information that convinced him to remain silent on building’s structure affairs ,he e-mailed me following comment:
Because it is a condominium, you will need to discuss these items with your condo association.
The building, as stated in your report is beyond the scope of the home inspection.
I asked the condominium’s manager to take care of existing engineering neglections which was general contractor’s fault at the time of construction.
I received following reply by e-mail:
The foundation and all the components of the foundation above the concrete slab of the crawl space, including the beams, joists and the sub floor are the responsibility of the owner.
It would be necessary to make costly repairs and improvement in order to meet the sound engineering and building codes .
You appreciate the home inspector’s responsibility is detect and report building code violations and inspect interior and exterior home features including the foundation, roofing, plumbing and electrical, heating and cooling systems.
But my appointed Home Inspector did not report the existing structural problems and building codes violations. And miss lead me for paying attention to existing problem and at the result put me in risk of spending some extra amount.

The question is what are legal responsibility of appointed home inspector, and what could be my legal rights in order to cover the applicable expenses?
And what should I do at this stage?

[Fr_Chuck]

A large percentage of home inspectors are about worthless, many get their training from a online course. Some don't even have that.

Read your contract with the home inspector, I have never seen one where the inspector did not have a waiver or any responisbility. Every and I do mean every contact for a home inspector, states they are not responsible for anything they miss or over look.

Also most are not up on all of the codes and would not have knowledge of engineering issues. They are looking often for termintes, water damage, also they can not see things behind walls.

I would be surprised if your inspector has any liability at all on it.

*** opinion they should, I had something similar on a home I bought about 5 years ago, I had major electric issues, ( and I paid to have the power turned on) I hired a good attorney and sued, since this was obvious things ** like air conditioner not turning on, no 220 item in the house working. But he had them all working and electric fine,

All I did was end up paying for his attorney, because his contract stated he was not liable, which means he could walk in, and not even look, write up any report he wanted and not a thing I could do.

Also if the inspector ( found this out lately) was recommended by a real estate agent they have to pass houses, to get the agent a sale, if they fail too many the agent will find another inspector to recommend. ** bad but too true

[smearcase]

Here is a write-up by the PA Attorney General on home inspections and PA law on that subject. The PA Consumer Protection Division or a licensing department might at least give you an opinion about your issues and possibly some assistance. Maybe worth a try.
Consumers: Protecting Consumers - Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General