Termite Inspection for Home Buyers: What It Covers

A termite inspection in a house purchase is a visual examination of the parts of a building one licensed inspector could reach on one day, written up on a form your lender reads. It records visible evidence, not a verdict, and North Carolina’s regulator tells lenders in print that a clear report is not the thing to aim for.

You have time. The University of Kentucky’s extension entomology service puts it plainly: “Termites damage wood slowly; the amount of damage caused by taking an additional day, week, or month to make an informed decision generally is inconsequential.” That is long enough to read both pages of your own copy and ask the seller two questions.

By the end of this you will know how much of your house was actually looked at, why a finding is the ordinary outcome rather than the alarming one, and which person answers the question the report deliberately does not.

What is a termite inspection when you are buying a house?

It is a service performed by a business licensed by your state, and the license number ends up printed on your copy.

Form NPMA-33, the report used for FHA and VA loans, carries a printed field in Section I reading “Company’s Pest Control Business Lic. No.” So the first fact about the inspection is checkable from the paperwork without asking anyone. The EPA’s position is that “Firms offering termite services must be licensed by your state”, and it advises you to “Ask to see the company’s license and, if you have any concerns, call your state pesticide regulatory agency.”

Section I also carries a declaration about the inspector’s own position: “Neither the inspecting company nor the inspector has had, presently has, or contemplates having any interest in the property inspected.” That line is on the form because the same company that inspects can also sell the treatment, and the form makes them say the two are separate. You can read the rest of it in my walkthrough of what a WDI report means, line by line, and the service itself in my page on termite inspection.

Is this the termite letter my agent asked for?

Your agent’s phrase and the regulator’s phrase describe the same document, and the regulator thinks both of the common names are wrong.

North Carolina’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, writing for home buyers, says of its own wood destroying insect information report: “Though sometimes referred to as a clearance letter or a termite letter, it is not a ‘clearance letter,’ in that it does not necessarily clear a structure; and it is not a ‘termite letter,’ in that it addresses more than just termites.”

Both halves of that are worth holding on to. The document does not clear anything, which is the whole of the next few sections. And it covers more than termites: Form NPMA-33 defines wood destroying insects, for its own purposes, as termites, carpenter ants, carpenter bees and reinfesting wood boring beetles, and says the inspection “does not include mold, mildew or noninsect wood destroying organisms.” A finding on your report may have nothing to do with termites at all.

If the phrase itself is what you are stuck on, and you want to know who is actually requiring the document and who is allowed to write one, that is the subject of my guide to what a termite letter actually is. If you have already decided to order one and need to know what to specify when you book, the WDI inspection report page covers the engagement rather than the vocabulary.

What does the inspector actually do?

They look, and they tap. Nothing on the form describes anything more invasive than that.

North Carolina sets it out as a legal definition: “By law, an inspection for wood-destroying insects and their evidence is the careful visual examination of all accessible areas of a building and the sounding of accessible structural members adjacent to slab areas in contact with masonry walls and other areas particularly susceptible to attack by wood-destroying insects.” Sounding means tapping wood and listening for the hollow note that says the inside has gone.

Form NPMA-33 describes its own scope in nearly the same terms: “A visual inspection was conducted in the readily accessible areas of the structure(s) indicated (see Page 1) including attics and crawlspaces which permitted entry during the inspection. The inspection included probing and/or sounding of unobstructed and accessible areas to determine the presence or absence of visual evidence of wood destroying insects.”

Where the building stops matters too. North Carolina says “Permanently attached decks, porches, storage sheds, etc. are included in these inspections. Outbuildings or other detached structures are not routinely inspected unless specifically requested by the client.” A detached garage is a request, not a default.

What does the inspection leave out?

Everything behind something else, and the list of what counts as behind something else is longer than most buyers expect.

Page 2 of the NPMA-33 states the limit: “No inspection was made in areas which required the breaking apart or into, dismantling, removal of any object, including but not limited to: moldings, floor coverings, wall coverings, siding, fixed ceilings, insulation, furniture, appliances, and/or personal possessions; nor were areas inspected which were obstructed or inaccessible for physical access on the date of inspection.”

Two physical thresholds sit under that. The form deems an area inaccessible “if the opening to the area is not large enough to provide physical access for the inspector or if a ladder was required for access”, and deems a crawl space, or part of one, inaccessible “if there is less than 24 inches of clearance from the bottom of the floor joists to the surface below.”

Where is that recorded on the form?

Section IV, Obstructions and Inaccessible Areas, and it is the section to read first. It carries checkboxes for Basement, Crawlspace, Main Level, Attic, Garage, Exterior, Porch, Addition and Other, and an optional preprinted key of 26 numbered obstructions running from 1, fixed ceiling, to 26, equipment. Among them: 5, insulation. 7, stored items. 8, furnishings. 9, appliances. 14, cluttered condition.

My read of that key is that the scope of your inspection was set by how full the house was on the day somebody walked through it. An occupied, furnished house and an empty one produce different reports on the same building.

North Carolina states the consequence: “The PCO is not responsible for any evidence that may have been inaccessible at the time of the inspection.” It is fixable, at a price: the NPMA-33 says the company “may be contacted for another inspection” where an area reported as inaccessible is later made accessible, and that “An additional fee may apply.”

Does a finding mean the house failed?

There is no pass mark on the form and no state grade behind it, and the regulator who says so most directly is addressing lenders when they say it.

North Carolina’s guidance is blunt: “Lending institutions and buyers need to realize that a ‘clear’ report is not to be sought. The function of the WDIR is to report the presence of all visible evidence of wood-destroying insect infestation.” The same brochure adds that “A so-called ‘clear’ report is not mandatory in order for the transaction to be completed.”

The reason is arithmetic rather than optimism. “Most homes in North Carolina in excess of 10-15 years old will have some evidence of wood-destroying insects and could well have been damaged by such insects.” Set against that, a form with nothing on it is the unusual result.

There is also a hard floor under the pressure a buyer sometimes feels to go and find a cleaner report. Where evidence exists, North Carolina says, “the issuance of a subsequent report indicating ‘no evidence’ in such circumstances would be a violation of the structural pest control rules and could be considered to be fraud.”

The form offers two boxes. Box A: “No visible evidence of wood destroying insects was observed.” Box B: “Visible evidence of wood destroying insects was observed as follows:”, a single checkbox sitting over three separately numbered write-in lines for live insects, for dead insects and traces such as frass or shelter tubes, and for visible damage. Only the first of those three is about something alive. What each line means for your next move is the subject of my guide on a report that comes back with findings, and the traces themselves are described on my page about subterranean termites.

Does the report tell you anything about damage?

No, and it says so twice, in the two places a worried reader is most likely to be looking.

The NPMA-33 states: “This report is not a guarantee or warranty as to the absence of wood destroying insects nor is it a structural integrity report. The inspector’s training and experience do not qualify the inspector in damage evaluation or any other building construction technology and/or repair.” Directly under Section II it repeats the point with an instruction attached: “NOTE: This is not a structural damage report. If box B above is checked, it should be understood that some degree of damage, including hidden damage, may be present. If any questions arise regarding damage indicated by this report, it is recommended that the buyer or any interested parties contact a qualified structural professional to determine the extent of damage and the need for repairs.”

North Carolina describes the same division of labor from the other side. The inspector “is not required to report the presence of damage or the extent of any damage”, and “Ordinarily, a PCO is neither prepared nor qualified to evaluate the extent of damage to a structure. A building expert should make the necessary repairs.”

So the report tells you an insect was there. Somebody else tells you what it cost you.

Who pays for it, and when should it be done?

Payment is a term of your contract in most cases, and there is one federal answer worth knowing because it changed.

Since 15 June 2022, VA has authorised in advance, as a local variance, “that Veterans may be charged wood destroying pest inspection fees, where required by the NOV”, and adds that “Veterans are encouraged to negotiate the cost of the wood destroying pest inspection and repairs with the seller.” The detail of that sits in my guide to the VA loan termite inspection, and the wider buyer-and-seller question in who pays for a termite inspection.

Timing has one hard edge and one soft one. The hard edge is on the form: the report “shall be considered invalid for purposes of securing a mortgage and/or settlement of property transfer if not used within ninety (90) days from the date of inspection”, followed immediately by “This shall not be construed as a 90-day warranty.” The soft one is North Carolina’s advice that “The report should be obtained early in the transaction and be read carefully by all concerned parties, paying particular attention to the introductory statements on the report and conditions governing the report printed on the reverse.”

One more thing belongs in this stretch of the transaction, because it sits on the form itself. Section I records that the “Seller discloses to the buyer all information, to their knowledge, regarding W.D.I. infestation, damage, repair, and treatment history.” The seller’s paperwork is part of the record, and the next section is why it matters more than it looks.

Which form will I get?

That depends on your state, and in several states the answer is not the NPMA-33 at all.

Georgia’s Structural Pest Control Commission makes its own report “the written instrument for the purpose of certifying that a structure is apparently free from wood destroying organisms as a basis for transfer of real property”. California’s Structural Pest Control Board says “The WDO Report (form 43M-41) supersedes the NPMA-33 form in California”. Texas prescribes form SPCS/T-5, whose instructions say rule §7.176 “Requires this department prescribed form to be used for real estate transactions in Texas”. Tennessee goes the other way and prescribes nothing of its own, sending inspectors to “forms prescribed by the National Pest Management Association and the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Which one applies at your address is in my state-by-state guide to termite letter requirements. What any deadline you have been quoted actually counts is a separate question with a longer answer, and I have taken every 30- and 90-day rule apart in how long a termite letter is valid.

What happens between the report and closing?

The inspector’s job ends when the report is written. Yours starts there.

North Carolina states it flatly: “His job is to tell you, or your (his) client, that the wood-destroying insect infestation is present. His obligation is then fulfilled. It is up to the seller or buyer to contract for a treatment if necessary.” It adds that where a treatment goes ahead, “a copy of the written agreement and warranty, if any, must be attached to the WDIR.”

Whether a treatment gets recommended at all is governed by a printed rule on page 2 of the NPMA-33, and the middle sentence is the one that surprises people: “Treatment or corrective action should be recommended if live termites are found. If no evidence of a previous treatment is documented and evidence of infestation is found, even if no live termites are observed, treatment or corrective action by a licensed pest control company should be recommended. Treatment or corrective action may be recommended if evidence of infestation is observed, and a documented treatment occurred previously, unless the structure is under warranty or covered by a service agreement with a licensed pest control company.”

Old evidence plus missing paperwork produces a recommendation. Old evidence plus a documented previous treatment, or an active termite bond, does not have to. Section III, where the recommendation is written down, carries no field at all for what the recommended work would cost.

If work does turn out to be needed, the options run from a liquid barrier treatment around the foundation to a spot treatment of one area, and the conditions page 2 lists as promoting infestation are mostly a question of termite prevention rather than chemistry.

What you actually put to the seller once a recommendation exists is its own subject, and the strongest ask is usually not for money. I have worked through the four options and what each leaves you holding in my guide to negotiating after a termite finding.

Here’s what I’d actually do

Before the inspector arrives, I would walk the property once myself with the printable inspection checklist. You will not find what they find, and that is not the point. You will arrive at the visit knowing which parts of the house to point at, and you will notice if a whole side of the foundation never gets looked at.

Then I would read the report backwards. Section IV first, then Section II.

Knowing that the attic was skipped for want of a ladder, or that a third of the crawlspace was under 24 inches, changes what “no visible evidence” is worth. Knowing it after you have already relaxed is worse than knowing it first. If a major area is listed as inaccessible for a reason somebody can fix, such as a locked door or stored boxes, I would ask for it to be cleared and the area looked at before the contingency runs out, and I would expect that second visit to cost something.

If Box B is checked on lines 2 or 3 and line 1 is blank, I would ask the seller one question before asking for a single dollar: do you have records of a previous treatment, and is there a service agreement on the house? The form’s own rule turns on exactly that, so it is the question that can change the recommendation, and asking for documents reads very differently across a negotiating table than asking for a credit.

If anything is written on line 3, I would get a builder or an engineer to look at it, not the pest control company. They are two different trades and the form says so.

I have not seen your house or your contract, and both matter here. What I am confident about is the order: what was inspected, then what was found, then what anybody thinks it costs. If you are still working out what you are looking at, the Termite Scan walkthrough starts from the sign rather than the paperwork.

Sources

• Form NPMA-33: Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report — National Pest Management Association, hosted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, form dated 2019-07-01. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• A Home Buyer’s Guide for Wood Destroying Insect Information Report (WDIR) — North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Structural Pest Control Division, undated. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Termites: How to Identify and Control Them — US Environmental Protection Agency, updated 2025-10-21. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Termite Control: Answers for Homeowners (ENTFACT-604) — University of Kentucky Department of Entomology, revised March 2026. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Circular 26-22-11: Pest Inspection Fees and Repair Costs — Veterans Benefits Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, published 2022-06-15. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Rules of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission, Rule 620-6-.03 — Georgia Department of Agriculture, effective 2026-04-08. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Use of the National Pest Management Association’s Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Form (NPMA-33) in California — California Structural Pest Control Board, undated. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• Instructions for the Texas Official Wood Destroying Insect Report (Form SPCS/T-5) — Texas Department of Agriculture, revised 2019-09-01. Accessed 2026-08-06.
• E&PP Info No. 714, Summary of the Federal and State Pesticide Laws and Regulations — University of Tennessee Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program, undated. Accessed 2026-08-06.