Inspection and report check

Before they arrive

Anything blocked on the day gets recorded as inaccessible, and that is a permanent hole in the report you paid for.

• Unlock and clear every access point.The crawlspace hatch, the attic hatch, side gates, and the garage walls behind stored boxes. Clearing them the night before costs you nothing and cannot be done afterwards.
• Write down every building you expect to be covered.A detached garage, a shed, a workshop. Nothing printed on NPMA-33 requires the "Structure(s) Inspected" line to name every building on the lot, so it covers whatever is typed there and nothing else.What that line does and does not cover
• Ask which form you will receive, and get the answer in writing.Several states mandate their own form instead of NPMA-33, and the sections are numbered differently. Knowing which one is coming tells you what to look for.Which states mandate their own form

On the day, what to watch

You are not supervising the work. You are noting what happened, because the report will make claims about coverage that only you can check.

• Note whether they entered the crawlspace or looked in from the hatch.Both are legitimate, and they are not the same inspection. NPMA-33 lets a crawlspace be deemed inaccessible where there is less than 24 inches of clearance from the bottom of the floor joists.
• Note whether they probed wood or only looked at it.A sounding tool or a probe against sills, joists and trim. Looking alone cannot find damage under intact paint.
• Note whether they walked all four sides of the outside.Overgrown or fenced sides get skipped, and a skipped side is where the tube usually is.
• Note whether the attic was reached, and whether they carried a ladder.NPMA-33 allows an area to be deemed inaccessible if a ladder was needed to reach it. Whether one arrived is therefore worth watching.
• Note the time they arrived and the time they left.This is context, not a verdict. A short visit on a slab-on-grade condo is normal; the same visit on a large house with a crawlspace is a question worth asking.

Questions worth asking before they leave

Ask these while the person who has just seen your house is standing in it. Every one of them is harder to answer by email a week later.

• Which areas are you recording as inaccessible, and why?You want the list before you read it on the form, because you can still clear some of it today.
• Is what you found live insects, other evidence, or damage?NPMA-33 keeps those three apart on purpose: line 1 is live insects, line 2 is evidence such as frass, shelter tubes, exit holes or dead insects, and line 3 is visible damage. They mean different things.What each finding means for a purchase
• Which species, and what tells you that?"Termites" is not an identification. Subterranean and drywood termites are treated in completely different ways, and other insects damage wood too.Why the species changes the treatment
• Will your recommendation be written on the form itself?A recommendation belongs in Section III. A finding delivered only out loud leaves you nothing to act on and nothing to negotiate with.
• If I open up an inaccessible area, can you come back, and what does that cost?NPMA-33 says the company may be contacted for another inspection and that an additional fee may apply. Better raised now than after closing.

When the report arrives

Read it before you read anybody’s quote. On NPMA-33 the section numbers below are printed on the form; a state form carries the same information under its own numbering.

• Check that you received every page.Page 2 of NPMA-33 says in its own first line that it is part of the report, and four of its provisions appear nowhere else. A page-1-only copy is an incomplete report.
• Find both licence numbers.Two appear on a completed report, not one: the company’s pest control business licence number, and the individual inspector’s certification, registration or licence number beside their signature.Checking a licence with the state
• Check the date of inspection is filled in.Every clock attached to the report runs from that date, including how long a lender or a buyer will accept it.How long a report stays good for
• Check the structures line names the buildings you expected.Compare it against the list you wrote before the visit. A detached garage missing from that line was not inspected.
• Read the findings section before the recommendation.Which box is checked, and which of the three lines carries writing. A checked Box B with nothing on line 1 is not the same as live insects.
• Read the inaccessible areas against what you watched on the day.This is the one part of the report only you can check. If a whole side of the house went unwalked and nothing is recorded, that is the question to raise.
• Confirm every attachment named is actually in your hands.NPMA-33 Section V says comments and attachments are an integral part of the report, so a report referring to a document you never received is incomplete.
• Check there is no price anywhere on the form.There is no price field on NPMA-33. A recommendation goes on the form and a number never does, so a figure written onto it is somebody’s quote, not part of the report.
• Read what you are signing.The buyer’s line acknowledges receipt of both pages and that you understood them. It is not agreement to any treatment, not a waiver of anything in your contract, and not acceptance of the findings.

Things worth slowing down for

None of these proves anything is wrong. Each one is a reason to ask a second question before money moves.

• A finding you were told about that is not written anywhere on the form.Ask for it in writing. A verbal finding cannot be negotiated, insured against, or checked by anyone else.
• A treatment quote pressed on you before the report arrives.The inspection and the treatment are two purchases. Reading the report first is the whole point of buying it.
• Damage recorded, and the same company offering to repair it.NPMA-33 states twice that the inspector’s training does not qualify them in damage evaluation or building construction, and points to a qualified structural professional. Those are two different trades.What to do when damage is on the report
• An inaccessible-areas section that lists nothing at all.Almost every house has something the inspector could not reach. A blank section is worth one question rather than one assumption.
• Pressure to sign a treatment contract the same day.Extension services recommend a second inspection, and the University of Kentucky says termites damage wood slowly enough that taking a day, a week or a month to decide is generally inconsequential.Why a second inspection is worth it

If something here does not add up

Start by asking. Most of what looks wrong on a first reading is a section you have not been shown, a page you were not sent, or a finding recorded on a line that means something narrower than it sounds. Ask the company to explain it against the form, and ask in writing.

This checklist does not let you overrule a finding, and it is not meant to. An inspector saw your house and you did not see what they saw. What you can do is establish what was inspected, what was recorded, and what was left out, which is the part of the report you are best placed to check.

If you believe the work or the report falls short of what your state requires, the route is the state regulator that issued the licence, not a dispute with the technician. Your copy already carries both licence numbers, so you can verify them without asking anyone. The EPA tells homeowners to ask to see the licence and to call the state pesticide regulatory agency if anything concerns them. My guide to vetting a company for termite work has the search and complaint routes for the states that publish them.