When Choosing a Home Inspector: What Are You Really Agreeing To?

You found the house.

You chose your home inspector.

You scheduled the inspection.

Then an agreement arrives in your inbox.

Most buyers sign it and move on.

We understand why. You're already dealing with contracts, financing, insurance, deadlines, disclosures, appraisals, and a dozen other details that come with buying a home.

But there is one document we believe deserves more attention than it usually receives.

Your home inspection agreement.

Because the price tells you what an inspection costs.

The agreement tells you what the inspection company is willing to stand behind.

Don't Wait Until There's a Problem to Read the Agreement

A pre inspection agreement isn't just paperwork required before your inspector gets started.

It establishes what you're hiring the inspector to do, what falls within the scope of the inspection, what doesn't, and what happens after the inspection if a concern arises.

ASHI itself describes one of the primary purposes of its Standards of Practice as establishing a mutual understanding about the scope of an inspection.

That's important.

You and your inspector should understand the relationship before the inspection begins, not after a disagreement occurs.

So before you click the box and sign, read it.

And if you're still deciding which inspector to hire, comparing agreements can tell you quite a bit about the companies you're considering.

Start With the Most Basic Question: What Are They Actually Inspecting?

A home inspection has boundaries.

An inspector can't see through walls.

We can't inspect underground piping that isn't visible.

We can't predict when an operating component will fail in the future.

We can't inspect an area that cannot be safely or reasonably accessed.

A professional agreement should make those limitations clear.

The ASHI Standards of Practice describe a home inspection as an examination of readily accessible, visually observable, installed systems and components within the defined scope. The standards also make clear that an inspection is not technically exhaustive and isn't designed to identify concealed conditions or predict future failures.

At Harris Home Inspections, we don't want our clients wondering what they purchased.

We tell you what we inspect.

We tell you what we don't inspect.

We tell you the limitations of the inspection.

Our inspection practices and agreement are built around the standards applicable to professional home inspections in Mississippi and the ASHI Standards of Practice. The Mississippi Home Inspection Division establishes and enforces minimum standards for licensed home inspectors, including Standards of Practice and professional conduct requirements.

Transparency shouldn't begin with the inspection report.

It should begin with the agreement.

The Standards Are the Minimum, Not the Goal

There's an important word in the Mississippi Home Inspection Division's description of its standards:

Minimum.

The state establishes minimum standards designed to protect the public. ASHI likewise describes its Standard of Practice as establishing a minimum standard for inspectors who subscribe to it.

Those standards matter tremendously.

But at Harris Home Inspections, we've never built this company around asking:

What's the minimum we have to do?

We'd rather ask:

What kind of inspection company do we want to be?

That's a very different question.

Look Beyond What's Being Inspected

Here's where we encourage buyers to read a little further.

Most people naturally focus on the scope of the inspection.

Roof? Check.

Electrical? Check.

Plumbing? Check.

HVAC? Check.

But what does the agreement say about the company's responsibility to you?

That's where things get interesting.

Before hiring any inspector, read the provisions addressing what happens if you believe something was missed.

How long does the agreement give you to raise a concern?

Does the agreement contain provisions limiting the inspector's potential financial responsibility?

What are you required to do if you discover a problem?

What opportunity does the inspector have to investigate it?

You don't need to be an attorney to ask those questions.

You're a consumer deciding whom you're willing to trust with an incredibly important purchase.

You have every right to understand the agreement before you sign it.

At Harris, We Made a Different Decision

There are protections an inspection company can put into an agreement to reduce its exposure.

We made deliberate choices about ours.

Harris Home Inspections does not contractually limit our clients to just one year to bring a problem to our attention.

And we don't write our agreement so that our potential responsibility is automatically capped at the amount you paid for the inspection.

Think about what that means.

If an inspection costs several hundred dollars, we don't believe the agreement should automatically make that inspection fee the absolute measure of our responsibility if we've actually made a mistake.

That isn't how we wanted to build this company.

Because Accountability Should Mean Something

We talk frequently about The Harris Standard.

But that phrase doesn't mean much if it only applies when everything goes perfectly.

We're human.

Inspectors are human.

And although we work extremely hard to provide thorough inspections and accurate reporting, no reputable professional should pretend that mistakes are impossible.

So our philosophy is straightforward:

If we make a mistake, we own it.

That doesn't mean every problem discovered after an inspection was present, visible, or reasonably discoverable on the day of the inspection.

It doesn't mean every failure that occurs months or years later was something an inspector should have predicted.

And it certainly doesn't eliminate the defined scope and limitations of a visual home inspection.

It means we're willing to stand behind the work we actually performed.

There's a difference.

We Ask Something Important of Our Clients, Too

Accountability has to work both ways.

If you discover something after your inspection that you believe Harris Home Inspections should have identified, contact us before repairing it.

Give us the opportunity to see it.

That's extremely important.

Once a component has been removed, demolished, repaired, replaced, or altered, the original condition may no longer exist.

We want the opportunity to evaluate the concern, review the inspection report and documentation, understand what happened, and determine whether the condition was present and observable at the time of the inspection.

That isn't an attempt to avoid responsibility.

It's how you fairly determine responsibility.

If there's a problem, call us.

We want to know.

An Agreement Should Protect Both Sides

Sometimes the word "contract" immediately makes people think one side is trying to protect itself from the other.

We don't think an inspection agreement should be viewed that way.

A good agreement creates expectations.

You should know what your inspector is going to do.

Your inspector should know what you've hired them to do.

You should understand the limitations.

Both parties should understand what happens if a concern develops afterward.

And nobody should have to discover an important provision for the first time when there's already a problem.

That's why we encourage buyers to actually read inspection agreements.

Ours included.

Compare More Than Prices

If you're currently comparing home inspectors on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, absolutely compare qualifications.

Compare experience.

Compare reviews.

Compare reporting.

Compare technology.

Compare communication.

Compare price.

But before you make the final decision, ask each company for something else:

Their inspection agreement.

Read it.

You may discover that two companies offering what appears to be the same service are asking you to agree to very different things.

And that's information worth having before you decide who will inspect your home.

We Don't Want to Be Standard

Mississippi establishes standards.

ASHI establishes standards.

We respect them, we follow them, and they provide an essential foundation for professional home inspections.

But meeting the standard isn't the same thing as building a company around accountability.

At Harris Home Inspections, we want our clients to understand exactly what they're purchasing, exactly what an inspection can and cannot do, and exactly what we expect of ourselves after the report has been delivered.

Because trust shouldn't end when the inspection does.

And accountability shouldn't be something you discover in the fine print.

Read the Agreement. Then Choose Who You Trust.

If you're comparing home inspectors, don't make your decision based solely on who can get there first or who gives you the lowest quote.

Ask what you're receiving.

Ask what's excluded.

Ask what standards govern the inspection.

Ask what happens if there's a problem.

And ask what the company is actually willing to stand behind.

Then decide who you want inspecting one of the largest investments you'll ever make.

Ready to Request Your Inspection?

If Harris Home Inspections is the company you want standing behind your inspection, we've made the next step simple.

Our inspection request form walks you through your property information, inspection services, scheduling details, and Realtor information so our team has what we need to get started.

Request Your Inspection →

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📞 Call or Text (228) 300-1414

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Serving the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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