Building Defects List & Home Inspection Education Curriculum Recommendations

Common building defects and basic defect knowledge that also outline recommended curriculum content for home inspector education
- Lists of important defects for residential buildings organized by major topic
DEFECT CLUSTERS - separate article
HUD DEFICIENCIES DEFINITIONS - separate document [PDF]
Questions & Answers about what a home inspector needs to know. Home inspection training and education curriculum recommendations
References

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Home inspection education: this article series, beginning here at BUILDING DEFECTS LISTS, provides lists of common building defects and basic defect knowledge that also outline recommended curriculum content for home inspector education. The building defects and inspection points listed in these articles also guide homeowners and home buyers to building areas that merit careful attention and often point areas of safety concern or important maintenance and repair tasks.

Home Inspection Education Curriculum

GOAL - To develop core competencies required to complete a typical home inspection in compliance with Nationally recognized Standards of Practice.Refs 1, 2

Watch out: these inspection lists do not list all possible defects for the systems discussed, and not all home or building inspectors will examine all of the items listed here. CONTACT us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website.

Our List of Major Topic Areas for Home Inspection Education and Classes of Residential Building Defects is provided just above.

Readers should see HOME & BUILDING INSPECTORS & INSPECTION METHODS for our complete list of articles on building & building mechanical sysetms inspection, troubleshoting & repairs. . Also see HOME & BUILDING INSPECTORS & INSPECTION METHODS. Use the Search Box at the top or bottom of these pages to find in-depth information about building, energy savings, and indoor environment inspection, diagnosis and repair at this website.

These curriculae and building defect lists are based on smilar curriculum documents first prepared by Joe Scaduto, an ASHI member who prepared course material for Northeastern University's Building Inspection Certificate program in 1988, subsequently by DF, InspectApedia's editor, for New York University ca 1988 and later, with others, recommended to ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. ASHI did not adopt this material though currently that association as well as others offer extensive HOME INSPECTOR EDUCATION material. The curriculum and lists of defects are informed by additional analysis of the process of home inspection that was developed beginning Calgary, AB for Canadian and U.S. home inspector education and certification examinations in 1997. Other early contributors to home inspection education in the U.S. and Canada include Dr. Jess Aronstein, Alan Carson, Mike Casey, Mark Cramer, John Cox, Dwight Barnett, Douglas Hansen, Rick Heyl, Larry Hoytt, Bill Merrill, Kevin O'Malley, Dennis Robitalille, Keith Peddie, Pat Porzio, Roger Robinson.

For each topic, performance criteria will be required in two areas:

1. Knowledge Base

2. Inspection Skills

General outline for inspection methodology, observations, and reporting, useful also for suggestions for presentations at Home Inspection Conferences & Seminars

1. Define the problem

What are we looking at, for, about?
What are the expert sources, principal concerns, etc. Who's the authority?
What are the implications, effects, concerns, risks, problems, in maintenance, safety, marketing, comfort, economy?

2. Define the procedure

Inspection methodology, where and how to look, procedures to assure completeness and technical accuracy.
Telltale clues, warning signs, confirming signs, interrelationships with other systems.
ASHI or other Home Inspection or Building Standards Standards for observation, operation, and description - the minimum set of requirements.

3. Make the observations

4. Record the results (documentation)

5. Report the results (communication)

6. Followup to assure effective communication

- Reference: Teaching.txt ASHI Education Chairman, DJF 1993

Basic & Advanced Home & Building Inspection Methods Courses & Papers

Also see the home inspection topics listed at page top or at Related Topics .

Home Inspection Classes, Courses, Papers, Home Study, Online Educational Materials for home inspectors
Advice on Becoming a Home Inspector - opinions and tips from experienced home inspection professionals
AFCIs ARC FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTERS 2008 National Electrical Code Update on AFCIs and GFCIs in homes
ALUMINUM WIRING HAZARDS how to identify and repair the fire hazard of aluminum electrical wiring in homes
AMPS & VOLTS DETERMINATION how to figure out Amps and Volts at a property
Can X-Ray Vision Warn of Sink Holes? in Florida or elsewhere
Checklists vs Narrative Reports - advice for home inspectors & home buyers
CHINESE DRYWALL HAZARDS discusses Chinese drywall odors, sulphur smells, and corrosive outgassing hazards in buildings. Major costs to remove this product, repair or replace electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC components may be involved, and there may be immediate safety hazards due to damaged smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors in buildings where Chinese drywall outgassing has caused damage.
CRAWL SPACE SAFETY ADVICE - when should you stay out of a crawl space; how do you enter one safely.
DECK & PORCH CONSTRUCTION - Deck & Porch construction details for safe, durable structures. Also see DECK COLLAPSE Case Study
Developing your X-Ray Vision - 6th Ed. The Science of Building Inspections - advanced home inspection techniques including "The Limits of Vision," "Inattentional Blindness," "Invasive Inspection Methods," "Missed Defects," & "Contextual Inspection," "Termite Inspections," "Moisture & Building Water Entry," © Daniel Friedman 2006-1987
Developing your X-Ray Vision - 5th Ed.- ppt slides Presentation slides © 2005 Daniel Friedman
Electrical Education Classes - the following are work in process Power Point Presentations, very large files, for Milestone Electric, Dallas, TX - due - 3/25/2010
- Aluminum Wiring Class for Electricians - Summary for licensed electricians, of the history, issues, current status of aluminum wiring hazards in residential homes
- FPE_Stab-Lok_Class for Electricians - Summary for licensed electricians
- Zinsco_Class for Electricians - Summary for licensed electricians
- Electrical Safety Class for Electricians - Summary for licensed electrician
ELECTRICAL GROUND SYSTEM INSPECTION
ELECTRICAL INSPECTION, DIAGNOSIS, REPAIR
ELECTRIC METERS & METER BASES
ELECTRIC PANEL INSPECTION
Electrical System Inspection Safety Procedures for home inspectors & electrical inspectors
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TERMS & DEFINITIONS
FEDERAL PACIFIC FPE HAZARDS
The Nature of Vision, Inspecting Complex Systems, why inspectors don't see certain defects and miss important omissions
Historic Homes, Home Improvement Costs, Research
Home Inspection Definitions & Terms collected from various professional associations & home inspection standards
Home Inspector Directory - online directory of home inspectors by state, no-fee listings from InspectAPedia.com
HOUSE DOCTOR, how-to be - education, training, tools, publications for house doctors: air leaks, heat loss, building energy loss diagnosis and cure
HOME INSPECTOR EDUCATION - lists of courses, home study programs, resources for home inspectors
Home Inspection Company Franchises - advice and warnings for new home inspectors
Home Inspection Report Writing Guide & Suggestions from Carson Dunlop
Home Inspection Report Language Library: Gas Fuel Piping or Tank Faults Basic advice - home inspection report language suggestions
Home Inspection Report Language Library: Buried Oil Tanks, Basic home buyer advice - home inspection report language suggestions
Home Inspection Report Language Library: Defects in Oil Tank Installations, Tanks, and Heating Oil Piping
Home Inspection Report Language Library: Oil Tanks text file list © Oil and Other Storage Tank Leaks, Testing, Abandonment, Inspection - UST home inspection report language files - Reference List
Home Inspection Standards - historical documents give home inspection standards for earlier years - 1995 - 2002
How to identify a Sears Catalog Kit house
How Much Should You Pay For Professional Services? - don't pay too much for a home inspection, and don't pay too little either
Log Home Inspection & Repair Guide - how to inspect, diagnose, and repair problems on log houses; how to identify and determine the age of different types of log homes: traditional log homes, manufactured log homes, slab-sided log homes, and alternative log homes using concrete logs and fiberglass logs.
MOBILE HOME INSPECTION GUIDE - a mobile home, manufactured home, and trailer inspection guide

Safety Articles for Building Owners and Inspectors

ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN buildings provides a detailed guide to recognizing asbestos-containing materials in buildings and links to in depth articles about individual asbestos-containing building materials
BACKDRAFTING HEATING EQUIPMENT
Building Safety Hazards Guide - advice for home inspectors, contractors, and homeowners who need to inspect and examine a building
Carbon Monoxide - CO
Chimney Inspection Diagnosis Repair
Chimney Crack & Collapse Risks, Repairs
DECK COLLAPSE Case Study
ELDER-PERSON SAFETY: Elderly & Veterans Home Safety
Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer, and Enviro-Scare: the relation of cycles of public fear and property values for Asbestos, UFFI, Radon, EMF, Lead hazards - "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY
Fiberglass building insulation and HVAC duct work insulation hazards
FOUNDATION CRACKS & DAMAGE GUIDE & FOUNDATION DAMAGE SEVERITY
FPE Stab-Lok HAZARDS & REPAIRS WEBSITE - some circuit breakers may not only fail to protect the building from fire or its occupants from shock, they may also cause arcing, arcover, fire, or even explosion accidents and injuries to building inspectors, electrical workers, building owners, and home inspectors.
HEATING OIL EXPOSURE HAZARDS, LIMITS exposure risks, hazards, allowable exposure limits for home heating oil
ROOF INSPECTION SAFETY & LIMITS - don't fall off the roof
Safety Procedures for Building Inspectors & Home Inspectors - class on inspection safety, multiple safety hazards discussed
Safety Procedures for Electrical System Inspectors - how to inspect and test electrical panels and wiring in buildings safely, how to use digital multimeters or VOMs safely, how to avoid a potentially fatal shock
SAFETY, HEATING INSPECTION - don't blow up the boiler, get burned, or cause carbon monoxide poisoning
Safety Procedures for Septic System Inspectors - don't fall into the septic tank
STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS - INSPECTIONS, CODES - safety hazards at steps and railings, checklist
THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS how temperature changes affect building materials and cause building leaks or other failures
VOLTS / AMPS MEASUREMENT EQUIP
Web-Based Inspection Reporting: Horizon: Web-Based Home Inspection & Commercial Inspection Writing & Business Management Software from Carson Dunlop
Horizon Laptop Web-Based Reporting System - demonstration video from Carson Dunlop. Work in the field with no internet connection. 800-268-7070. (Carson Dunlop assists with technical review and content at this website, InspectAPedia.com)
ZINSCO / SYLVANIA HAZARDS - some circuit breakers may not only fail to protect the building from fire or its occupants from shock, they may also cause arcing, arcover, fire, or even explosion accidents and injuries to building inspectors, electrical workers, building owners, and home inspectors.
See also Website Contents for topical research papers, on defect recognition, reporting, repair on individual Building topics or components
See also Daniel Friedman's CV-list of technical papers and presentations - © cc's available.

Historic Homes, Home Improvement Costs, Home Research

Amazon Books on Sears and other Kit or Catalog Houses - you can buy these great reference books on Kit Homes online
Historic Homes, Home Improvement Costs, Research
Amazon.com Old House Bookstore Sears Catalog Homes, books we recommend
Find the Age of a House How to Determine the Age of a Building from Visual Clues, Architectural Style, Building Materials, Construction Details, or Documentary Clues
Brick Lined Wall Cavities - determining the age of older homes by bricks in wall cavities
Historic buildings Links to other articles: Sears Houses, How old is a House, Old House Materials & Repairs
Sears Houses: How to identify Sears catalog kit houses photos and tips for identifying these interesting homes.

Home Inspection Business Offerings, Franchises, Start-ups, or Inspection Companies for Sale

Inspection Company Franchises - fraud warning in Massachusetts
Advice for Entering the Home Inspection Profession How to become a home inspector, background, training, business opportunities, how to survive first and succeed second

Home Inspection Standards, Ethics, American Society of Home Inspectors-ASHI and Other Home Inspection Standards, Ethics, and Home Inspector Certification Procedures

Canadian Home Inspector Certifications - RHI the Registered Home Inspector designation in Canada
Canadian Home Inspection Association - Quebec certification and professional education for Canadian Home Inspectors
Canadian Association of Home Inspectors CAHPI, includes the National Certification Program for Home Inspectors, and CAHPI, the professional association and provider of education for Canadian Home Inspectors - in English ou en Francais
What a Home Inspection Includes - list of house parts and components - also see ASHI Standards of Practice
How to Get the Most Benefit from a Home Inspection - who attends, who gets the report, ethical issues and tricks, respecting the seller, digesting the volume of information
How Much Should You Pay for a Home Inspection? - getting the right value for your money - you can spend too much, or too little. This is what Ruskin had to say.
Home Inspection Terms & Definitions
How to Enter the Home Inspection Profession - how to qualify, obtain experience, develop competence, & reduce risk for the inspector and the client
ASHI Certification Links
Home Inspection Reports - a Critique narrative vs. checklist type home inspection reports
ASHI Standards of Practice for Home Inspections - Jan 2002 and ASHI Standards History - links to older and alternative versions of Home Inspection Standards
ASHI Standards of Practice for Home Inspections - Jan 2001 and ASHI Standards History - links to older and alternative versions of Home Inspection Standards
ASHI Standards of Practice for Home Inspections - 1997 and ASHI Standards History - links to older and alternative versions of Home Inspection Standards
ASHI Standards of Practice for Home Inspections - 1996 and ASHI Home Inspection Standards History
ASHI Standards of Practice for Home Inspections - 1995 and ASHI Home Inspection Standards History
ASHI Code of Ethics for Home Inspectors 1993, and ASHI Ethics History - links to older versions; Note: newer may be found at ASHI
ASHI in 1996 ASHI History - association description from 1996
ASHI Home Inspector's Certification Exam guide

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education including the ASHI-adopted a Home Inspection Home Study Course, and publications such as the Home Reference Book, the Home Reference eBook, and report writing materials including the Horizon report writer, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
See these home inspection educational offerings provided by Carson Dunlop Associates and in similar forms by ASHI:
- -
Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator. Contact Mark Cramer at: 727-595-4211 mark@BestTampaInspector.com 11/06
Roger Hankey is principal of Hankey and Brown home inspectors, Eden Prairie, MN. Mr. Hankey is a past chairman of the ASHI Standards Committee. Mr. Hankey has served in other ASHI professional and leadership roles. Contact Roger Hankey at: 952 829-0044 - rhankey@hankeyandbrown.com. Mr. Hankey is a frequent contributor to InspectAPedia.com.
Arlene Puentes, an ASHI member and a licensed home inspector in Kingston, NY, and has served on ASHI national committees as well as HVASHI Chapter President. Ms. Puentes can be contacted at ap@octoberhome.com
Wikipedia provided background information about some topics discussed at this website provided this citation is also found in the same article along with a " retrieved on" date. NOTE: because Wikipedia entries are fluid and can be amended in real time, we cite the retrieval date of Wikipedia citations and we do not assert that the information found there is necessarily authoritative.
[7] HUD Dictionary of Deficiency Definitions, (PASS) www.hud.gov/offices/reac/pdf/pass_dict2.3.pdf retrieved 4/4/2013 excerpt from description:

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

ASHI Certification Links
Home Inspection Reports - a Critique narrative vs. checklist type home inspection reports
ASHI Standards of Practice - Jan 2000 and ASHI Standards History - links to older and alternative versions of Home Inspection Standards
ASHI Code of Ethics 1993, and ASHI Ethics History - links to older versions; Note: newer may be found at ASHI
ASHI in 1996 ASHI History - association description from 1996
American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) Official Website
Basement Moisture Control, U.S. Department of Energy
Building Pathology, Deterioration, Diagnostics, and Intervention, Samuel Y. Harris, P.E., AIA, Esq., ISBN 0-471-33172-4, John Wiley & Sons, 2001 [General building science-DF] ISBN-10: 0471331724 ISBN-13: 978-0471331728
Building Pathology: Principles and Practice, David Watt, Wiley-Blackwell; 2 edition (March 7, 2008) ISBN-10: 1405161035 ISBN-13: 978-1405161039

Building inspection education & report writing systems from Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd

Crawl Space Moisture Control, U.S. Department of Energy
Historic Preservation Technology: A Primer, Robert A. Young, Wiley (March 21, 2008) ISBN-10: 0471788368 ISBN-13: 978-0471788362
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Ask a Question or Search InspectAPedia