Home inspectors have a lot of ground to cover. Every reasonable, visible inch of a home is evaluated from top to bottom, and the inspector records his findings in a report for a real estate agent or other client. It’s an important job, which is why solid training is critical.

Home inspectors aren’t building code inspectors; they perform function and safety inspections to determine the fitness of a piece of real estate. Where a code inspector determines whether elements of the property meet current local code, home inspectors look for issues that could cause the home owner safety or usability problems.

That’s an important distinction. Because code can vary so much from one area to another, inspectors aren’t tasked with memorizing what’s current in every area that they service. Clients may ask whether an element of the house meets code, but that’s really a question for the building code inspector.

That said, a home inspector might offer an opinion if he sees a code issue that the home owner definitely needs to know about. Some inspectors will tell the client that part of the home doesn’t conform with current local practice. That way, the inspector has done his work and the client knows there’s a problem that he should think about having updated.