Home Inspector Code of Ethics
The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) promotes a high standard of professionalism, business ethics and inspection procedures. InterNACHI members subscribe to the following Code of Ethics in the course of their business:
I. Duty to the Public
1. The InterNACHI member shall abide by the Code of Ethics and substantially follow the InterNACHI Standards of Practice.
2. The InterNACHI member shall not engage in any practices that could be damaging to the public or bring discredit to the home inspection industry.
3. The InterNACHI member shall be fair, honest, impartial, and act in good faith in dealing with the public.
4. The InterNACHI member shall not discriminate in any business activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, sexual orientation or handicap, and shall comply with all federal, state and local laws concerning discrimination.
5. The InterNACHI member shall be truthful regarding his/her services and qualifications.
6. The InterNACHI member shall have no undisclosed conflict of interest with the client, nor shall the InterNACHI member accept or offer any undisclosed commissions, rebates, profits or other benefit, nor shall the InterNACHI member accept or offer any disclosed or undisclosed commissions, rebates, profits or other benefit from real estate agents, brokers or any third parties having financial interest in the sale of the property, nor shall the InterNACHI member offer or provide any disclosed or undisclosed financial compensation directly or indirectly to any real estate agent, real estate broker or real estate company for referrals or for inclusion on lists of preferred and/or affiliated inspectors or inspection companies.
7. The InterNACHI member shall not communicate any information about an inspection to anyone except the client without the prior written consent of the client, except where it may affect the safety of others or violates a law or statute.
8. The InterNACHI member shall always act in the interests of the client, unless doing so violates a law, statute or this Code of Ethics.
9. The InterNACHI member shall use a written contract that specifies the services to be performed, limitations of services, and fees.
10. The InterNACHI member shall comply with all government rules and licensing requirements of the jurisdiction where s/he conducts business.
11. The InterNACHI member shall not perform or offer to perform, for an additional fee, any repairs or associated services to the structure for which the member or member’s company has prepared a home inspection report for a period of 12 months. This provision shall not include services to components and/or systems that are not included in the InterNACHI Standards of Practice.
II. Duty to Continue Education
1. The InterNACHI member shall comply with InterNACHI’s current Continuing Education requirements.
2. The InterNACHI member shall pass InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Exam once every calendar year.
III. Duty to the Profession and InterNACHI
1. The InterNACHI member shall strive to improve the home inspection industry by sharing his/her lessons and/or experiences for the benefit of all. This does not preclude the member from copyrighting or marketing his/her expertise to other Inspectors or the public in any manner permitted by law.
2. The InterNACHI member shall assist the InterNACHI leadership in disseminating and publicizing the benefits of InterNACHI membership.
3. The InterNACHI member shall not engage in any act or practice that could be deemed damaging, seditious or destructive to InterNACHI, fellow InterNACHI members, InterNACHI employees, leadership or directors. Accusations of a member acting or deemed in violation of such rules shall trigger a review by the Ethics committee for possible sanctions and/or expulsion from InterNACHI.
4. The InterNACHI member shall abide by InterNACHI’s current membership requirements.
5. The InterNACHI member shall abide by InterNACHI’s current message board rules.
Members of other associations are welcome to join InterNACHI, but a requirement of membership is that InterNACHI must be given equal prominence in their marketing materials (brochures and websites) compared to other associations of membership.