How should an inspector handle a hazard discovered while the client is present at the property?

A written report is the deliverable, but it arrives later — often hours, sometimes a day. When a hazard exists and the client is standing in the house, that gap matters: the client may use the garage, the stairs or the appliance in the interim, and a hazard that could have been named in a sentence was instead scheduled for delivery. Pointing it out immediately costs nothing and closes the gap, and it has a secondary benefit — the client sees the condition themselves, which makes the written finding concrete rather than abstract. It does not replace the written report, because verbal statements are not a record and the client will need documentation to act. Doing both is the answer, and the phrasing of the option matters: it says as well as reporting, not instead of.

Pointing the hazard out on the spot closes the gap between discovery and report delivery, during which the client may be exposed to it. It supplements rather than replaces the written finding, which remains the record.

Home inspectors owe their duty to the client who engaged them. The written report is the formal deliverable, and verbal communication during the inspection supplements it, particularly for safety items discovered while the client is present.

Say It Now, Write It Too. The report arrives tomorrow; the hazard is here today. Speaking does not replace writing.

Note in the report that the item was also pointed out on site. That record supports the inspector if the timing of disclosure is ever questioned.

• •Deferring a live hazard to the written report
• •Treating a verbal warning as a substitute for documentation
• •Directing a client-relevant finding to the seller