What does the standard provide about the method of construction, such as whether a house is modular or site-built?

Standards of practice define an inspection by the systems and components examined and by the conditions reported, not by how the building was assembled. Determining whether a house was site-built, modular, panelized or manufactured would often require documentation the inspector does not have and evidence that is concealed behind finishes, and it would not change what gets inspected — the roof, the framing, the electrical service and the plumbing are examined the same way regardless of where the pieces were put together. So the standards do not require the inspector to make that determination. The inspector may of course note construction characteristics observed, and manufactured housing carries specific considerations such as anchoring and specialized systems, but identifying the construction method is not among the required determinations.

Standards define the inspection by what is examined and reported, and determining the construction method is not among the required determinations. It would frequently require concealed evidence or documentation and would not change what is inspected.

Standards of practice enumerate systems to inspect and conditions to report, and separately list what inspectors are not required to determine — including construction methods, code compliance, adequacy, efficiency and remaining life.

Standards List What You Inspect, Not What You Classify. Roof, structure, systems — the same list whether the walls arrived on a truck or were framed on site.

Learn the 'not required' list as its own set. Several questions on the exam are answered directly from it.

• •Assuming the standard requires classifying the construction method
• •Believing modular or manufactured homes fall outside the standard
• •Thinking construction method changes which systems are inspected