What should an inspector do when a client asks about a condition after the report has been delivered?

The report is a deliverable, not the end of the professional relationship. Clients routinely read the report and have questions, and answering them within the scope of what was inspected is ordinary professional service — it clarifies findings the client is entitled to understand and often prevents a misinterpretation that would cost them money. The boundary is scope: questions about what was observed, what a finding means and what kind of professional should evaluate it are all answerable, while requests to assess something never inspected, estimate repair costs or advise on the transaction are not. Declining outright, charging before any discussion or deflecting to a contractor without answering all treat a reasonable clarification as an imposition and leave the client holding a document they cannot fully use.

Answering questions within the scope of what was inspected is ordinary professional service. It helps the client understand findings they paid for and prevents misinterpretation.

Home inspectors owe their client a report on observed conditions and, as a matter of professional practice, reasonable clarification of it. Requests that extend beyond what was inspected constitute new work.

Explain What You Inspected. Clarifying a finding is service; assessing something you never saw is new work.

Note that answering is bounded by scope rather than by time. A question about an uninspected area is declined whether it comes the same day or a month later.

• •Treating report delivery as the end of all communication
• •Charging for routine clarification of existing findings
• •Referring the client onward without explaining the finding first