Which is outside a general home inspection?

Geotechnical assessment sits well outside a home inspection. Determining whether soil conditions pose a seismic risk requires subsurface investigation — borings, sampling, laboratory analysis of soil type and density, liquefaction potential — performed by a geotechnical engineer. None of that is visible from the surface, and no amount of examining the finished building substitutes for it. The other three options describe core inspection activities: operating the heating system with its normal controls, observing visible foundation walls, and reporting on visible plumbing are all exactly what an inspection consists of. The distinction being tested is between what can be seen and operated at the property and what requires subsurface investigation or engineering analysis, and the latter is always a referral.

Assessing seismic soil risk requires subsurface investigation and geotechnical engineering analysis, neither of which a visual home inspection includes. It is a referral, not an inspection activity.

Home inspections cover readily accessible, visually observable systems. Geotechnical, environmental, structural engineering and specialized testing services fall outside the scope and are handled by referral.

If It Is Underground, It Is Not Yours. Soil, buried tanks, drain tile, sewer laterals — all referrals.

Scope questions usually contrast three ordinary inspection activities with one specialist service. Find the one requiring something you cannot do on the day.

• •Offering an opinion on subsurface conditions
• •Confusing observing a foundation with assessing the soil beneath it
• •Treating specialist services as an extension of the inspection