What Does a Home Inspection Report Look Like? A Page-by-Page Tour

What a home inspection report looks like, in one paragraph

A modern home inspection report is a PDF, usually delivered 24–48 hours after the inspection, built in software like Spectora, HomeGauge, or Horizon. The first page or two is logistics — your address, the date, the weather, who was there. A table of contents follows. Then the inspector's preamble describes the day's conditions and what they could and couldn't access. After that you get the executive summary, the inspector's curated short list of findings worth your attention. The bulk of the report — usually 70 to 90 percent of the page count — is the system-by-system body: roof, exterior, foundation/structure, heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, fireplace, attic, doors/windows/interior, and built-in appliances. Each system block mixes prose with photos. The back of the report carries the limitations and exclusions appendix and the inspection agreement. Texas uses a different mandated format (the TREC REI 7-6 checklist); a few other states impose their own layouts. Everywhere else, the structure above holds.

Length varies more than buyers expect. A small condo can come in at 15–25 pages. A typical single-family home lands in the 40–80 page range. An older or larger home, or a thorough inspector with photo-heavy software, can produce 100+ pages with 200+ photos. Length tracks the inspector's documentation style and what their software defaults to, not the home's condition. A 70-page report does not mean a 70-problem house.

The cover page and the first few logistics pages

The first page is almost always logistics: property address and a photo of the front of the home, inspection date and time, weather and temperature on inspection day, inspector name and license number, inspection company, your name as the client, and often the buyer's agent's name. Some reports also include a report number and a link to an interactive online version.

The weather note matters more than it looks. If the inspector couldn't safely access the roof because it was wet or icy, or couldn't run the AC because temperatures were too low, the cover-page conditions are the inspector's way of flagging that constraint up front. Otherwise there's nothing to act on here — skim, confirm the address is right, and move on.

The table of contents

Page two or three is usually a clickable table of contents with every system page-numbered. The executive summary that comes next will reference body-section page numbers, and you'll want to jump back and forth between summary and body. The table of contents is your shortcut. In interactive reports (Spectora and HomeGauge both default to this), the summary's references are clickable and the table of contents becomes optional.

The inspector's preamble and inspection-day conditions

Most reports include a one- or two-page section near the front titled something like "Inspection Conditions," "Preamble," or "Scope of Inspection." Read it once. It tells you what utilities were on or off, whether the attic and crawlspace were accessible (and if not, why), who was present, what the inspector did and didn't do, and the standards of practice they followed (commonly InterNACHI or ASHI).

This is where the inspector frames what they could observe versus what was outside their reach. If they note "crawlspace not entered due to standing water" or "attic access blocked by stored items," those constraints will affect how you read the related body sections later.

The executive summary (start here)

Every modern inspection report has some version of an executive summary near the front. It might be called "Summary of Findings," "Areas of Concern," "Primary Recommendations," or just "Summary." This is the page you actually start reading.

The summary is the inspector's curated short list of the highest-priority findings. It pulls items out of the body sections and groups them — usually by severity (safety, repair, monitor) or by system. Each item references a page number in the body where you can read the full description and see the photo. The summary is built so you, your agent, and your loan officer can scan it in five minutes and identify the items that need decisions.

The summary is not the full picture. Cosmetic items, deferred maintenance, routine observations, and informational notes usually live only in the body. If you want a full read of any one system, the summary will point you there; you can't get there from the summary alone.

The reading strategy that holds across nearly every inspector-blog and forum thread: start with the summary, scan for items marked safety or repair, jump to those body pages using the page references, and read the photo before the prose. Photos clarify severity faster than descriptions — a stain in a basement reads as "active" or "old" much more obviously in the image than in the paragraph.

For a deeper framework on sorting findings once you've identified them, see how to prioritize inspection findings.

The scope statement

Somewhere in the front — sometimes inside the preamble, sometimes its own page — is the scope statement. One paragraph or one page that tells you what a home inspection covers, by category, under the standards of practice the inspector follows.

A general home inspection is a non-invasive, visual examination of the accessible parts of the home. It does not include pools, wells, septic systems, sewer lines, mold testing, radon, termites, asbestos, lead paint, or code compliance — unless your inspector is specifically licensed and contracted to add those. Each is a specialist's job. For the full list and who to call for each, see what home inspections don't cover.

The system-by-system body

This is most of the report. The order is broadly consistent across InterNACHI-shaped reports and varies a bit by software. The blocks below are the canonical ordering you'll see in most non-Texas reports.

Roof

Shingles or roof covering, flashing, valleys, chimneys, gutters, downspouts, vents, skylights. The inspector observes from a ladder or, when conditions allow, from the roof itself. If the roof was wet, snow-covered, or too steep to walk safely, the inspector will note the limitation here. For the deeper read on what roof findings mean, see roof issues on a home inspection.

Exterior

Siding, trim, soffits, fascia, exterior doors and windows from outside, decks, porches, walkways, retaining walls, grading and drainage near the foundation. This is where grading-toward-the-foundation findings live — among the most common water-related callouts in any report.

Foundation, basement, crawlspace, and structure

Visible foundation walls (interior and exterior), exposed framing, floor structure, basement or crawlspace conditions. An unfinished basement or accessible crawlspace makes this section photo-heavy. A finished, inaccessible space keeps it short, with the inspector noting the limitation. For help reading what foundation and crawlspace findings actually mean, see foundation cracks on a home inspection and crawlspace drainage findings.

Heating

Furnace, boiler, or heat pump heating side. The inspector runs the system, checks visible burners and venting, looks at the heat exchanger where visible, tests thermostats, and notes the unit's age from the data plate. They do not partially disassemble the unit, so a cracked heat exchanger hidden behind a panel can be suspected but not confirmed. For end-of-life questions, see old furnace on a home inspection and HVAC issues on a home inspection.

Cooling

AC condenser, evaporator coil where accessible, refrigerant line set, thermostat. The inspector runs the system if outside temperatures allow (most standards say above 60°F). They observe whether it cools to a normal differential; they do not measure refrigerant charge.

Plumbing

Supply lines, drain/waste/vent system, water heater, visible piping, fixtures. The inspector runs water at every fixture, watches for drainage, checks the water heater's age and venting, and notes pipe materials where visible. They do not scope the sewer line from the house to the street — that's a separate specialty service. For what's typically negotiable here, see plumbing and sewer issues on a home inspection.

Electrical

Main panel, sub-panels, branch wiring at a representative sample of outlets, GFCI/AFCI presence and operation, smoke and CO alarm presence. Inspectors open the main panel cover and photograph the inside, flagging obvious issues — double-tapped breakers, undersized neutrals, Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels, aluminum branch wiring — but a full electrical workup is a licensed electrician's job. For what panel findings mean, see electrical issues on a home inspection.

Fireplace

Firebox, hearth, damper, visible flue. The inspector does not perform a Level 2 chimney inspection (that's a separate certified chimney sweep service). If the home has a fireplace and the inspector recommends a Level 2, schedule it during your contingency.

Attic, insulation, and ventilation

Insulation type and approximate depth, ventilation pathways, signs of moisture (staining on the underside of the roof deck), signs of pest activity. If the attic was accessible only at the hatch, the inspector will note they observed from the access opening rather than inside the space.

Doors, windows, and interior

Door operation, window operation, glazing condition, hardware, interior wall and ceiling surfaces, stairs, railings. Usually a long section because there are many components, but it tends to be lighter on serious findings than the other system blocks.

Built-in appliances

Dishwasher, range/oven, built-in microwave, garbage disposal, sometimes the refrigerator if it conveys. Some inspectors operate every appliance; others note presence and leave testing to a specialist. The preamble tells you which approach yours took.

What the recommendation codes mean

Most reports use a short letter key. The Texas TREC REI 7-6 form mandates four codes, and most inspectors elsewhere use the same base set plus a few additions:

• I — Inspected. The item was examined.
• NI — Not Inspected. The inspector did not evaluate this item, usually with a one-line reason (utilities off, area inaccessible, etc.).
• NP — Not Present. The component doesn't exist in this home (no fireplace, no built-in microwave, etc.).
• D — Deficient. The item is not functioning as designed, or has a defect that affects performance.
• S — Safety. Common addition outside Texas. An active or imminent hazard.
• R — Repair recommended. Common addition outside Texas. The item should be repaired or replaced.

Most modern reporting software layers colors on top of the letters. Green usually means satisfactory or informational. Yellow usually means monitor, budget, or moderate. Red usually means safety or significant defect. The colors are not standardized across vendors — Spectora, HomeGauge, and others each have their own palette — so the inspector's legend (usually on the first page or two, or at the very back) is the authoritative key for your report.

For the one-sentence-each meaning of "monitor," "marginal," "further evaluation," "end of useful life," and the other vocabulary that runs alongside these codes, see inspection report terminology.

State-specific layouts (Texas, Virginia, and a few others)

Most of the structure above is the InterNACHI/ASHI-shaped narrative format that the majority of U.S. inspectors use. Texas requires the TREC REI 7-6 Property Inspection Report Form — a checklist-style layout with the I/NI/NP/D codes at the top of every line item. Virginia codifies report content in administrative rule (18VAC15-40-130). A handful of other states have their own quirks. If your inspector is in one of these states, your report may look meaningfully different from the screenshots and samples you find online. The systems being inspected are the same; the wrapper is different.

The limitations and exclusions appendix

The back of the report carries the limitations and exclusions section. Most buyers skip it. They probably shouldn't.

This is where the inspector spells out what they didn't access on inspection day and why, what's outside the scope of a general home inspection by definition (pools, wells, septic, mold, radon, pests, asbestos, lead, code compliance, cosmetics), and the assumptions and disclaimers under their standards of practice. Most disputes between buyers, sellers, and inspectors start here, because buyers later say "the inspector should have caught X" about something that was clearly outside the scope and called out on this page.

Read it once. Confirm the inspector's accessibility notes match the home you saw on inspection day. If anything important was not inspected and you care about it, schedule the specialist evaluation during your contingency window. For the full list of what falls outside a general inspection and which specialist handles what, see what home inspections don't cover.

The inspection agreement and standards reference

The last few pages are the inspection agreement you signed at booking, a reference to the standards of practice the inspector followed (ASHI, InterNACHI, or state-specific), and sometimes the legend of recommendation codes. File this with your closing paperwork. There's nothing here to act on.

Is your raw report the same as the InspectionTriage /sample page?

No. The /sample page on this site is a demonstration of the Decision Packet that InspectionTriage produces from a raw inspection report — findings re-organized by priority, with cost context and a contingency-aware action plan layered on top. The report your inspector emails you is the raw artifact described in this guide. The Decision Packet is what you'd generate by feeding that raw report into InspectionTriage. They show two different artifacts.

What to do once you've found your way around the report

The next step is reading the report in the right order — summary first, then the body sections the summary points you to. How to read a home inspection report walks through that reading order in more detail, and how to prioritize inspection findings gives you a framework for deciding what belongs in your negotiation versus what to budget for after closing.

InspectionTriage is built for the moment you've found the summary, identified a handful of items that need decisions, and realized your contingency clock is ticking. Upload your report and we'll re-organize the findings by priority, surface cost context, and give you a contingency-aware action plan with the page references you need. See what's worth negotiating — free.