The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) recently published its 2007 rankings of the best and worst home inspection regulation laws by state. According to ASHI, over the past 10 years 28 states have begun regulating home inspection and home inspectors in some way, but many regulations are unenforceable and may offer little protection for consumers.
Out of the complete list of 32 states evaluated, the top five best state regulations for home inspection are, in descending order: Louisiana, New Jersey, Arizona, Texas, and Massachusetts. The bottom five states, from bad to worst, are: South Carolina, Montana, North Dakota, Georgia, and California.
ASHI bases its state rankings on 13 criteria such as experience, education, testing requirements, standards of practice, and ethics, with states receiving points according to the importance that ASHI places on different regulation standards. For more details on each state’s ranking or on grading criteria, visit www.ashi.org.
