It’s very important to hire a certified home inspector. Home inspectors will generally follow the guidelines of their certifying organization (ASHI, InterNACHI, CREIA, etc.). These guidelines specify the minimum to be performed during a home inspection under normal and safe conditions. Some inspectors may go above and beyond when performing their inspection but it’s important to understand what the inspector defines as “in-scope” for the inspection prior to booking your inspection.  Generally, the inspector will provide a list of “systems” they will inspect and the degree to which they’ll be inspected. This information should be confirmed prior to booking your inspection and is called out in your home inspection report. Be sure to look for and understand this scope prior to your inspection as it will inform you of which follow-on inspections may be required that were not in-scope for your general home inspection. If you observe defects that were not documented by your home inspector, reach out to the inspector to see if they overlooked including it in your report. Home inspectors take a lot of pictures and videos, so they might have the condition in their archive. Be mindful that the inspection reflects the conditions at the point in time of the home inspection, the homeowner or contractors that came through the house after the inspection may have caused damage that wouldn’t have been observed by the home inspector.