Foundation Inspection Standard: Our Proposal
There currently is no established standard for this industry so we're going to put forward our thoughts...
There is no defined standard for foundation inspections.
Engineers usually perform them, though contractors increasingly do as well. But there’s no governing body, no national definition, no agreed-upon scope. Some states have done local work—Houston comes to mind—but as a whole, foundation inspection is an industry without clear definition.
The result is a wide spectrum of reports, approaches, and outcomes. Some inspectors do thorough work. Some don’t. Most homeowners, buyers, sellers & real estate agents have no way to tell the difference.
After 15 years and over 7,000 foundation inspections, we have opinions about what should be standard. This is our attempt to define it.
1-Floor Elevation Survey
A foundation inspection without a floor elevation survey is not a complete diagnosis of foundation movement.
The survey needs to be presented on a floor plan with readings taken roughly every 10 feet throughout the structure, including the center. The walls need to be shown relative to that floor plan. Otherwise, it’s unclear where readings were taken—and where they should be retaken in the future.
While sketching floor plans was a pain in the past, there are now apps that will draw the floor plan for you in 10 minutes or less. There’s much less of an excuse not to have the floor plan, with walls, documented and put into the report with the readings.
Most of the time, these readings establish a baseline for future monitoring (unless immediate repairs are necessary which is relative rare). Years later, someone needs to check the same points. Without readings at specific corners or clearly definable locations, you can’t verify you’re measuring the same spots. That repeatability is critical.
Note 1: there are some conditions where elevation readings may not be strictly necessary. Horizontal cracking on a short stem wall, for example—there’s no other force that would cause that pattern. But for any vertical cracking, you cannot properly diagnose the condition without elevation readings.
Note 2: Spot readings don’t give you the full picture. We wouldn’t consider that a full diagnosis. You really need the entire structure documented and mapped.
2-Crawl Space Inspection
We’ve seen instances where an inspector will claim they determined they didn’t need to enter the crawl space. In most cases, it seems they mostly likely just didn’t want to. Crawl spaces aren’t always the most pleasant space in the world. Avoiding them is most likely an attempt to skip something that should be done.
There’s a large amount of information in a crawl space. You’re looking for signs the house has been lifted and shimmed in the past—artificially adjusted to appear level. You’re looking for sloping or leaning posts, water issues, signs of past intrusion, cracking, vertical cuts, and many other conditions that can only be observed from below.
3-Photographs
Given today’s technology, the low cost, and ease of capturing images, there’s really no reason not to include photos in a foundation inspection report in our opinion.
That doesn’t mean photographing every micro-crack around the house. It needs to be reasonable. But major items should absolutely be documented visually. Without photos, it’s extremely difficult to tell the full story of what’s happening.
4-Probing and Testing for Concrete Deterioration
At a certain age, concrete becomes high risk for severe breakdown. Using a probe, a hammer, and visual observation is critical to understanding the degree of deterioration. This doesn’t necessarily require an impact hammer for every inspection—some people may argue that point. But you need some degree of physical testing. In some cases a probe is sufficient; in others, a hammer is necessary.
More comprehensive testing can always be recommended. Full impact hammer testing throughout the structure, for example. Or core sampling for more advanced analysis. But localized, one-off impact hammer testing isn’t particularly valuable for houses of a certain age. To be meaningful, it needs to be part of a complete survey.
Evaluating concrete breakdown is a major issue that gets missed, particularly from a home inspection standpoint.
5-Drainage Assessment
Drainage and foundations go hand in hand. Most foundation movement and issues have water either as the root cause or as a contributing factor. A foundation inspection should always include a drainage inspection in our opinion.
That said, it’s not practical to scope subsurface piping—underground downspouts and drains—in every case. That requires specialized equipment, significant time, and is often better handled by a plumber or specialty company that can fully document it. A water test of subsurface piping can provide some information, but because you’re not measuring volume in versus volume out, it doesn’t tell you whether there are breaks or failures along the line. It’s not an objective evaluation. Because of these limitations, subsurface water testing isn’t something we consider fully required or standard. A hose test can add some value in certain cases, but it’s optional rather than mandatory.
6-Engineering Background
We believe foundation inspections should largely be performed by an engineer for the following reasons.
Individuals with an engineering degree complete at least four years of coursework in engineering principles—soils, structures, groundwater, material science. Foundation inspections often involve complex conditions. They are often times advanced inspections - of course there can be super simple cookie-cutter ones, especially on flat lots, but especially when it comes to hillside homes it can get pretty complex pretty fast.
Are there potentially some contractors who have studied this work extensively, seen a tremendous number of cases, and understand the theory? Yes. In some situations, a contractor’s background may be sufficient. But many foundation issues involve complex soil science and interacting factors that require advanced technical understanding. This is especially true in seismic regions like California (and seismic and get pretty complex pretty quickly).
7-Independence from Repairs
We personally believe that foundation inspections should be completely independent from repairs. At minimum, there should be a one-year prohibition on performing repairs after an inspection.
Home inspection standards already require that inspectors not perform repairs within one year to avoid bias. The same logic applies here. When the company that diagnoses the problem also profits from fixing it, there’s an inherent temptation to find problems. We have a separate blog post that goes into this issue in greater detail, but the principle is straightforward: whoever identifies the problem generally shouldn’t be the one selling the solution - it can lend itself to a conflict-of-interest. Foundation inspections shouldn’t be profit centers but rather an objective analysis for the needs of the client to make educated decisioins.
8-Referrals
When repairs are needed, we believe inspectors should provide referrals. Those referrals should be tailored to the conditions, location, and size of the job—not based on friendships or preferred contractors. We always try to provide at least three referrals, selected solely based on who is best suited for the specific work.
9-Budgetary Repair Costs
A common question: how can homeowners understand costs if the inspector isn’t proposing repairs?
Any foundation inspector with sufficient experience has seen enough projects and quotes to provide a reasonable budgetary repair cost range. This is extremely important. Residential real estate is fundamentally budget-driven. Unlike commercial real estate, homeowners don’t have unlimited resources. They have families, obligations, and often live in very high cost-of-living areas.
A foundation inspection should include budgetary repair cost ranges for all applicable items. In many cases the final decision belongs to the owner, and that’s fine. The inspector doesn’t need to dictate exactly what must be done. But they should present realistic options and associated costs.
10-Giving Clients Options
While an inspector could state what they believe is the ideal engineering solution, real-world decisions are always relative. They depend on location, contributing factors, what’s typical for the area, safety urgency, the homeowner’s budget, and how the issue compares to other priorities in the home.
If there are serious electrical issues that could cause a fire, those typically take priority over settlement or cracking that isn’t immediately dangerous. Everything must be evaluated in context—safety, health, urgency, and budget.
The Bottom Line
Foundation inspection is an industry without clear standards. That’s a current gap for homeowners, buyers, sellers, and real estate agents. We’re taking a first step at establishing these standards and starting the dialogue. Our plan is to engage others in the industry to develop agreed-upon standards that serve everyone better.