A house inspection checklist is the same document whichever word the searcher uses for the building: a list of the systems and components a residential inspection covers, in the order the house is walked, with a place to record what was inspected, what was operated and what was found. This page is the residential inspection checklist as the inspector uses it, not the buyer's list of things to glance at, and it is organised the way the standards organise the inspection and the report: exterior and roof first, then structure, then the mechanical systems, then the interior. Each section below says what is operated or tested, because a house inspection list that only says 'look at the furnace' is a list, not a checklist.
Outside first: roof, exterior, grading
The roof covering, flashing, penetrations, gutters and downspouts, inspected from the ground, the eave or the surface as access allows, and the method noted. The exterior cladding, trim, windows and doors from outside, decks and steps and their railings, and the grading and drainage against the foundation. Most water findings inside a house are explained by something on this list, so the exterior is walked before the basement and the two are read together.
Inside: structure, heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical
The visible foundation and floor structure, with moisture and evidence of water penetration recorded where it is found. The heating and cooling equipment operated by their normal controls, with supply and register temperatures read. The plumbing's main shut-offs located, the water heater inspected, every fixture run and every toilet flushed, drains observed for flow. The electrical service, panel, breakers and wiring method inspected, receptacles tested for wiring and GFCI protection where required, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms noted where installed. A residential inspection checklist that names the test is one the second inspector can follow the same way.
Interior, attic, fireplace, and what was not inspected
Doors, windows and interior surfaces; stairs and railings; the attic's insulation, ventilation and structure from the accessible opening; the fireplace's firebox, damper and hearth. And the line under every section that separates a professional checklist from a house inspection list copied off a forum: the systems present but not inspected, and the reason, whether that is snow on the roof, a locked utility room or a crawl space under water. The standards require that line in the report, so the checklist has to carry it.
The checklist is the first half of the report
Every tick and every circled defect on this list becomes a line in the report template, and the counts on the summary page (items inspected, deficiencies, safety items, systems not inspected) are counts of these lines. Intakez takes the checklist in on site so those counts are made while the inspector is still at the house; the printable version on this site does the same job on paper, and the home inspection tools worksheet costs the instruments the tests assume.
Questions people ask about house inspection checklist
Is a house inspection checklist different from a home inspection checklist?
No. Buyers, agents and inspectors use the two words for the same document. What differs is who the checklist is written for: this one is written for the inspector against a standard of practice, which means it names what is operated and tested and requires a reason for anything not inspected.
Does the residential inspection checklist cover a condo or a townhouse?
The same systems, with the shared ones (the roof, the exterior, the common heating plant) inspected as far as the unit's access allows and the rest reported as not inspected with the reason. The order does not change; the not-inspected line gets more use.
How long does walking the checklist take?
That depends on the house, and no checklist should promise a time. What a checklist does change is the time after the house: with the findings entered against their systems on site, the report is a matter of narrative and photos rather than reconstruction.