| (a) The Texas Real Estate Commission adopts by reference the following forms approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission in 1997 and 1998 and published and available from the Texas Real Estate Commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188: (1) Property Inspection Report, REI 7-0; (2) Property Inspection Report (Short Form), REI No. 7A-0; (3) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Gas Lines), REI No. 8-0; (4) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Outbuildings), REI No. 9-0; (5) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Outdoor Cooking Equipment), REI No. 10-0; (6) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Lawn and Garden Sprinkler System), REI No. 11-0; (7) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Private Water Wells), REI No. 12-0; (8) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report
(Individual Private Sewage Systems), REI No. 13-0; (9) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Built-in Security and Fire Protection Equipment), REI No. 14-0; and (10) Optional Systems Property Inspection Report (Swimming Pools and Equipment), REI No. 15-0. (b) Except as provided by this section, inspections performed for a prospective buyer or prospective seller of one-to-four family residential property must be reported on forms adopted by the commission. Licensed inspectors shall complete the applicable portions of inspection report forms adopted by the commission and provide the reports to the persons for whom the inspection has been performed. Except as provided in this section, each inspector shall use either Property Inspection Report REI No. 7-0 or Property Inspection Report REI No. 7A-0 when reporting an inspection. If the inspector uses Property Inspection Report REI No. 7-0 and an inspection of an optional
system is also to be performed, the inspector shall also complete the appropriate optional system property inspection report, REI Nos. 8-0 through 15-0, for each optional system inspected. When the inspection is limited to one or more of the optional systems, the inspector shall use either the appropriate optional system report form adopted by the commission or Property Inspection Report REI No. 7A-0. If necessary to report the inspection of a part, component or system not contained in a form, or space provided on a form is inadequate for a complete reporting of the inspection, such as when the inspector provides a higher level of inspection performance than that required by §535.222 of this title (relating to Standards of Practice), the inspector may attach additional pages to the form. When providing comments or additional pages to report on items listed on a form, the inspector shall arrange the comments or additional pages to follow the sequence of the items listed in the
form adopted by the commission. If a part, component or system contained in a form is present in the property and has not been inspected under the departure provisions of §535.222 of this title, the inspector shall make an appropriate notation on the form, clearly indicating the reason the part, component, or system has not been inspected. (c) Inspectors may reproduce the forms adopted by the commission from printed copies obtained from the commission and may reproduce the forms by computer. With the exception of the changes to the forms which are permitted by this section, the inspector shall reproduce the forms text of the forms verbatim and the spacing, length of blanks, borders, fonts and placement of text on the page must appear to be identical to that used by the commission in the printed version of the forms. Inspectors may insert information in the spaces provided for that purpose. (d) When using form REI 7-0 or any of the optional
systems reports, forms REI 8-0 through 15-0, the inspector may make the following changes. (1) The inspector may delete duplicate headings or sub-parts of the report form relating to an item which is not being inspected. (2) The inspector may delete duplicate provisions in the optional systems reports such as the identification of the property, date, and scope of the inspection. (3) The inspector may renumber the pages of the forms to correspond with any changes made necessary due to deletions of text. (e) When using form REI 7A-0, the inspector may make the following changes. (1) The inspector may select the type and size of the fonts, provided the fonts are no smaller than those used in the printed version of the form adopted by the commission. (2) The inspector may use legal sized (8 1/2" by 14") paper. (3) The inspector may select the
information to be inserted below the caption "Property Inspection Report" and above the text of the form relating to TREC rules; however, the inspector must include the name of the inspector's client, the address or other identification of the inspected property, the date the inspection was performed, and the name and license number of any inspector participating in the inspection. If the person performing the inspection is licensed as an apprentice inspector or real estate inspector, the license number and name of the inspector's sponsor also must be included, and the inspector supervising an apprentice must sign the report. (4) The inspector may select other information to be inserted in the space on the first page of the report reserved for that purpose; provided the caption "Additional Information Provided By Inspector" is not deleted. (5) The inspector may delete inapplicable provisions relating to the optional systems and
re-letter the remaining provisions. (6) The inspector may add footers to each page of the report except the first page and may add headers to each page of the report. (7) Whether the form is reproduced by computer or is preprinted by the inspector, the inspector may allocate such space for comments as the inspector deems necessary or may attach additional pages of comments to the report. (8) The inspector may renumber the pages of the form to correspond with any changes made necessary due to adjusting the space for comments or deleting text. (9) The inspector may list other built-in appliances and add additional captions, letters and check boxes for those items. (10) The inspector may add numbers or letters in parentheses to the right of the caption for each item and may place the property identification and page number either at the top or bottom of the page.
(f) This section does not apply to the following: (1) inspections performed for a lender or for a person other than the prospective buyer or prospective seller; (2) quality control construction inspections of new homes, including phased construction inspections, inspections performed solely to determine compliance with building codes, warranty or underwriting requirements, or inspections required by a municipality; (3) inspections of remodeling or re-inspections; (4) inspections for which federal or state law requires use of a different report; or (5) inspections for which a relocation company or a seller's employer requires use of a different report, and the first page of the report contains a notice either in bold or underlined print reading substantially similar to the following: "This report was prepared for a relocation company or seller's employer in
accordance with the company's requirements. The report is not intended as a substitute for an inspection of the property by an inspector of the buyer's choice. Standard inspection reports required by the Texas Real Estate Commission may contain additional information a buyer should consider in making a decision to purchase." If the report form required by the relocation company or seller's employer does not contain the notice, the inspector may attach the notice to the first page of the report at the time the report is prepared by the inspector. If the inspector attaches the notice, the inspector is not required to use a form adopted by the commission to report the inspection. (g) Failure to comply with this section is grounds for the suspension or revocation of an inspector's license or the imposition of an administrative penalty by the commission.
|
