| (a) The Texas Real Estate Commission adopts by reference Property
Inspection Report, REI 7A-0, approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission
in 1998 and published and available from the Texas Real Estate Commission,
P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188.
(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 Form REI 7A-0 ("the form"). Licensed inspectors
shall complete the applicable portions of the form and provide the report
within a reasonable period of time to the persons for whom the inspection
has been performed. If necessary to report the inspection of a part, component
or system not contained in the form, or space provided on the 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 the standards
of practice adopted by the commission, 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 the form is present
in the property and has not been inspected under the departure provisions
of §535.227 of this title (relating to Standards of Practice: General
Provisions), 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 form adopted by the commission
from printed copies obtained from the commission and by computer. With the
exception of the changes to the form which are permitted by this section,
the inspector shall reproduce the text of the form 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
form. Inspectors may insert information in the spaces provided for that purpose.
(d) 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 (81/2" 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 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.
(e) 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.
(f) 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.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §535.223 adopted to be effective January 1, 1998, 22 TexReg 10657; amended to be effective July 8, 1998, 23 TexReg 6954; amended to be effective January 1, 1999, 23 TexReg 11654; amended to be effective January 1, 2001, 25 TexReg 11653 |
