LOCAL RULES

Florida home inspection report requirements

Your Florida home inspection report has 6 rules to meet. ReportDraft puts every one on your checklist and checks your draft before you sign.

  • A reason for every system or component that was present but not inspected
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Home inspectors in Florida are licensed under Part XV of Chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes, overseen by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Standards of Practice in Chapter 61-30 of the Florida Administrative Code set what an inspection covers. Here is what a Florida home inspection report must contain, with links to the official text, and how to turn your field notes into one.

Last reviewed October 8, 2026 against the official sources listed below.

Home inspectionFLORIDA / SAMPLE

Sample notes, 149 words

Client: Dana Whitfield
Inspector: Sam Ortega
Date: October 3, 2026
1408 Larkspur Lane, Tallahassee, FL
Weather: clear, 74F. Occupied. Built 1987.
...
FREE PREVIEW OF THESE NOTES
75%of your draft is ready from these notes

We sorted 14 items into 8 sections and flagged 4 to fix first.

  • Fix firstElectrical

    Main panel has a double tapped breaker and an open splice in the attic junction box.

  • Fix firstElectrical

    No GFCI protection at the kitchen counter outlets.

  • Fix firstGarage

    Garage door opener did not reverse when it hit the test board.

6 Florida rules on your checklist, including a reason for every system or component that was present but not inspected.

Still to add

  • RecommendedNotes for cooling
  • RecommendedNotes for fireplaces and chimneys

Filled in for you

Client nameDana Whitfield
Property address1408 Larkspur Lane, Tallahassee, FL
Inspection dateOct 3, 2026
Inspector nameSam Ortega
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What Florida requires

What a Florida home inspection covers

Florida law defines a home inspection as a limited visual examination of a home's readily accessible installed systems: the structure, electrical system, HVAC system, roof covering, plumbing system, interior components, exterior components, and site conditions that affect the structure, to give a written professional opinion of the home's condition.

A home here means a single-family dwelling, duplex, triplex, quadruplex, condominium unit or cooperative unit, including manufactured and modular homes. Condominium and cooperative common areas are not included.

The inspector uses normal operating controls and opens readily operable access panels. Where a home has several of the same component, a representative number can be inspected.

What the report must contain

Every home inspection done for compensation ends with a written report prepared for the client. Under section 468.8323, the report covers the systems and components you inspected that, in your professional opinion, are significantly deficient or near the end of their service lives.

If the reason is not self-evident, the report says why the system or component is significantly deficient or near the end of its service life. It also lists the systems and components that were present but not inspected, with the reason each was not inspected.

The Standards of Practice add two things: a recommendation for correction, monitoring or further evaluation of each deficiency you observed, and a description of systems and components by type or significant characteristics where the standards call for it.

Repair cost estimates are not required.

Before the inspection

Before you contract for or start the inspection, give the client a copy of your Florida home inspector license and a written disclosure of the inspection's scope and any exclusions.

Systems and components can be left out of the inspection when you and the client agree to it in writing.

When you cannot inspect something

You are not required to walk a roof when it is too steep, there is no safe access, the weather or the roof's condition makes it unsafe, or walking could damage it. You are also not required to enter an attic or under-floor crawl space that is unsafe, unsanitary or too tight, or where entering could damage insulation, ductwork or stored items.

Whatever you could not inspect, the report still lists it with the reason it was not inspected.

Conflicts of interest

Florida bars an inspector from repairing a home on which they or their company prepared a home inspection report, and from inspecting a property in which they or their company have a financial or transfer interest.

An inspector also may not accept an engagement where the inspection or its fee depends on the report's conclusions, preset findings or the close of escrow.

From field notes to a finished Florida report

Note each system as you go, including what you could not inspect and why, for example "roof not walked, tile, viewed from a ladder". ReportDraft marks those items not inspected with your reason, and writes up each deficiency with what you saw and a recommendation naming who should act.

Before you sign, the completeness list flags any item left unmarked and any deficiency without a recommendation.

Common mistakes

  • Leaving out a system you could not inspect. List it, and say why it was not inspected.
  • Calling something deficient without saying why when the reason is not obvious to the client.
  • Writing up a deficiency with no recommendation to correct it, monitor it or have it evaluated further.
  • Starting the inspection before giving the client a copy of your license and the written scope and exclusions.
  • Offering to repair what you found. Florida bars inspectors from repairing a home they or their company reported on.

Sources

Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Next review due January 8, 2027. This page explains published rules to help you write your report. It is not legal advice; the official text linked above governs.