e070623 Can our home inspection company recommend our pest control company?

Identifier: e070623

Date: 06/23/2007

Question

Can we own a pest control company and home inspection company? Can our home inspection company recommend our pest control company?

Response

Owning more than one company does not violate the Code of Ethics. It is also not a violation of the Code of Ethics for the inspector to recommend a pest control company for inspection purposes, whether owned by the home inspector or not. But, it is a wise ethical practice to disclose to all appropriate parties that the pest control company is under the same ownership.

Performing remediation by the inspector's company, or recommending the remediation services of the home inspector's pest control company, based on home inspection findings, is a violation of the Code. The Code states in part that, "Inspectors shall avoid conflicts of interest or activities that compromise, or appear to compromise, professional independence, objectivity, or inspection integrity." It could clearly compromise inspection integrity to profit from the discovery of defects.  Please note that the Code of Ethics does allow the home inspector to recommend a repair contractor as long as there is no financial incentive to do so.

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