Home Inspection Intake Forms & Client Questionnaires

A home inspection is a time-boxed evaluation of a property’s major systems, and the clock starts the moment you pull up to the curb. If you are walking into a 1920s colonial with knob-and-tube wiring, a stone foundation, and a converted coal boiler without knowing any of that in advance, you lose thirty minutes just getting oriented. The property details that shape your inspection plan — year built, square footage, number of stories, foundation type, roof material and approximate age, HVAC system type, electrical panel brand and amperage, water source and sewer type — should all be captured before you arrive, not discovered on site.

The Home Inspection intake form captures what your office needs to schedule, price, and prepare for every inspection. Property specifics include structure type (single-family, duplex, townhouse, condo), total finished and unfinished square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage type (attached, detached, carport, none), and basement configuration (full, partial, crawl space, slab). The form documents foundation type (poured concrete, block, stone, pier and beam), roof material (asphalt shingle, metal, tile, slate, flat/membrane) with estimated age, and HVAC details covering heating source (forced air gas, oil, electric, boiler/radiator, heat pump, geothermal), cooling type, and water heater (tank vs. tankless, fuel type, age).

Scope of inspection is where the money and the liability live. The form separates the standard inspection from add-on services: radon testing, mold sampling, sewer scope, well water testing, septic inspection, pool and spa inspection, wood-destroying insect (WDI/termite) inspection, and thermal imaging. Each add-on has its own checkbox with a fee field, so the client sees the total before you arrive. The form also captures whether this is a buyer inspection, seller pre-listing inspection, or new-construction inspection — because the report format, the audience, and the liability exposure differ for each.

Why Home Inspection Needs Its Own Intake Form

No two properties present the same inspection challenges, and a generic service form captures none of them. A 1,200-square-foot ranch on a slab in Arizona is a three-hour inspection. A 4,500-square-foot Victorian in New England with a fieldstone basement, three HVAC zones, a well, a septic system, and a detached barn is a full-day job that requires different equipment and possibly a second inspector. You need property age because it tells you what to expect before you see it — homes built before 1978 may have lead paint, homes built before the mid-1960s may have galvanized steel supply lines, and homes with Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels get flagged before you open the panel door.

The form also captures real estate transaction details. Who ordered the inspection — the buyer, seller, or agent? What is the closing date, and how does that constrain report turnaround? Is the listing agent attending, and do they need a copy of the report? These logistics determine your scheduling priority and report delivery timeline. The form includes a field for the client’s real estate agent name and contact, the property listing MLS number, and whether the property is occupied, vacant, or tenant-occupied — because access to attics, crawl spaces, and utility rooms changes when a tenant is living there.

Intake Form vs. Client Questionnaire

The intake form is your internal scheduling and preparation document. Your office fills it out when the inspection is booked, recording property details from the MLS listing, agent contact information, access instructions, and the agreed scope of work. The companion client questionnaire is what you send to the buyer or homeowner before the inspection. It asks about their specific concerns — water stains they noticed during the showing, a musty smell in the basement, cracks in the driveway — and captures their preferences for report delivery (PDF, web-based, printed) and whether they plan to attend the inspection. The questionnaire includes a signature block for the pre-inspection agreement and scope limitations.

Pricing

Each form is $12.99 for the complete set (intake + questionnaire), $9.99 for intake only, or $6.99 for questionnaire only. All PDFs are fillable in Adobe Reader and password-protected against editing.

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