Guides
Home inspection quote template: fields, scope and two examples
A home inspection quote template with every field laid out, scope wording in the client's words, and two filled examples with their pricing.
What to take away
- A quote is the price and scope conversation; the agreement is the contract the client signs.
- One page holds the customer, the property, the service, the fee and the expiration date.
- Write scope as inclusions, then exclusions, in the client's words.
- Price the standard inspection separately from ancillary workradon, mold sampling, sewer scope, pool.
- Put an expiration date on the quote, because a spring price should not get signed in fall.
- The two filled examples total $775 and $1,425.
General business information for inspection company owners. Licensing, contract terms and liability exposure vary by state, so confirm requirements with your state licensing board or a licensed attorney. Tax and recordkeeping questions belong with the IRS or a CPA.
What goes on the one page
A quote answers four questions: what gets inspected, what gets reported, when the report arrives, and what it costs. The customer name and property address, the requested service, the fee and the expiration date are the minimum. Anything else belongs in the agreement or the marketing page.
Minimum quote contents
- Customer name and property address
- Requested service named
- Fee stated
- Expiration date stated
- Keep it to one page
Keep it to one page. A quote the buyer has to scroll is a quote the buyer forwards to a competitor while deciding. Put the total where the eye lands first, and keep the line items short enough to compare at a glance.
The blank template
Copy this layout onto one page and fill every field before the quote goes out. An empty field is a question the buyer will ask you later, usually after comparing you with a competitor.
Field / What goes in it
- Customer
- Name and contact details
- Property
- Address, size and foundation type, since they set the hours
- Requested service
- The standard inspection, plus each ancillary service by name
- Scope included
- Inclusions in the client's words
- Scope excluded
- Exclusions in the client's words
- Standard
- The standard of practice you inspect to
- Report
- What it contains and the delivery window you promise
- Fee
- One line per service, then the total
- Expires
- The expiration date
- Agreement
- A pointer to the contract the client signs
Quote or agreement: what goes where
The quote and the agreement do different jobs. The quote carries price and scope, and the buyer can say yes or no to it. The agreement is the contract the client signs, so contract terms and liability wording belong there, not on the quote.
| Document | Its job | When it goes out |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | Price and scope conversation | Before scheduling |
| Agreement | Contract the client signs | With the confirmation |
| Report | The deliverable | Inside the delivery window you promised |
Terms and liability exposure vary by state, so have the agreement checked by a licensed attorney rather than copied from a competitor. The quote then only needs to point to it.
Write scope in the client's words
Write scope as inclusions, then exclusions, in the client's words rather than the standard's. A line the buyer read and accepted is hard to dispute later. State what the report will contain and when it will be delivered, because that is what the buyer pays for.
Scope inclusions and exclusions
- Standardroof, structure, exterior, plumbing, electrical
- Standardheating, cooling, insulation, interior
- Ancillaryradon, mold, sewer, pool, well, septic
- Deliverablesnarrative report with photographs
- Deliverablessummary of material defects
- Exclusionsdeclined, inaccessible, outside licensing
- Name the standard you inspect to
Name the standard you inspect to. InterNACHI and ASHI both publish standards of practice, and your state board may publish its own. Saying "inspected to the InterNACHI Standards of Practice" tells the buyer what they are buying. Do not say "certified" without naming the certifying body.
Two quotes, filled in
Price the standard inspection on its own line, then add ancillary services one by one, so the buyer can accept or drop each. Example A is an 1,800 sq ft ranch with no basement. The header fields come first.
| Field | Example A |
|---|---|
| Customer | Sample buyer |
| Property | 1,800 sq ft ranch, no basement |
| Requested service | Standard inspection, radon test, sewer scope |
| Scope included | Roof, structure, exterior, interior, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, the radon test and the main-line camera scan |
| Scope excluded | Mold sampling and thermal imaging, not requested |
| Standard | InterNACHI Standards of Practice |
| Report | Written report, delivered inside your stated window |
| Expires | Thirty days from the quote date |
The fee lines follow.
| Line item | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard inspection | Roof, structure, exterior, interior. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC. | $425 |
| Radon test | 48-hour test with two canisters | $150 |
| Sewer scope | Camera scan of main line | $200 |
| Total | Base plus two add-ons | $775 |
Example B is a 3,200 sq ft home with a basement, and the longer visit shows in the base price.
| Field | Example B |
|---|---|
| Customer | Sample buyer |
| Property | 3,200 sq ft home with a basement |
| Requested service | Standard inspection, radon test, sewer scope, mold sampling, thermal imaging |
| Scope included | Roof, structure, exterior, interior, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and each add-on named below |
| Scope excluded | Pool and spa inspection, not requested |
| Standard | InterNACHI Standards of Practice |
| Report | Written report, delivered inside your stated window |
| Expires | Thirty days from the quote date |
| Line item | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard inspection | Roof, structure, exterior, interior. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC. | $625 |
| Radon test | 48-hour test with two canisters | $150 |
| Sewer scope | Camera scan of main line | $225 |
| Mold sampling | Two samples, lab fee included | $250 |
| Thermal imaging | Scan of walls and ceilings | $175 |
| Total | Base plus four add-ons | $1,425 |
Both examples are illustrative. Your travel time, report software and insurance costs set your floor.
Choose how the price appears
Pick one pricing approach for the quote and keep it consistent. A fixed price per inspection is the default for residential work and is easy for buyers to compare, but a difficult property earns the same as an easy one. The other four each hide something too.
- Square footage tierssuit markets with wide variation in home size, but stairs, crawlspaces and outbuildings are not in the number.
- Ancillary add-onsprice radon, mold, sewer and pool individually, but bundling discounts erode the margin.
- Hourly with a minimumfits unknown scope, older housing and commercial work, but fast inspectors earn less for the same result.
- A retainer for agent accountssuits volume from one brokerage, but slow months leave capacity idle.
Pricing approaches compared
Fixed price
- Where it fits
- Residential default
- What it hides
- Hard property same fee
- Example
- $425 at 2,000 sq ft
Sq ft tiers
- Where it fits
- Wide size variation
- What it hides
- Stairs, crawlspaces
- Example
- $0.20 per sq ft
Add-ons
- Where it fits
- Radon, mold, sewer
- What it hides
- Bundling erodes margin
- Example
- $150 radon
Hourly min
- Where it fits
- Unknown scope
- What it hides
- Fast inspectors earn less
- Example
- $125 per hour
Check the floor before you send
Start with the hours the property takes. A 2,000 square foot home with a crawlspace and an older panel runs longer than the same square footage on a slab. Add the ancillary time separately.
Building the fee from cost
- Estimate hours the property takes
- Multiply hours by true hourly cost
- Add ancillary time separately
- Set floorcost divided by one minus margin
- Example$300 cost, 30% margin, $429 floor
A radon test that requires a return trip is not a line item you can fold into the base fee. Multiply hours by your true hourly cost, which includes the inspector's wage, payroll taxes, insurance, vehicle, software and the share of office time the job consumes.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces wage estimates for occupations through its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, which is a starting point, not your number.
If cost per inspection is C and target margin is M, the floor is C divided by one minus M. At a 30 percent target margin on a $300 cost, the floor is about $429. The cost build-up sits in its own guide.
Expiry dates, revisions and claims
Put an expiration date on every quote. A spring price should not get signed in fall, and a quote left open carries the risk of a cost change you did not price in. Thirty days is common in residential work.
If the client adds an ancillary inspection after signing, send a revised quote for the added service only, with its own expiration. Do not rewrite the original quote, because the original is the record of what was agreed first.
Keep the wording honest. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, so do not promise a defect-free home, a passing grade or a repair estimate you are not licensed to give.
Keep your records of what you quoted and what you delivered. The IRS guidance on what records to keep covers the supporting documents for income and expenses.
Track two numbers monthly: quotes sent against quotes accepted, and average fee per inspection. A falling acceptance rate with a rising average fee means you are pricing above your market. The reverse means you are leaving money on the table.
Common questions
Short answers to what owners ask while they write a quote.
Does the quote need to list every ancillary service?
No. List the ones you offer and price them individually. A buyer who sees a menu of add-ons with prices is more likely to buy one than a buyer who has to ask.
Can I quote a range instead of a fixed fee?
For standard residential inspections, a fixed fee is easier for the buyer to compare. Ranges work for commercial or unknown-scope work, where you should say what triggers the upper end.
What does a sample quote total look like?
In the examples above, a 1,800 sq ft ranch with radon and sewer scope totals $775. A 3,200 sq ft home with radon, sewer, mold and thermal imaging totals $1,425.
