What is the standard of care of a home inspector?

The standard of care of a home inspector is that of a reasonably prudent home inspector: Dickey at para 33. The reasonable expectation is that the home inspector will provide an opinion about the condition of certain components of the home, and that this opinion will be reasonably accurate within the prescribed limitations of the contract: Larouche v. Radwanski, 2011 YKSM 3 at para 64.

The standard of care in the particular circumstances is a question of fact. The external indicators of whether the inspector’s conduct was reasonable can include custom, industry practice, statutory or regulatory standards: Coleman v. Schade, 2012 CarswellOnt 2840 (Ont SCJ) at para 10. Where there is a dispute over how a reasonable professional would have conducted himself, then recourse should be made to expert evidence.