What Your Favorite Home Inspector Is NOT Allowed to Do

(And Why It Actually Protects You)

As South Carolina-licensed home inspectors, we’re held to some of the strictest ethics rules in the country. Most people think these restrictions are just red tape, but they’re actually designed to keep your inspection 100% unbiased and focused on YOU—the client.

Here are the Top 10 things we’re legally and ethically prohibited from doing when it comes to real estate agents, brokers, contractors, or anyone else who might benefit from inspection reports:

1. We cannot pay real estate agents or brokers any kind of referral fee, kickback, or “marketing fee.”
2. We cannot give agents gift cards, closing gifts, sporting event tickets, or bottles of wine “just because.”
3. We cannot sponsor real-estate-office open houses, caravans, or broker luncheons in exchange for referrals.
4. We cannot advertise on an agent’s yard sign, shopping cart, bus bench, or website in exchange for referrals.
5. We cannot offer discounted inspections or “preferred pricing” to agents who send me volume.
6. We cannot provide free or reduced-cost wind mitigations, 4-points, or re-inspections as a thank-you to agents.
7. We cannot perform repairs, mold remediation, or contract work on any home I’ve inspected for at least 12 months (state law).
8. We cannot own interest in—or be employed by—a repair/remediation company that could benefit from our findings.
9. We cannot share your full report with the listing agent without your written permission (it belongs to YOU).
10. We cannot change, soften, or delete deficiencies in the report because an agent or seller asks us to.

These rules exist so that when we tell you a roof needs replacement or the foundation has settlement cracks, you know it’s coming from an independent professional—not someone trying to keep a transaction together or earn a future favor.

At LAB Home Inspections, we’re proud to follow these standards to the letter. It’s why hundreds of buyers, sellers, and even agents trust us to deliver the unfiltered truth every single time.

Got questions about how we stay impartial? Just ask—we’re always happy to explain.