NEW Home Inspection Regulations 2025

The new Massachusetts home inspection law protects the right to have a home inspected by a licensed inspector before choosing to finalize the purchase of the home. As such, sellers and agents cannot accept or request an offer that requires a buyer to waive their right to an inspection.

This ensures the buyer has an opportunity to find and hire an inspector and then decide if they will proceed based on the results of the inspection. Even if the seller provides an inspection report, the buyer must still have the chance to do one of their own.

A home inspection looks at visible parts of the home and the home’s major systems, including the interior & exterior, roofing, structure, electrical, plumbing, heating & cooling, insulation, and ventilation. Any more invasive testing (drilling, etc.) must be agreed to separately in the contract. An official home inspection must be done by a licensed home inspector, although the buyer may hire other experts for separate testing, like pest, radon, or structural specialists.

The buyer and seller must agree on a reasonable period to complete and review the inspection after the contract is signed. “Reasonable” timing may vary in different cases depending on availability of inspectors and access to the property.

A buyer may skip the home inspection if they wish, but cannot state in their offer that they will do so. Putting this in writing violates the law, and could result in penalties per the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 93A).

If the buyer chooses to withdraw from the sale based on the results of a home inspection, they may do so depending on what the buyer and seller agreed to in their contract. The contract may have a full inspection contingency, where the buyer may withdraw for any reason, or a clause that only allows withdrawal if the repair costs exceed a certain dollar amount.

A seller can still sell their home as-is. The seller is not required to make improvements from the results of a home inspection, but the buyer is entitled to proceed as they wish depending on the results.

The new law applies only to residential properties. Exemptions to this law include the following types of home sales: at auction; to family members; between former spouses (under court order); for estate planning transfers*; in foreclosures or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure; of new construction homes sold before completion of the building process and covered by a one-year warranty.

*The term ‘estate planning transfers’ describes moving a property into a trust for relatives, including spouses, domestic partners, and family members by blood, marriage, or adoption.