Under the Structural Pest Control Act, there is a two-year statute of limitations on all inspection reports and completion notices. This means all complaints against licensees must be filed with the Board within two years after the date of inspection or completion of recommendations. Companies are not responsible for conditions which develop or become visible after the date of inspection. For that reason, it is advisable for a buyer to obtain an inspection report as close as possible to the close of escrow. If the seller orders the report, it is advisable to obtain it when the house is listed so that repairs may be completed before the start of escrow.
A structural pest control company is required to certify its inspection and/or work if requested by the person ordering the report. They will certify that either:
1) the inspection disclosed no evidence of active infestation or infection by wood destroying pests or organisms in the visible and accessible areas;
2) the inspection disclosed active infestation or infection in visible and accessible areas which have been corrected; or
3) the property is free of pest infestation or infection in the visible and accessible areas, except for specified areas indicated. In cases where a structure is fumigated, the fumigation company will issue a certification of fumigation within five days after completing the fumigation.
Every completion report should be compared with a copy of the inspection report to determine if there are any conditions which have not been corrected or if secondary, substandard corrections have been performed.
Consumers are never required to do business with the pest control company they hire to inspect. However, if a bid or estimate is given for corrective measures by that original company and the owner hires another party to perform its corrective measures, that original company must return and reinspect the property before issuing a certification.
Pest control companies will not certify chemical treatments performed by other pest control companies. The pest control company can perform a reinspection of items called on its original inspection report within four months of the inspection. The reinspection should be completed within ten working days after it has been ordered. If more than four months have elapsed since the original report date, a full inspection of the structure(s) inspected on the initial report must be performed, and an original inspection report must be issued. The report and any contract entered into will state specifically when any guarantee for the work is made and the specific terms of that guarantee.
The above information was obtained from the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs Structural Pest Control Board. http://www.pestboard.ca.gov/forms/brochures/inspctns.pdf