Pre-inspection surveys, nationwide
Know your score before HUD does
We survey the property against the standard that actually applies to it, rank every finding by what it costs you, and stay with you through inspection day.
Preparing for the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake we are called in to correct.
Start here
Which inspection applies to your property?
The framework follows the programme funding the units, not the building. Pick what you hold and we will tell you which standard applies, when it changes, and where to go next.
Which protocol applies
Three inspection regimes, and the differences matter
Properties get inspected under different frameworks depending on the programme funding them, and the frameworks do not score the same things the same way.
NSPIRE is the current model. It replaced UPCS in October 2023, weights the dwelling unit most heavily, and treats severity rather than volume as the main driver of deductions. NSPIRE inspection services work to those published standards.
HQS inspection applies to Housing Choice Voucher units. The regulation defining HQS now points at the NSPIRE standards, but the compliance date for the voucher programmes has been extended three times and currently sits at 1 February 2027. Until then many authorities are still inspecting to the legacy HQS criteria, and are entitled to.
Legacy REAC inspection scoring still governs how many properties talk about their results, and the scoring thresholds and appeal routes behind it are worth understanding whichever protocol you are inspected under.
We also run inspector shadowing for people entering the field. Whichever survey you need, findings feed straight into our repair services, and the strategy around them into consulting services.
Choose a service
All our inspection services
If you are not sure which framework your property falls under, the selector above settles it in one click.
NSPIRE Inspection
A full survey scored the way NSPIRE scores: item by item against its published standard, weighted by severity and by inspectable location. You finish with a deficiency list ranked by deduction rather than by trade, which is what a repair plan should be built from.
NSPIRE inspection
REAC Inspection
Pre-REAC survey, inspector escort on the day, and appeal support afterwards. Choose this when a REAC score is what you are defending, or when a previous result needs challenging on the evidence.
REAC inspection
HQS Inspection
Initial, annual, special and re-inspection visits for Housing Choice Voucher units, for owners and for the authorities administering the programme. Turnaround matters here, because assistance payments depend on the unit passing.
HQS inspection
Inspector Shadowing
Field experience alongside working inspectors, for people entering the profession or for in-house maintenance staff who need to see how findings are actually recorded. Structured observation rather than a classroom course.
Inspector shadowing
Looking for a REAC inspector
Third-party inspectors, and what to ask them
Housing authorities administer their own inspection programmes, and they routinely use third-party inspectors to do it. Owners commission their own surveys separately. Both are normal, and both work to the same published standards.
What varies is whether the inspector records findings the way HUD will. A survey listing defects by trade tells you what is broken. A survey recording severity and inspectable area tells you what it will cost, which is a different document even when the walkthrough was identical.
- Ask which standard the survey is scored against, item by item
- Ask whether findings come back by trade or by inspectable area
- Ask whether unit-area exposure is calculated separately
- Ask whether escort on the official day is included
- Ask what happens if the report is queried afterwards
If you are looking to enter the field rather than hire, inspector shadowing is where that starts.
How a survey runs
What happens when we inspect
Confirm the framework
First we establish which standard your property is measured against, and under which programme. Everything downstream depends on getting that right.
Survey as an inspector would
Same sampling, same sequence, same standards. Each deficiency recorded with its severity and inspectable location, not as a generic maintenance note.
Rank by deduction
Findings come back ordered by what they cost your score, so the repair budget goes to the items that move the number rather than the ones that are most visible.
Stay through the result
Escort on inspection day, documentation on request, and a written appeal where the evidence shows a finding was recorded against the wrong standard or location.
Why pre-inspect
The cheapest inspection is the one you run yourself
A HUD inspection is a snapshot with consequences. A pre-inspection is the same snapshot with time to act on it, which is the entire difference between a finding and a deduction.
It also changes what you spend. Without a ranked list, repair money goes to whatever is most obvious. With one, it goes to the severe items first. The final standards notice sets that weighting, and it rarely matches intuition.
- Scored against the standard that applies to your programme
- Severity and inspectable location recorded for every finding
- Ranked by deduction, so the budget follows the points
- Photographic record you can use on the day or in an appeal
- Surveys usually scheduled within 24 hours, in all 50 states
Inspection date approaching? Survey first, repair second.
Questions
Inspection services FAQs
Which inspection framework applies to my property?
It follows the programme funding the units. Public housing and HUD-assisted multifamily are inspected under NSPIRE, which has been in force since October 2023. Housing Choice Voucher and project-based voucher units are inspected under HQS, where the compliance date for the change in definition currently sits at 1 February 2027.
The selector near the top of this page settles it in one click, and it also tells you what changes next.
Has NSPIRE replaced HQS?
Not yet, in practice. The regulation defining HQS now refers to the NSPIRE standards, but HUD has extended the compliance date for the voucher, project-based voucher and moderate rehabilitation programmes three times, most recently to 1 February 2027.
Until then authorities may keep inspecting to the legacy HQS criteria, and many are. Some have transitioned early after notifying HUD. Which applies to your units depends on your housing authority.
Can I hire you as a third-party REAC inspector?
Yes, and it is a normal part of how inspection programmes get delivered. Housing authorities use third-party inspectors for their own programmes, and owners commission independent surveys of their properties.
The practical difference between firms is whether findings come back recorded the way HUD records them, by severity and inspectable area, or simply listed by trade.
How soon can you survey?
Usually within 24 hours. Crews are available across all 50 states specifically so that a short-notice date does not become a waiting list, and a survey is typically completed in one visit.
Do you repair what you find?
Yes. Our repair services work from our own findings, specified against the standard for each item.
That removes the handoff between whoever found the deficiency and whoever fixes it, which is where corrections usually go wrong.
What if we have already been inspected and scored badly?
Then we start from your report rather than a fresh survey. We separate findings that are accurate from those recorded against the wrong standard or location, prioritise the corrections, and file an appeal where the evidence supports one.
That work sits under REAC consulting.