REAC inspection and pre-REAC survey
Your score is decided before the inspector arrives
Survey before the visit, escort during it, appeal after it if the result does not match the property. The same team handles the repairs in between.
Ninety is the benchmark. Sixty is the pass mark. Neither is the number that fails most borderline properties.
Try it
Build a property that passes, then fails it
Tick findings and watch the score move. Deductions depend on severity and on which inspectable area the defect sits in. Keep going until the unit meter crosses its limit.
Findings recorded
Under the 30-point limit
Weightings shown are illustrative and chosen to demonstrate the mechanic. HUD's published point values are set out in the final standards notice, and the real calculation depends on sample size and property configuration.
What a REAC inspection is
A physical assessment with a score attached
A REAC inspection is HUD's physical condition inspection of a property in a federal housing programme, carried out by or on behalf of the Real Estate Assessment Center and producing a score out of 100. Since October 2023 those inspections run under the NSPIRE protocol rather than UPCS.
People use "REAC inspection" and "NSPIRE inspection" interchangeably, and in practice they now describe the same visit. REAC is the office. NSPIRE is the protocol it applies.
Worth being precise about the score bands, because they are widely quoted and no longer describe what will happen. Under the legacy framework, 90 or above meant a longer gap before the next inspection and below 80 meant a shorter one. Under NSPIRE frequency is set by risk, so a high score helps your risk profile without buying a guaranteed three-year gap.
What has not changed is where points are lost. Severity and location drive deductions, set out item by item in the published standards. Corrections run through our repair services, and where the wider strategy needs attention, REAC consulting covers it.
Where the defect sits
The same defect, three different costs
Hover or tap an area to see it. Exterior work is visible, satisfying and comparatively cheap to point at. In-unit findings are none of those things and cost the most.
The sampled dwelling units. Alarms, outlets, heating, plumbing fixtures, appliances, floors, walls, ceilings, egress from the unit. Units are selected at random and carry more weight than anything else on the survey.
Corridors, stairwells, lobbies, laundry, community rooms, mechanical and electrical rooms, and the building systems housed within them. Small failures accumulate quickly here.
The building site, exterior components, and any systems located outside the building. Roofs, walls, walkways, drainage, lighting, fencing. Drainage problems here often explain damage found inside.
How deficiencies are graded
Four tiers, four clocks
Severity sets both the deduction and the deadline to correct it. Advice written for the old UPCS standards uses different terminology and points at the wrong priorities.
Life-threatening
Immediate risk to residents. Exposed conductors, blocked egress, gas leaks, missing or non-functioning alarms.
Correct in 24 hoursSevere
Significant defects affecting health, safety or the function of a building system, without the immediacy above.
Correct in 30 daysModerate
Defects reducing the condition or usability of a unit, area or component without a direct safety risk.
Correct in 30 daysLow
Minor defects with limited impact on health, safety or function. Still recorded, still deducted, still worth clearing.
Correct in 60 days
Before and during
Pre-inspection, then escort on the day
A pre-REAC survey tells you what will be found while there is still time to act. More usefully, it tells you which findings are worth acting on. The difference between a heavy deduction and a trivial one is rarely obvious from looking at it.
On the day, an escort who knows the framework changes outcomes. Some findings are judgements about how a standard applies to a location, and those are far easier to resolve while the inspector is standing there than in writing three weeks later.
- Survey scored the way the official visit will score
- Findings separated by deduction, not by how they look
- Unit-area exposure calculated on its own against the 30-point limit
- Escort who knows when to question a finding and when not to
- Notes taken on the day that can support an appeal
How to prepare
The constraint is repair time, not survey time
We can survey at short notice. What cannot be compressed is roof, structural and mechanical work, and that is what sets a sensible lead time.
120 → 60 days
The ideal window. Survey completed, findings ranked by deduction, and enough runway for envelope and mechanical work that needs procurement or a contractor schedule.
60 → 30 days
Still workable. Priorities narrow to the heaviest deductions and anything sitting in the unit sample. Cosmetic items get deferred deliberately rather than by accident.
Under 30 days
Triage. Life-threatening and severe findings first, unit-area exposure second. You get a written assessment of what fits, not an optimistic schedule.
Date already set
We can survey inside 24 hours. Call and we will tell you plainly what is achievable in the time that remains.
Where points go
Findings that cost the most
Weighting comes from the final standards notice and from where the defect sits, not from the size of the repair.
Findings of this severity inside occupied units
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms missing or expired
Exposed conductors and electrical panel defects
Blocked or unusable egress
Gas and sewage leaks
Non-functioning heating in season
Guardrails, handrails and fall exposure
Fire protection and sprinkler assemblies
Elevator faults and entrapment risk
Structural and foundation defects
Roof assembly failure and water ingress
Drainage and walkway condition
Appeals
Which findings are actually contestable
Appeals succeed on specific grounds, not on general disagreement. Conditions permitted by local code, matters demonstrably outside the owner's control, and work already documented as in progress are all legitimate bases for challenge.
We read the report against the evidence and tell you which findings meet that test before anything is filed. Filing on everything weakens the points that would have succeeded.
This is also why documentation matters during the visit rather than after it. An appeal is only as good as the record behind it, and that record has to be created while the inspector is on site.
REAC date set? The survey should come first.
Questions
REAC inspection FAQs
What is a REAC inspection?
HUD's physical condition inspection of a property in a federal housing programme, producing a score out of 100. The site, building, common areas and a random sample of units are examined against published standards, and every defect deducts according to severity and location.
Since October 2023 these inspections run under the NSPIRE protocol. REAC is the office that conducts them; NSPIRE is the standard applied.
How is a REAC inspection scored?
You start at 100 and lose points per defect, weighted by severity and by whether the defect sits in a unit, inside the building, or outside on the site. Below 60 is a failing score, and 30 or less is referred automatically for enforcement review.
There is a second condition people miss, and it is the one the simulator above demonstrates: lose 30 points or more in the unit area alone and the score is adjusted down to 59 regardless of how the rest of the property scored.
What counts as a good REAC score?
Sixty is the pass mark, and ninety or above has always been the benchmark for a well-run property. Under the legacy framework a score above ninety also bought a longer gap before the next inspection.
NSPIRE sets frequency by risk rather than by score band, so a strong score improves your risk profile without guaranteeing a three-year wait.
How far ahead should we prepare?
Sixty to a hundred and twenty days if you can, because the constraint is repair time rather than survey time. Roof, structural and mechanical work cannot be compressed.
We can survey inside 24 hours if your date is nearer, and we will be straight with you about what fits.
Is an appeal worth filing?
Only where the grounds are specific: a condition allowed by local code, something outside your control, or work documented as already under way. We will tell you which of your findings meet that test, and say so plainly when none of them do.