How Long Do 4-Point Inspections Last for Home Insurance?
Insurers typically accept a 4-point inspection for about 12 months. Check with your insurer to confirm.
Free to compare
What the inspection covers
A 4-point inspection looks at the roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC system, the four parts that fail most often in older houses. Insurers use it to decide whether to write the policy at all, not just what to charge, so its findings carry weight for your binder.
Why the clock starts now
The inspection date on the report is what your insurer counts from, not your closing date. If weeks pass between the inspection and when you actually bind coverage, ask whether it still falls inside the window your insurer accepts, usually close to a year.
What happens after it expires
Once a 4-point inspection ages past what your insurer accepts, it stops satisfying the requirement. A new policy application built on an old report can get flagged, delaying the binder your lender needs by your closing date.
What a bad result changes
If the inspection flags an aging roof or outdated wiring, your insurer may charge more, require repairs first, or decline to write the policy. Get the inspection early enough that a bad result still leaves time to fix things before closing.
Insurers don't all read the same report the same way
One insurer may price the same roof or wiring differently than another, or ask for repairs the next wouldn't. Comparing quotes before closing shows which one works with what your inspection found.
Does the inspection need to be redone at renewal?
A 4-point inspection is almost always a one-time requirement tied to getting the first policy written. It is not something that repeats every year you own the house. Once your insurer accepts the report and issues the policy, that inspection has done its job. Renewal is a separate process, and most insurers renew based on your claims history and the information already on file, not a fresh inspection.
Insurers ask for 4-point inspections mainly on older houses, often those built more than 20 to 30 years ago. That's when roofs, wiring, pipes and HVAC systems start reaching the end of their expected life. If your house is newer, you may not need one at all. Check with the insurer writing your policy to see if your house's age triggers the requirement.
There are cases where an insurer asks for an updated inspection later. This usually happens after a major claim involving the roof or plumbing, or if the house changes hands again and a new insurer wants its own look. Some insurers also ask for a wind mitigation inspection around the same time as the 4-point. That one can lower what you pay if your roof and construction meet certain standards. The two inspections cover different things and often get scheduled together since the same inspector can do both.
If your policy carries conditions from the original inspection, like a requirement to replace the roof within a set number of years, that's written into your policy documents. It is not tied to the inspection's expiration date. Read your declarations page and any endorsements closely so you know what's expected of you and by when, separate from whether the inspection itself is still considered current.
Who pays for the inspection and who schedules it
The buyer usually pays for the 4-point inspection, not the insurer and not the seller. A licensed inspector, sometimes the same one who does the general home inspection, charges a separate fee for it, typically in the range of a hundred to a couple hundred dollars depending on the house and the area. Some general inspectors include the 4-point as part of a bundled price, so it's worth asking upfront rather than assuming it's extra.
You schedule it yourself, or your insurance agent tells you it's needed and you find someone licensed to do it. It isn't automatic. If you're applying for coverage on an older house, ask the insurer directly whether a 4-point inspection is required before you get too far into the process. Finding out after you've already picked a closing date leaves less room to deal with a bad result.
Timing matters here too. Since the inspection date is what your insurer counts from, getting it done too early in a long closing process risks the report aging past the window before you actually bind coverage. Getting it done too late risks a bad finding, like a roof that needs replacing, with no time left to address it before closing. Most buyers schedule the 4-point once they're far enough into the process that closing has a real date attached, but not so close that a problem has nowhere to go.
If the house already has a recent 4-point inspection from a prior sale or a previous owner's policy, ask the insurer whether that report still counts. Some will accept an inspection done shortly before you took ownership, as long as it falls inside their window and nothing about the house has changed since. Others want one done specifically for the new policy. There's no single rule here, so this is a question for whoever is writing your coverage, not something to assume either way.
Before you bind coverage
Check the date on your inspection report against your expected closing date. If your insurer's window is close to a year and that gap is wider, ask now whether it still counts.
