FHA Foundation Inspection Checklist for Loan Officers

Send the engineer the complete written FHA property condition, the property address, and the person who will review the response. An abbreviated message such as “need FHA cert” can leave important scope questions unanswered.

FHA foundation report ordering checklist

Before submitting the request, collect:

• Property: complete address, state, and any address discrepancy in existing records.
• Condition: the complete lender or appraisal wording, including attachments that identify a concern.
• Home information: available manufacturer, serial or identifying records, and prior reports.
• Known changes: additions, attached structures, repairs, or a reported relocation.
• Access: owner or agent contact, access arrangements, and known limitations.
• Delivery: intended recipient, lender review contact, report deadline, and closing date.
• Billing: the party requesting the quote and who will authorize the agreed work.

Share property information needed to scope the assignment. Borrower credit reports, income records, and account statements belong in the lender’s process and are not needed for an initial engineering enquiry.

What should the written quote confirm?

Ask for the inspection scope, report deliverable, included travel, fee, and expected scheduling. If the lender has requested separate foundation and structural opinions, confirm whether both are included. Ask how additional investigation, repairs, a return visit, or a revised scope would be handled.

A closing date is useful context. Also supply the earlier date by which the lender needs the report for review, so the team can discuss availability against the actual deadline.

Can a prior foundation report be used?

Send the complete report to the lender and ask whether it will accept it for the current transaction. Give any additional requirement to the engineer. A prior report’s existence does not establish that it covers later additions, changed conditions, or a newly requested scope.

How do you handle an underwriting follow-up?

Forward the exact question and identify the report being reviewed. State whether the reviewer needs clarification of a finding, a missing attachment, or an additional assessment. Those requests can involve different work; avoid asking for a new conclusion before the engineer has reviewed the question.

Ready to order? Submit the FHA engineering request with the property address, condition, access contact, and deadline. See what the report includes while preparing the request.

Preserve the wording and the context

Copy the actual condition from the loan file, including any reference to a foundation, alteration, prior inspection, or identified deficiency. Identify whether it came from underwriting, the appraisal, or another reviewer. Do not merge separate requests into one sentence.

If several professionals are involved, designate one contact for questions. Include the target closing date as a scheduling constraint, while allowing time for the lender's review after the report is delivered.

Identify the property consistently

Check that the address and identifying details match across the request and documents supplied. If the address has alternate formatting or a rural route, explain the difference. Provide the access contact and any known crawlspace or site-access limitation.

Where the home has identifying or foundation records, send copies as background. The HUD Permanent Foundations Guide is a technical reference; the lender must identify which requirements apply to its file.

Separate background records from the requested answer

A prior report may help the engineer understand the property. It does not automatically settle whether a new lender condition has been answered. Ask the reviewer what it needs to rely on an existing document, and give that response to the engineer.

Likewise, a manufacturer's document, an appraisal observation, and an engineering report have different roles. Keep their titles and dates visible when circulating them.

Close the communication loop

Before the visit, confirm the scope, access arrangements, and where the report should be sent. After delivery, have the designated reviewer identify any remaining question in writing rather than relaying a secondhand interpretation.

Submit the engineering request or review our report information. If the file is not yet with a lender, ask Scapular about a lender source before treating an inspection as the only remaining step.