The Department of Housing and Urban Development is planning to introduce new physical inspection standards for housing. They are seeking input from knowledgeable parties as part of the process of developing these standards. Multifamily housing providers who are subject to HUD inspections may find it to be in their interest to review the inspection standard being considered and to provide feedback. The HUD press release calling for input follows:
REAC NSPIRE Updates
Thank you for your feedback thus far on HUD’s proposed new physical inspection model – the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). We would like to notify you of another opportunity to help us refine NSPIRE’s inspection standards by reviewing and commenting on the most recent version of the NSPIRE inspection standards, which are now available on HUD’s NSPIRE website. You can find the most recent version of the NPSIRE standards here.
This version incorporates input from a large pool of diverse stakeholders, including property owners and agents, public housing agencies, residents, maintenance personnel, scientists, and industry groups. HUD intends to use these standards as it restarts demonstration inspections under NSPIRE. HUD anticipates this will be the last informal release of the NSPIRE standards prior to their publication as a Federal Register notice. Publication in the Federal Register will allow you, and the public, the formal opportunity to submit comments on the standards. These standards will be used when we begin inspections under the NSPIRE demonstration. Currently, nearly 4,000 Multifamily properties have volunteered to be part of the demonstration.
While we seek feedback on all aspects of the standards, we would like to ask you to focus on the following:
- Is HUD inspecting the right things that are most critical to housing quality?
- Are there items that should be added to or deleted from the list of inspectable items?
- Do the health and safety determinations and correction timeframes make sense?
- Are the reasons or rationales for inspecting these items logical and easily understood?
Should you wish to review and comment on the most recent version of the standards, please follow the instructions on the NSPIRE website. As valued partners, we look forward to receiving your comments and working to improve the physical inspection process. If you would like more information on NSPIRE, please visit HUD’s NSPIRE website. If you have questions about the standards or the demonstration, please email NSPIRE@hud.gov.
