What to do when an inspector misses stuff?
I realize that inspectors are diff but ALL of them are liable for things to a certain degree. Especially contractors. Home inspectors are not hired to do bum jobs and the fact is he did a bum job if he was hired to do a full home inspection therefore held liable. I posted the diff between an evaluation and a home inspector and it states a home insp carries a $300k policy for a miss. They don't carry that for no reason. If he was to do a full inspection he IS liable since he failed to catch the sagging roof. That's why I mentioned to seek counsel.
The inspector can only look at immediately visible defects. What he would have had to do to know the full scope of this issue was "dig into" the roof, I.E. remove shingles, etc. in order to see the rotted wood. - that's not a home inspectors job and in most states, doing that is against the rules.
The $300k "miss" policy is for situations such as - Inspector says A.C. unit is fine, A.C. clunks out 2 days after sale due to easily visible bad wiring/parts OR inspector says all outlets are grounded, house catches fire, and it is revealed that all outlets aren't grounded and they were the cause of the fire.
An inspector cannot know the full scope of roof damage, rotted wood, etc. because he cannot dig into that.
If he was to do a full inspection he IS liable since he failed to catch the sagging roof.
He didn't fail to catch it. It got pointed out to him and both parties were aware of it. What the buyers do with that information is up to them.
As I said before, if I see roof dicoloration, I know it didn't just get there for no reason at all and that there is a leak of some sort. With all due respect to the O.P., just because he was a novice at this does not mean that liability for the bad assesment of the severity should fall on the inspector. He should have investigated it further. While it would have been nice for the inspector to say to have a licensed roofer come take a look at it, his opinions on the severity of it does not constitute a warranty of any sort.