Structural Engineer Inspection
A structural engineer inspection begins where the Oregon home inspector scope ends, at concealed structural components, and the engineer must hold an Oregon professional licence.
A structural engineer evaluation picks up where OAR 812-008-0205 stops. The home inspector reports visible structural components; concealed ones and causes are excluded. An Oregon-licensed professional engineer, registered with OSBEELS, produces the opinion a lender or permit office will accept.
Where one scope ends and the other begins
The home inspector reports what is visible under OAR 812-008-0205 and is excused by 0204 from stating causes or methods of repair. A sagging ridge or a cracked foundation is reported, not diagnosed.
The engineer diagnoses. The deliverable is a stamped letter or report. A permit office, lender or insurer treats it as an opinion of record, which the home inspection report is not.
When Oregon buyers call one
Foundation cracks on the wet side, settlement in hillside construction, and the seismic question in every pre-1990s house are the common triggers. The seismic evaluation has its own page.
This site has not yet opened the engineering licensing rule, so the qualification row carries a verification chip. The board is the Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying.
Asked and answered
The components the home inspector reports but cannot diagnose: foundations, framing, load paths and the cause behind a crack or sag. OAR 812-008-0205 limits the home inspector to observable structural components and 0204 excludes stating causes. The engineer produces a stamped opinion a permit office or lender will act on, which a home inspection report is not.
Oregon sets no duration for either inspection. The engineer visit is scoped to the question asked, a foundation crack or a seismic condition, rather than to ten categories. The home inspection that usually precedes it must cover all ten categories under OAR chapter 812 division 8. It is excused from diagnosing causes, which is the engineer job.
Questions are taken verbatim from live Google People Also Ask results for this inspection type. Answers rest on Oregon rule text and the records cited above.