Since October 15, 2025 a seller can't make you give up your home inspection to win the deal. You can still choose to skip one — and the inspection you're guaranteed covers less than most buyers assume.
Published 2026-08-10
Yes, a Massachusetts buyer can still choose to skip a home inspection. What changed on October 15, 2025 is that a sellercan no longer make you give it up. Under 760 CMR 74.00, a seller or their agent may not condition acceptance of your offer on waiving, limiting, or restricting a home inspection, and may not accept an offer whose contract documents would require you to. Once your offer has been accepted in compliance with the rule and you have received the required written disclosure, you may still decide on your own not to inspect — provided that decision was not influenced or required by the seller or the seller’s agent.
The rule reaches residential property in three forms: a building of one to four dwelling units sold as a single property to a single buyer, a condominium unit, and cooperative corporation stock. It does not reach larger apartment buildings or commercial property.
760 CMR 74.00 (Residential Home Inspection Waivers) was promulgated by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities under § 45 of the 2024 Affordable Homes Act, which added the underlying requirement to M.G.L. c. 143. It was published in the Massachusetts Register (#1549) on June 6, 2025 and applies to transactions whose first written contract was signed after October 15, 2025.
The operative section is 760 CMR 74.03, and it does three things. Two are prohibitions on the seller; the third is a piece of paperwork you should expect to sign.
There is a fourth provision worth knowing because it closes the obvious loophole: writing any term into the first written contract that would render a home inspection meaningless is itself treated as a violation of the two prohibitions above.
The regulation defines this as frustrating the purpose of the inspection, including unreasonably limiting your ability to schedule, receive, and review one, or prohibiting you from walking away if the results are not satisfactory.
Two negotiated limits stay expressly permissible: the parties may agree that you will not exit over repairs whose estimated aggregate cost falls below a reasonable dollar threshold, and they may agree to reasonably limit how much of your deposit comes back if you do exit. A tight-but-workable inspection window and a repair threshold are still normal deal terms; a two-day window or a no-exit clause is the kind of thing the rule is aimed at.
Auction sales conducted by a licensed auctioneer sit outside the prohibitions in the text of 74.03 itself. Beyond that, 760 CMR 74.04 exempts a specific list of buyers and transfers — if your deal is on it, none of the protections above apply to you.
| Exempt category | Detail |
|---|---|
| The buyer is a relative of the seller | The regulation defines "relative" broadly — spouse or domestic partner, and by blood, marriage, or adoption: siblings, children, parents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, in-laws, step-relations, half-siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and great-grandparents or great-grandchildren. |
| The buyer is the seller’s former spouse | Where the sale is made pursuant to a judgment or order under M.G.L. c. 208 (divorce). |
| Contracts signed on or before October 15, 2025 | Where the offer or the purchase and sale agreement, whichever came first, was executed on or before that date. |
| Foreclosure and deed-in-lieu | Sales or transfers involving the foreclosure of a mortgage, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. |
| Deeds releasing a debt or lien | Deeds reconveying a property in order to release a debt, lien, or other security obligation. |
| Estate-planning transfers to a relative | Including through a revocable or irrevocable trust where at least one designated beneficiary is a relative of the seller. |
| Certain new construction | Where the first written contract is executed before substantial completion AND the seller gives an express written warranty of at least one year covering good and workmanlike completion and proper function of, at minimum, heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, structure, foundation, roof, masonry, and exterior and interior components. |
760 CMR 74.05 connects the rule to consumer protection law, and it draws a distinction worth reading carefully — the disclosure obligation is the strict one:
That last provision is the one to keep in mind, because Massachusetts otherwise leaves the burden of finding problems on you. This is a caveat emptor state: outside specific carve-outs like lead paint and the Title 5 septic inspection at transfer, a seller generally has no duty to volunteer what they know. The waiver rule guarantees you a chance to look. It does not create a duty to tell.
Here is the part the coverage of this rule mostly skips. A home inspection in Massachusetts is a defined thing, not a general investigation: 760 CMR 74.02 defines it by pointing at 266 CMR 6.04, the Board of Registration of Home Inspectors’ scope regulation, and the standards of practice in 266 CMR 6.00. So the question “will the inspection catch this?” has a published answer.
The table below reads that answer off the regulation. The middle column describes the state’s minimum standard of practice— the floor every licensed inspector works to — not any one inspector’s contract.
| Question about the property | Covered by the state minimum standard (266 CMR 6.04–6.06)? | Where the answer actually comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Physical systems — roof, structure, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, interior | Yes, visually. The inspector observes and reports on the systems listed in 266 CMR 6.04 that are "Readily Accessible and Observable." Inspections are "visual and not Technically Exhaustive" and are expressly not an architectural or engineering study. | Nothing extra for the visible parts — and under 266 CMR 6.03(3) the report itself must tell you when further investigation is needed, including where concealed damage is suspected. |
| Building permits, final sign-offs, and code compliance | No. The inspector is not required to report on "compliance or noncompliance with applicable regulatory requirements unless specifically contracted for in writing." | The town building department's permit file for the address and its parcel ID. |
| Title, deed restrictions, easements, and liens | No. Nothing in the 266 CMR 6.04 system list covers recorded documents, and the inspector need not report on any component or system the standard does not cover. | The Registry of Deeds and your closing attorney. |
| Septic or sewer, and Title 5 status | No — explicitly. Under the plumbing standard the inspector is not required to "determine whether water supply and waste disposal systems are public or private." | The town Board of Health file and a licensed Title 5 inspector. |
| Condo common areas, other units, association finances, and the 6(d) certificate | Largely no. The exterior standard excludes "any other dwelling units or addresses in multi unit buildings," and an association's budget, reserves, and pending assessments are not physical components at all. | The condo documents, budget, reserve study, recent minutes, master insurance policy, and the 6(d) certificate. |
| Flood zone, zoning, and land use | No. These are records questions, not observations of a listed system, and the standard excludes environmental services covering soil, water, air, and wetlands. | FEMA flood maps, the town zoning map and bylaw, and the assessor record. |
| Underground oil tank | Partially, and only from above ground. The heating standard requires the inspector to note "the existence of abandoned oil tanks" and "any observed evidence of underground fuel storage tanks" — but they need not inspect fuel storage tanks, and underground items are a general exclusion. | Fire department and MassDEP records, a tank sweep, and your insurer before you commit. |
| Radon, pests, asbestos, lead paint, mold, and soil | No. Radon testing, pest determination, environmental services, and surface or subsurface soil conditions are each separately excluded from the standard. | Specialist testing, ordered separately — a lead paint disclosure is a distinct legal requirement. |
| What the property is worth, and whether to buy it | Prohibited. Inspectors may not report on market value, marketability, or suitability for any use; may not advise the client on the advisability of the purchase; and may not determine the cost of repairs of anything in their report. | Comparable sales and an appraisal for value, contractor quotes for repair costs, and your own pre-offer research for the decision. |
Individual inspectors may offer add-on services beyond 266 CMR 6.00 by written agreement, and some do. The table describes the regulatory floor, not the ceiling — if you need one of the “no” rows covered, arrange it separately and in writing rather than assuming.
Two structural points follow from that list. First, the inspection happens afteryour offer is accepted — in Massachusetts a signed offer is generally a binding contract, so the protected inspection arrives after you are committed on price. Second, most of the “no” rows are public-record questions that can be answered before you offer, by anyone willing to go look.
None of these is part of a home inspection. All of them are available before you write an offer, and each has its own guide here:
And one piece of housekeeping: the smoke and carbon monoxide certificate is the seller’s job, but a missed inspection delays your closing. How the 26F certificate works.
Yes — you can, but the seller cannot make you. Under 760 CMR 74.00, effective October 15, 2025, a seller or their agent may not condition acceptance of an offer on your agreeing to waive, limit, or restrict a home inspection, and may not accept an offer whose contract documents would require you to. But 760 CMR 74.03(5) is explicit that once your offer has been accepted in compliance with the rule and you have received the required written disclosure, you may still decide on your own to skip the inspection — as long as that decision was not influenced or required by the seller or the seller's agent. Summaries that say Massachusetts buyers "can no longer waive a home inspection" are wrong.
It is the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities regulation titled "Residential Home Inspection Waivers," published in the Massachusetts Register on June 6, 2025 and applying to transactions whose first written contract was signed after October 15, 2025. EOHLC adopted it under §45 of the 2024 Affordable Homes Act (St. 2024, c. 150), which added the underlying requirement to M.G.L. c. 143. It covers residential buildings of one to four dwelling units sold as a single property to a single buyer, condominium units, and cooperative corporation stock.
A seller may not condition acceptance of an offer on a waiver, and may not accept an offer where the offer as accepted or any related contract document would require the buyer to waive, limit, or restrict the inspection. Writing a term into the first written contract that would "render a home inspection meaningless" — unreasonably limiting your ability to schedule, receive, and review one, or barring you from walking away over the results — counts as a violation of those prohibitions. Two negotiated limits remain expressly permissible: a reasonable dollar threshold of repair costs below which you agree not to exit, and a reasonable limit on how much deposit comes back if you do.
No later than the signing of the first written contract to purchase — the offer or the purchase and sale agreement, whichever comes first — the seller's agent (or the seller, where no agent is involved) must give you a separate form containing the disclosure language prescribed by 760 CMR 74.03(3), signed by both seller and buyer. In it the seller warrants the agreement is not contingent on any waiver of your inspection rights, acknowledges you may use a licensed home inspector of your choice, and agrees that if you inspect you get a reasonable period after full execution of the first written contract to decide whether to proceed.
Failing to provide the required disclosure form shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice under M.G.L. c. 93A, §2 when done by someone acting in a business context, such as a broker or salesperson; violating the waiver prohibitions themselves may constitute a Chapter 93A violation on the same terms. Neither imposes liability on a private homeowner selling their own home outside a business context. Licensees can separately face the Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons. And in a damages action brought against a seller within one year of the first written contract, the failure to provide the disclosure may be evidence of intent to misrepresent or conceal a material fact.
Sales at auction conducted by a licensed auctioneer sit outside the prohibitions, and 760 CMR 74.04 exempts: buyers who are relatives of the seller (defined broadly, from spouses and domestic partners through in-laws, step-relations, and great-grandchildren); a former spouse buying pursuant to a c. 208 divorce judgment; contracts executed on or before October 15, 2025; foreclosures and deeds-in-lieu; deeds reconveying property to release a debt or lien; estate-planning transfers to a relative including through trusts; and new construction where the first written contract precedes substantial completion and the seller gives an express written warranty of at least one year.
No. 760 CMR 74.02 defines a home inspection by reference to 266 CMR 6.04, the state scope regulation, and inspectors are not required to report on "compliance or noncompliance with applicable regulatory requirements unless specifically contracted for in writing," nor on any system the scope regulation does not list. The plumbing standard specifically does not require the inspector to determine whether waste disposal is public or private, so septic-versus-sewer and Title 5 status are outside it too. Inspectors are also prohibited from reporting on market value, marketability, or suitability, and from advising you on whether to buy. Permits, title, flood zone, zoning, and condo association finances are public-record questions you can answer before you offer.
The regulation does not set a number. It requires that the disclosure include the seller's agreement that, if you inspect, you have "a reasonable period of time after the full execution of the first written contract as agreed to by the Seller and the Buyer" to decide whether to proceed — so the length is negotiated, but a window so short it unreasonably limits your ability to schedule, receive, and review an inspection is the kind of term the rule treats as rendering the inspection meaningless. Ten days has been a common Massachusetts practice.
Primary-source citations for the legal and regulatory claims above. Massachusetts state sites (mass.gov and everything behind it) block automated verification, so some regulations are cited by name and number rather than linked.
The EOHLC regulation itself — definitions at 74.02, prohibitions and the disclosure requirement at 74.03, exemptions at 74.04, and Chapter 93A consequences at 74.05. Every claim about the rule on this page is taken from this text, checked against the version served at this URL on August 10, 2026.
The scope regulation 760 CMR 74.02 points at when it defines "Home Inspection": 6.02 purpose, 6.03 report requirements, 6.04 the system-by-system scope, 6.05 general limitations and exclusions, 6.06 prohibitions. Source for every row of the scope table, checked against the amended text currently in force on August 10, 2026. Note that third-party CMR mirrors were still publishing the superseded 2017 version (Register #1355) at that date.
The session law that added the home-inspection waiver requirement to M.G.L. c. 143 and directed EOHLC to promulgate 760 CMR 74.00.
The consumer protection statute 760 CMR 74.05 hooks into for violations committed in a business context.
The licensing statute behind the Board of Registration of Home Inspectors and its standards of practice.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision holding a signed standard-form Offer to Purchase enforceable as a binding contract despite an anticipated purchase and sale agreement — the reason the protected inspection arrives after you are already committed on price. Public case-law mirrors block automated verification, so it is cited by reporter citation rather than linked.
In Massachusetts, a signed offer is a binding contract — which means the checking has to happen before you sign it, not in the ten days after.
An open permit means a building inspector never signed off on the work — and neither your home inspector nor your title insurer will chase it down for you.
A condo purchase is really two purchases: the unit, and a fractional stake in the association that runs it. The paperwork tells you which one you're actually buying.
If a Massachusetts property isn't on public sewer, state law requires an independent septic inspection before the sale can close — and the result can swing the deal.
Nearly every Massachusetts home sale needs a fire-department smoke and carbon monoxide certificate. It's the seller's job to pass it — but a failed inspection is your closing that slips.
Public records can reveal insurance red flags, but only a carrier can bind coverage. Here is what to screen, what to ask, and what to put in front of an insurer before your contractual exits close.
This guide is educational information for Massachusetts home buyers, not legal, financial, or professional advice, and it may not reflect the most recent regulatory changes. Verify current requirements with the relevant town department, MassDEP, or a licensed Massachusetts attorney before relying on anything here.
Fyts runs this kind of research for a specific address — permits, condo documents, septic/sewer, and more — and hands back a sourced go/no-go memo. Your first report is free, no card required.