Areas we serve › Long Island › Nassau County › Pre-listing inspection
Before a buyer signs a contract for your Nassau house, you must hand over a state disclosure statement that asks whether the house has a fuel tank, what kind of sewage system serves it, whether water has ever entered it, whether you filed a flood claim and whether anyone knows of lead plumbing. A pre-listing inspection in Nassau County will not answer those questions for you, because the State’s rules leave out buried tanks and cesspools, but it shows you what a buyer’s inspector will see and which records to gather first. In a county where 26% of homes burn oil, FEMA’s file holds 51,523 flood-insurance claims since 1978 and about four homes in five predate 1970, those are not formalities.
Inspecwise is a New York State–licensed home inspector, certified by InterNACHI and based in South Ozone Park, Queens; we work in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi. This page is for anyone selling a house of up to four units in Nassau. We promise nothing about your price or your time on the market, and nothing here is legal advice: for each law we cite we state its terms and its reach, and leave its application to your attorney. Buyers should read our Nassau County guide; the Levitt houses have their own page, Levittown and Hicksville; and the Island as a whole is on our Long Island page. A seller of a commercial or mixed-use building should start with commercial inspection in Nassau County.
What a pre-listing inspection in Nassau County covers, and what it cannot answer for you
A pre-listing inspection is a regular home inspection that you commission. Under the State’s Standards of Practice, “inspect” means a visual examination: the inspector works the normal operating controls and opens readily operable access panels, and goes no further (19 NYCRR 197-5.1). The table takes the questions sellers raise most often and answers them from the Standards and the licensing law.
| Question a Nassau seller asks | Answer under the State’s rules | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Will it show that the house meets code? | No. An inspector may not rule on compliance with regulations, codes, laws or ordinances, and need not report past or present violations | 197-4.4 · 197-5.16 |
| Will it find every defect? | No. It covers readily accessible, visually observable systems and is not technically exhaustive; concealed conditions and latent defects are outside it, and whatever could not be observed is listed with the reason | 197-5.3 · 197-5.16 |
| Will it check my oil tank, cesspool or private well? | It describes visible fuel storage and distribution. Underground tanks, septic systems, cesspools and wells need not be observed | 197-5.8 · 197-5.16 |
| Does it cover radon, termites, lead paint, asbestos or mold? | Radon and pests are excluded by the licensing statute, and the inspector need not determine whether asbestos, lead paint, mold or wood-destroying organisms are present | Real Property Law §444-b · 197-5.16 |
| Will it predict how long the roof lasts or what a repair costs? | No. Remaining life, causes and costs of correction are not required | 197-5.16 |
| Who gets the report? | You. It arrives within five business days after the visit, is confidential and may not be released without your express consent | Real Property Law §444-g |
| Can the inspector then do the repairs? | No fee may be charged for repairs before closing on a building the inspector reported on, and the inspector’s pay cannot depend on the sale or on what the report says | Real Property Law §444-g(4) |
That makes the report a preview and not a certificate. A buyer’s inspector has a different client, uses the same Standards on the same house and may weigh a finding differently, so no one can promise that the two lists will match. What yours can do is keep anything on the buyer’s list from surprising you, and show you which items concern records and not the building.
The disclosure statement: the questions a Nassau house answers differently
Whoever sells a house of one to four families must complete and sign the property condition disclosure statement, and the buyer must receive it before signing a binding contract (Real Property Law §462). The law does not require you to investigate or inspect, the parties may agree to an “as is” sale, and the form says plainly that it is not a substitute for inspections or tests. The table picks out the questions where a Nassau house is most likely to have a real answer. We paraphrase the form, so use the statute’s own text when you complete it.
| Question on the form | What it asks | Why it matters in Nassau | What to gather before you list |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | The age of the structure; for houses built before 1978 the form encourages buyers to investigate lead-based paint | About four Nassau homes in five date from before 1970, and the median year built is 1955 (Census Bureau, 2020–2024) | Proof of the year built, and any lead testing you have |
| 9 | Whether certificates of occupancy exist for the property and, if not, to explain | Nassau municipalities issue and publish different certificate documents (next section) | The certificate, any temporary certificate, letter in lieu, or certificate of completion or compliance |
| 10 to 12 | Whether any part of the land falls inside a FEMA floodplain: the Special Flood Hazard Area (100-year) or the 500-year area on FEMA’s present maps | Long Beach is mapped as a flood zone throughout, and the Town of Hempstead warns that a property anywhere in the Town may lie in or beside a Special Flood Hazard Area | The flood-map result for your address, with the date you looked |
| 13 and 14 | Whether federal law requires you to carry flood insurance, and whether you or an earlier owner received federal flood-disaster assistance; the form adds that the insurance requirement passes to all future owners | The Town of Hempstead’s page requires flood insurance on a mortgaged property that lies in a Special Flood Hazard Area | Policy declarations and any assistance letters |
| 16 | Whether a FEMA elevation certificate exists for the house; a copy goes with the form | In a flood zone, major repairs may require raising the house (see the flood section) | The certificate itself |
| 17 | Whether you ever filed a flood-damage claim with any insurer, including the National Flood Insurance Program | FEMA’s file has 9,649 claims in Long Beach, 6,595 in Freeport and 5,385 in Massapequa, against 19 in Garden City | Claim dates, payment records and repair invoices |
| 21 | Any fuel tank now or formerly on the land, above ground or below, plus whether it is in service and whether it ever leaked | Fuel oil heats about 26% of Nassau homes and 80% of those in ZIP 11756 (Levittown) | Tank age and location; removal or closure records |
| 22 and 23 | Whether asbestos is in the structure and whether lead plumbing is present, and where | Older houses are common, and Garden City’s July 2025 notice named lead service lines as the most consistent source of lead in the Village’s water | Any survey, abatement or plumbing records, and what your water supplier has recorded about the service line |
| 30 | Whether there is termite, insect, rodent or pest infestation or damage | A Cornell Cooperative Extension fact sheet from 2003 calls termites the top insect inquiry in Nassau | Treatment contracts and pest-inspection reports |
| 36 | Which kind of sewage system serves the house (public sewer, private sewer, septic tank or cesspool) and, for the last two, how old it is, when it was last pumped and how often | USGS’s 80 percent figure for sewer coverage counts land area, not homes (SIR 2024-5047), so the answer must come from your records | Pumping receipts and any replacement permit |
| 39 | Whether water has entered or damaged the structure through seepage or a natural flood event (heavy rain, storm surge, tidal inundation, river overflow) | Sandy alone accounts for 26,964 flood claims in Nassau | Repair invoices, pump service records, photographs |
The liability rule is short. A seller is liable only for a willful failure to perform the requirements of the article, and for a willful failure the seller owes the buyer’s actual damages (Real Property Law §465). The form itself cautions that a statement known to be false or incomplete can expose the seller to buyer claims, whether made before or after title passes. If you learn that a delivered statement is materially inaccurate, a revised one is due as soon as practicable, and the duty lasts until title passes or the buyer moves in, whichever happens first (§464). The form’s environmental note urges buyers to consider soil and groundwater testing; it is a prompt for the buyer and not a duty for you.
Before 2024, section 465 carried a $500 credit that a seller could give in lieu of the statement. The New York State Bar Association reports that a 2023 amendment, Chapter 484, struck the $500 credit from section 465 as of 20 March 2024; the section now turns on liability for a willful failure. Which rules govern your contract is a question for your attorney.
| Rule | Covers | Leaves out | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property condition disclosure statement | A sale of land with a one-, two-, three- or four-family home that is lived in or has been | Transfers that section 463 carves out (by court order, foreclosure or deed in lieu, fiduciary, between co-owners, to a spouse or lineal relative, in a divorce, to or by government, by a sheriff, or in partition) and homes no one has ever occupied | §461 · §463 |
| Federal lead-based paint disclosure and testing window | A sale of most homes built before 1978, whether privately owned, public, federally owned or federally assisted | Homes built from 1978 on, foreclosure sales, and homes that a certified inspector or risk assessor has found free of lead-based paint | EPA · 40 CFR 745.101 |
| Smoke-alarm compliance affidavit | The deed transfer of a one- or two-family house, or of a condominium or co-op unit | The section we read does not name three- and four-family houses, so put that question to your attorney | Executive Law §378 |
| Carbon monoxide alarm requirement | All one- and two-family homes, regardless of when they were built or sold | A building that has no carbon monoxide source inside it or attached to it | Amanda’s Law rule |
Certificates of occupancy in Nassau: Freeport, Hempstead and what no source says
Question 9 asks whether a certificate of occupancy exists and, if it does not, to explain. In Nassau the paperwork depends on who issued it, because each municipality lists different documents. The table covers the ones we could read, without the fees.
| Municipality | What its published pages list | What a seller can do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Village of Freeport | Four seller-relevant papers on its fee schedule: a title-company letter (which can be a letter in lieu of a certificate of occupancy), a code compliance inspection with a status letter, a 90-day Temporary Certificate of Occupancy that can be renewed, and a separate Certificate of Compliance (Freeport fee schedule) | Ask the Village which of these your house holds, and which it issues when a house is sold |
| Town of Hempstead | A property search, or a certified copy of a certificate of occupancy or completion already on file, and a certificate specifying a legal nonconforming use (fee schedule, printed 2018). Separately, its rental-registration article notes that registering a rental does not legalize occupancy of a pre-1930 structure or one with a letter in lieu (rental registry) | Request a certified copy early and compare it with the house |
| Village of Garden City | A certificate of occupancy search for each legal address, billed as a title search (Garden City fee schedule) | Order the search to see what the Village has on file |
| Town of Oyster Bay | Applicants are told to research the property file themselves for recorded permits and certificates, and a per-file research service is listed (permit sheet · fee schedule) | Do the file research before listing, not after a buyer asks |
| City of Long Beach | Permits and certificates of occupancy both come from its Building Department (Long Beach Building Department) | Ask for the certificate and the permit history |
Here is what no source we read says. Nothing we found makes a certificate of occupancy or a compliance inspection a condition of selling an existing one- or two-family house in any Nassau municipality, and nothing says it is not. The online municipal codes were out of our reach, so we neither claim a resale certificate is required nor call it optional. Your attorney can ask each building department what it requires on a transfer. We hold no verified information on North Hempstead, Glen Cove or the other villages, and we state nothing about them.
Your next steps are the same either way. Order the search or certified copy now; we found no published turnaround time, and the schedule is the municipality’s. Read the certificate against the house: the units it allows, the finished spaces, the garage, the additions. If the house has a second kitchen, a converted garage or a finished attic that the certificate omits, talk to your attorney before you list, because how that is described in a listing and on the form is a legal question. Our report records what is in the house. It does not say what is lawful, and it is no substitute for the certificate.
Flood: the form’s questions, Hempstead’s 50 percent lines and what to gather after a storm
Several of the form’s questions touch flood. Of the 51,523 claims in FEMA’s file for Nassau, 26,964 carry Hurricane Sandy. Claims come only from owners who held a policy and filed, so the count says nothing about your block, but a buyer’s attorney may ask what the form asks, and a clear paper trail answers it.
If the house was damaged and repaired, the Town of Hempstead’s flood page draws two lines at 50 percent. Under half of the affected structure’s replacement value, the Town says, a permit can be issued to rebuild the house as previously approved. At half of market value or more, in a flood zone, the house must meet current State and FEMA construction requirements before a certificate of occupancy issues, which can mean raising it, and the Town points to the federal definition of a substantial improvement for that threshold. Because the page measures one case by replacement value and the other by market value, do not assume which yardstick applies to your repair; ask the Building Department how it values the house.
Oyster Bay adds a paper for flood-zone work outside Area X: a signed and sealed appraisal by a New York State licensed appraiser (permit sheet). Long Beach says its entire city is in a flood zone, nearly all of it the higher-risk AE zone where lenders require insurance (City of Long Beach). On the code edition, Hempstead’s page cites the older 2020 code, but the State’s 2025 Uniform Code governs permit applications from 31 December 2025 (Department of State notice, Cortlandt’s copy); ask which edition governs a repair you are permitting now.
Before listing a flood-zone house, collect the policy declarations, any elevation certificate, the date and payment of each claim, the permits and invoices for each storm repair, and any appraisal filed with a permit. A home inspection covers the foundation, the grade, any visible sign of water penetration and the sump or ejector pump within reach (197-5.4, 5.8, 5.12). It cannot tell you the flood zone or whether a repair met the elevation rules.
Fuel tanks, cesspools and sump pumps: the records a buyer’s inspector asks for
Question 21 asks about tanks above or below ground. Expect the buyer, or the buyer’s bank, to ask too: DEC’s homeowner guide warns that at a sale the lender or the buyer will probably ask for an environmental assessment of the tank or for its removal, that a heating-oil tank retired from use has to be drained, cleaned and cleared of vapors, and that a 275-gallon steel tank was never made to be buried (DEC homeowner guide). The Standards do not have us observe underground tanks, so a report on a house with a buried tank describes what is visible and nothing more. If you have a tank, buried or not, gather its age, its location, any removal or closure paperwork and any oil-delivery or spill history, and if the house has since converted to gas, say whether the old tank stayed. The Levittown and Hicksville page explains why this matters most in the Levitt-era houses.
Question 36 is the cesspool question. The State’s Nassau plan calls a cesspool, or a septic tank feeding leaching rings, the typical onsite system (DEC, Nassau watershed plan), and DEC’s 2025 summary reports a county SEPTIC program that funds replacements and says Point Lookout remains unsewered (DEC summary). What the form wants from you is plain: type, age, last pumping and frequency. Pull the pumping receipts and, if you replaced the system, the permit; Oyster Bay lists sewers, drywells and cesspools among work that needs one (Oyster Bay).
Sump pumps are the third record. USGS finds the water table nearer the surface on the south shore than the north and names basement flooding as the concern where it is shallow in suburban areas (USGS report 2026-5042); our Long Island page explains what that does and does not tell you about a given house. We operate the sump and ejector pumps within reach (197-5.8). A pump that runs, with a service history and a discharge leading away from the foundation, gives you a documented answer to question 39. Test it before the inspection and keep the invoices.
Lead: the federal disclosure, the plumbing question and the repair rule
About four Nassau homes in five predate 1970, so the federal lead-based paint rule reaches most Nassau sellers. It covers most pre-1978 private housing. You must give the buyer EPA’s lead hazard information pamphlet and disclose what you know about lead-based paint, and the buyer is entitled to a 10-day period, unless both sides agree in writing to another, to have a lead-paint inspection or risk assessment done (EPA · 40 CFR 745.107 · 745.110). The rule does not oblige you to test or remove paint, only to disclose what is known, and the seller or agent must keep a signed copy of the disclosures for three years after the sale. Housing built after 1977 and housing tested and found free of lead-based paint fall outside it.
Two other lead questions come up. Question 23 asks about lead plumbing, and Garden City’s July 2025 notice shows why a buyer might ask: the Village reported that over 10 percent of its samples from homes with lead service lines exceeded the lead action level and named those lines as the most consistent source of lead (Garden City notice). If your water supplier has told residents to ask about their service line, find out what it has recorded about yours. And if you repair a pre-1978 house before listing, the federal repair rule requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces to be lead-safe certified, though it generally does not reach an owner working on his or her own home (EPA). Whether lead paint is present is outside what a home inspection determines.
Work built without a permit: decks, garages, cesspools and heating
A buyer’s attorney and inspector notice additions, and the municipalities publish what needs a permit. Oyster Bay’s list includes any raised deck over eight inches above grade, retaining walls of two feet or more, oil and gas tanks and heating units, garage conversions to living space, sewers, drywells and cesspools, and pools 18 inches deep or more (Oyster Bay). Its fee schedule requires a certificate of compliance for residential air conditioning and HVAC units and lists a “Permit to Maintain Existing Structures”, which you should ask the Town about if you have work already built (fee schedule). Its residential worksheet warns that a permit or certificate of occupancy may be delayed until existing unfiled items are filed (permit sheet). Long Beach lists roofs, central heating and air conditioning, and bulkheads or docks, and bars homeowners from doing their own electrical or plumbing work (Long Beach). We did not verify the Town of Hempstead’s permit list and say nothing about it.
Walk your house and yard with that list. For each deck, finished garage, pool, retaining wall, tank, roof and heater, find the permit and the final sign-off, or learn from the building department how it treats work already built, before a buyer’s side finds the gap. Our report notes an addition that looks unusual and how it joins the original house, but the Standards do not let us say whether the work was permitted.
Fix, credit or disclose: a decision table for Nassau findings
Each item on the report from a pre-listing inspection in Nassau County ends up in one of three piles: repair it now, price it into the sale, or tell the buyer about it. Which pile is a decision for you and your attorney, because the contract sets what you owe once the buyer’s inspection is done. The buyer’s side of that negotiation is covered in our guides to the inspection contingency and to mandatory fixes after an inspection.
| Finding | Usual choices | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| An old, buried or unused oil tank | Specialist assessment; document removal or closure; disclose on question 21 | DEC expects a lender or buyer to ask for an assessment or removal at sale |
| A cesspool or septic system of unknown age | Pump and have a specialist inspect; disclose age and last pumping as question 36 asks | The Standards leave it outside the inspection, so the report will not describe it |
| Water in the basement after rain or a storm | Find the source, repair, keep invoices; answer question 39 from what you know | We operate the sump or ejector pump and report visible signs of water penetration |
| A past flood claim or storm repair | Gather the claim, permit and invoice records; ask your attorney how to word a disclosure about a defect that has since been repaired | Hempstead’s 50 percent lines, if the house is in a flood zone |
| A deck, finished garage or other work with no permit | Ask the building department how it handles existing work before you list | The Standards bar us from ruling on permits |
| Lead plumbing or a lead service line | Answer question 23 from what you know; ask your supplier what it has recorded | A lab test of the tap measures a particular house; our report does not |
| Old shingles, floor tile or pipe insulation that may hold asbestos | Leave intact material alone; disclose what you know on question 22 | You cannot tell by looking, and exposure comes from disturbing the material, EPA says |
| A smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm that is missing or dead | Repair or replace it before the first showing | The smoke-alarm affidavit is signed at closing, and the buyer has ten days to report one that does not work |
| A roof, boiler or water heater that is old but working | Credit, price change or disclosure | Estimating how long it will last falls outside the Standards, so the report records condition and nothing more |
Whichever pile you choose, the form is judged against what you knew when you signed it, and a repair does not make earlier knowledge disappear. If the facts change after you deliver the statement, ask your attorney whether a revision is due.
Who may do the repairs
The inspector who writes your report cannot do the work: the licensing law stops an inspector from charging extra to repair, before closing, a house the inspector has reported on. The table covers repairs a Nassau seller is most likely to commission. It summarizes agency pages, and the agencies decide how a rule applies to a given job.
| Work | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mold on more than 10 square feet | The work needs a licensed assessor and, separately, a licensed remediator, who may not begin without the assessor’s assessment. An owner working on his or her own residential property is exempt | NYS Department of Labor |
| Asbestos before renovation, remodeling or repair | The owner must first obtain a survey from a certified New York State Asbestos Inspector, with a copy to the permit-issuing municipality and the Department of Labor; an owner-occupied single-family dwelling is exempt when the homeowner does all the work | NYS Department of Labor |
| Paid work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 house | The firm must be certified lead-safe and use trained staff; an owner working on his or her own home is generally outside the rule | EPA |
Timing a pre-listing inspection in Nassau County, and using the report
There is no statutory timetable for any of this, but the steps depend on one another, so the order below saves rework:
- Start with the municipality: request the search or certified copy and the permit history, and expect to wait on its schedule.
- While you wait, pull together the flood, tank, cesspool and pump paperwork described above.
- Make the electrical panel, water heater, boiler, attic access and basement reachable, then book. The report comes within five business days, so ask for a delivery date at booking.
- Go through the findings with your attorney, item by item: repair, price in or disclose.
- Use licensed trades for the repairs, and file permits, invoices and sign-offs together.
- For a house built before 1978, assemble the lead disclosure and EPA’s pamphlet ahead of the contract, and keep the signed copy for three years after the sale.
- Complete the disclosure statement from what you know and deliver it before the buyer signs; if the facts change, send a revision.
- Check the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms before closing, when the affidavit is due.
Whether a buyer ever sees the report is your call, since it is confidential and the inspector cannot release it without your consent. Have your attorney review whichever choice you make, and keep the report and your answers on the form consistent. Our guide to reading an inspection report explains how a report is laid out.
Nassau sellers in special positions
Executors, trustees and other fiduciaries
An executor or other fiduciary may fall within one of section 463’s exemptions from the statement, since fiduciary transfers are on its list (Real Property Law §463); your attorney decides whether your transfer does. Even then, a report tells a fiduciary who is new to the house what condition it is in, and buyers remain free to inspect.
A Levitt-era house with oil heat
In ZIP 11756 (Levittown) 80% of homes burn oil, and the original Levitt houses stood on slabs with heating pipes in the floor. The tank, the boiler and any conversion records matter more there than anything else on the form. The Levittown and Hicksville page sets them out, and our oil tank guide describes the search for a buried tank.
Frequently asked questions
What if I cannot find my Nassau house’s certificate of occupancy?
Ask the municipality that issued your permits for a certified copy or a search of the file, and ask your attorney what to say on question 9, which asks you to explain if none exists. We found no source that makes a certificate a condition of sale, and none that says it is not.
Do I have to disclose that my house took water in Hurricane Sandy?
The form asks whether water has entered or damaged the structure through seepage or a natural flood event, and whether you ever filed a flood claim. Answer from your own knowledge, and ask your attorney how to word damage you have already repaired.
Is the $500 credit option still available to Nassau sellers?
No. The New York State Bar Association reports that Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023 removed the $500 credit from section 465 effective 20 March 2024. Your attorney can tell you which rules govern your contract.
What do I tell buyers about an old oil tank in the yard?
Answer question 21 truthfully: whether a tank is there or ever was, whether it is in use and whether it leaked. Gather its age and any removal or closure paperwork. A home inspection cannot see a buried tank.
Does the federal lead-paint rule apply to my Nassau house?
If it is private housing built before 1978, almost certainly, unless the sale is at foreclosure or the house was tested and found free of lead-based paint. You give the buyer EPA’s pamphlet and disclose what you know, and the buyer has 10 days to test unless both sides agree otherwise in writing.
If I only repaired a flood-zone house, does Hempstead’s 50 percent line matter to my sale?
It shapes what a buyer’s side may ask about repairs you made. Gather the permits and ask the Building Department which yardstick it applied, replacement value or market value.
Can I sell my Nassau house “as is” without a pre-listing inspection?
Yes. The statute lets the parties agree to an as-is sale and says a seller has no duty to investigate or inspect. You still deliver the disclosure statement unless your transfer is exempt.
Can I keep my pre-listing report private?
Yes. The report is yours, and the inspector may not release it without your express consent. That does not change your separate duty to deliver the disclosure statement, so take your attorney’s advice on what to share.
About the figures on this page
- Heating-fuel and year-built shares come from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–2024 five-year estimates, for Nassau County and ZIP 11756. They are survey estimates, so we round.
- Flood-claim counts are from the flood-insurance claims file on OpenFEMA, version 3, grouped by each claim’s ZIP and FEMA’s event label; they cover insured losses only.
- The form questions are paraphrased from the statutory form in Real Property Law §462; the numbering follows the form as we read it. Municipal fee schedules are listed without amounts, and the Hempstead schedule is a 2018 printing.
- We read every statute, rule and agency page cited here in October 2026. Each can change, so verify the current text with your attorney.
Booking the visit before you list
Have the address ready, with the number of units and what you know about any oil tank, the sewage system and the sump pump. From that we can say where we would start and how to get into each unit.
You can find our New York State license number at the foot of every page, and this guide shows how to check it. The systems a pre-listing visit covers are listed in our guide to a New York home inspection. Nassau is one of the counties we cover, along with Suffolk, the five boroughs and Westchester.
Questions before you list? Call 718-925-7071.