WDO Inspection
What is WDO Inspection?
A WDO inspection is a visual inspection of a structure for wood-destroying organisms, written up by a licensed operator on a state-prescribed report. It is most often ordered as a condition of a property sale or loan. Florida statute defines a wood-destroying organism as "arthropod or plant life which damages and can reinfest seasoned wood in a structure, namely termites, powder-post beetles, oldhouse borers, and wood-decaying fungi." California's Structural Pest Control Act shows the shape of the report: the inspector covers named structural areas, separates "the infestation or infection that is evident" from "the conditions that are present that are deemed likely to lead to infestation or infection," and must give an "indication or description of any areas that are inaccessible or not inspected." It is an observation of accessible areas on one day, not a guarantee.
A WDO inspection sits at the point where pest control meets a real estate closing, which is why it is regulated more tightly than an ordinary service call. Who may perform it, which form the findings go on, and what the report must disclose are set by the state, so the same job is described differently in Florida than in California. The scope is visual and limited to what the inspector can reach: California’s statute requires the report to carry an “indication or description of any areas that are inaccessible or not inspected with recommendation for further inspection if practicable,” which is the sentence that keeps an inspection honest about crawlspaces, finished basements, and stored contents.
What gets reported is two separate things. There is evidence of current or past infestation or damage, and there are conducive conditions, the earth-to-wood contacts, excessive moisture, and roof leaks that make an infestation likely later. California requires those to be distinguished in the report, and the organisms in scope are the ones the statutes name: Florida defines a wood-destroying organism as “arthropod or plant life which damages and can reinfest seasoned wood in a structure, namely termites, powder-post beetles, oldhouse borers, and wood-decaying fungi.” Record them field by field with the WDO and termite inspection worksheet so nothing is left to memory on the drive back.
Commercially, the inspection is a small-ticket job with real liability attached, and it is usually the first contact with a customer who may need treatment next. Price the visit on access, crawl conditions, structure size, and report time with the WDO inspection pricing calculator, and treat it as the opening of the termite conversation rather than the end of it. Treatment options, from trenching to baiting, are collected in the termite and WDO treatment guide, and the warranty that often follows a clean or treated report is a bond plan.
Everything downstream of the visit, the work order, the report, and any treatment record, should describe the same structure and the same date. The rest of the trade’s estimating math is on the pest control hub.