Two agencies, two licences, two reports
Buyers routinely assume the termite inspection is part of the home inspection. It is not, and the reason is not scheduling convenience — it is that the two documents are produced under entirely different regulatory regimes.
The home inspection is regulated by TREC under 22 TAC Chapter 535, and its Standards of Practice state plainly that inspectors are not required to determine the presence of pests. That exclusion sits alongside asbestos, lead paint and mould, and exists because each is a separate discipline with its own licensing.
The termite report is regulated by the Texas Department of Agriculture through its Structural Pest Control Service. The document is the Texas Official Wood Destroying Insect Report, on form SPCS/T-5, and the procedures for performing it are codified at 4 TAC §7.175, “Official Wood Destroying Insect Report Inspection Procedures.” Different code, different title, different agency.
Who may perform one: only a certified applicator or a technician licensed by TDA in the termite control category. Apprentices may assist for training purposes but may not independently conduct the inspection. And the consequential part for a buyer: a TREC inspector licence does not authorise a WDI report. Many Texas inspectors hold both credentials and can do both in one visit, which is convenient and entirely legitimate — but it is two licences, not one, and it is worth confirming rather than assuming.
So the question to ask when you book is not “do you check for termites,” which invites a vague answer. It is: “are you licensed by TDA in the termite control category, and will I receive a form T-5?” If not, you need a second provider and a second appointment, inside the same option period.
What the T-5 report actually covers
The Official Wood Destroying Insect Report is a structured document with defined content. It covers the structures requested for inspection — the residence, and where requested the garage, fences and other structures on the property — and it reports:
- Evidence of active infestation — live insects, frass and other current indicators.
- Evidence of previous infestation — the traces left behind by activity that is no longer present.
- Visible evidence of previous treatment.
- Conducive conditions — wood rot, excessive moisture, insufficient ventilation, and wood-to-ground contact.
- Inaccessible or obstructed areas that limited the inspection.
- Treatment recommendations and warranties, where applicable.
Note the deliberate separation of the first three items. Active infestation, previous infestation and previous treatment are three different findings occupying three different places on the form, and conflating them is the most common way a buyer misreads a WDI report. Evidence of past activity that has been treated is a different fact from live insects in the structure today, and the form is built to keep them apart because they lead to different decisions.
Attics and crawlspaces must be inspected where they are accessible — which is exactly where a subterranean termite problem in a pier and beam house tends to be visible, and exactly where a report that skipped them is least useful.
What it does not cover
The limits are as important as the coverage, and they are less well known.
It is not a structural evaluation. This is the biggest gap between what buyers expect and what the document provides. A WDI report identifies evidence of wood-destroying insects and conditions conducive to them. It does not tell you whether a damaged member has lost load-bearing capacity, whether repair is required, or what the structural consequence is. Damage assessment is a different question requiring a different professional, and on a load-bearing element that usually means a Texas-licensed professional engineer rather than a pest control operator.
It does not have to catalogue every inaccessible area. Inaccessible areas need not be listed unless they actually prevented a thorough inspection. So the absence of a note about a particular space does not establish that the space was examined.
It is not a guarantee of absence. Subterranean termites work below grade and inside wood. A report says what visible evidence existed on the day, in the accessible areas, at the structures requested. That is a genuinely useful thing, and it is not the same thing as certainty.
It does not overlap with the TREC inspection. A home inspector who observes moisture damage, deteriorated wood or wood-to-soil contact may report it as a condition, since those are within their scope. That is not a WDI finding and does not substitute for the T-5.
Why North Texas houses are conducive by construction
Subterranean termites are endemic in North Texas, and the dominant local construction type gives them a straightforward route in.
A slab-on-grade house sits in direct contact with soil at the slab edge. That interface is continuous around the perimeter of the building, it is largely concealed behind landscaping, and it is where soil, moisture and structure meet. Add the landscaping practice that is close to universal here — beds against the house, mulch against the beds, irrigation running into them — and you have assembled, without intending to, most of the conducive conditions the T-5 form is designed to record.
Two findings to watch for, both ordinary and both worth correcting:
- Mulch or soil built up against the slab edge or over the siding. This raises grade against the structure, holds moisture at the perimeter, and where it covers brick weep holes it defeats the drainage path the wall depends on.
- Wood-to-ground contact. Fence posts against siding, deck framing set into soil, planter boxes built against the house, trim carried down to grade. Each is a bridge.
The genuine tension: foundation watering versus termite risk
Here is the conflict nobody in either trade tends to mention, because each trade only sees half of it.
On Blackland Prairie clay, keeping soil moisture around the foundation stable is the single most effective thing a homeowner can do to limit differential slab movement. Texas A&M AgriLife’s guidance on protecting foundations under dry conditions recommends soaker hoses, planting around the foundation so roots stabilise the soil and foliage shades it, and maintaining a two to four inch mulch layer to slow evaporation.
Every one of those measures adds moisture and organic material at the perimeter of a slab-on-grade house. Which is, from a termite’s point of view, an improvement.
The resolution is not to choose. It is technique, and AgriLife’s own guidance already contains most of it:
- Keep soaker hoses 8 to 18 inches away from the foundation, running at low pressure for several hours rather than at high pressure briefly. This wets the soil that matters without saturating the slab edge itself.
- Keep mulch to a 2 to 4 inch layer, and do not cover the foundation with it. AgriLife says this explicitly and gives pests as the reason. Mulch is for the bed, not for the slab edge and not against siding.
- Install a backflow preventer before connecting a soaker hose to a faucet — a plumbing requirement that has nothing to do with termites and everything to do with not contaminating your own supply.
- Water consistently rather than heavily. The failure mode homeowners actually create is inconsistency — soaking one side of the house and not another, or stopping entirely for a month in August. Differential moisture produces differential movement, which is worse than uniform dryness.
- Watch the gap between soil and foundation. A visible separation is a moisture indicator, and it is also a route.
Done this way, the foundation gets stable moisture at the depth that matters while the slab edge stays comparatively dry and uncovered. Care in the placement of a hose and the depth of a mulch bed resolves what looks like a contradiction.
How to read a WDI report without over-reacting
This is where the honest reading matters, because a termite report is one of the few documents in a transaction that can panic a buyer entirely on its own.
Read which box is checked, not the word termite. The form distinguishes active infestation, previous infestation and previous treatment for a reason. A house with evidence of previous infestation and visible evidence of previous treatment is a house where a problem was found and dealt with. That is a maintenance history, not an active condition, and it is a different transaction from a house with live insects in the structure today.
Conducive conditions are correctable, and most of them are landscaping. Mulch against the slab, a shrub touching siding, a downspout discharging at the foundation, a planter box built against the house. These appear on reports constantly, they are worth fixing, and they are almost never a reason to reconsider a purchase. They are yard work with a licence attached.
Damage evidence is a different question from insect evidence. If the report notes damaged wood in a structural location, the WDI report has done its job by finding it and has reached its limit by not evaluating it. What you need next is someone qualified to assess the structural consequence, and on a load-bearing member that is an engineer.
Distinguish what the report says from what the treatment quote says. A pest control company that performs the inspection and also sells the treatment is in the same structural position as a foundation repair company that offers a free evaluation. That does not make anyone dishonest, and the treatment may well be warranted. It does mean the recommendation and the evaluation are coming from the same party, and it is reasonable to get a second opinion on a substantial treatment recommendation — particularly a preventive one on a report with no active finding.
The last of those is the one buyers get oversold on most often: a perimeter treatment proposed on the strength of conducive conditions alone, in a region where conducive conditions are the default state of nearly every slab house with a flowerbed. Sometimes that treatment is a sensible precaution. It is not an emergency, and it is not a condition of the sale unless somebody makes it one.
Practical sequencing, and where to read the source documents
Because it is a separate licence and a separate appointment, the WDI report quietly consumes option-period days. Ask when you book the general inspection whether your inspector holds the TDA termite licence — if so, it can usually be arranged for the same visit. If not, you are booking a second provider on a clock already running.
Lenders and loan programmes sometimes require a WDI report as a condition of the loan, and those requirements change; confirm what your specific lender and loan programme require rather than assuming, and confirm it early enough that the report is not the last item holding up a file.
The source documents are public and short. TDA publishes the T-5 report form and the accompanying instructions for completing it, and the inspection procedures are set out at 4 TAC §7.175. Reading the blank form before you receive a completed one takes about ten minutes and makes the completed one far easier to interpret.
Common questions
Is a termite inspection included in a Texas home inspection?
No. TREC’s Standards of Practice state that inspectors are not required to determine the presence of pests, alongside asbestos, lead paint, mould and other environmental hazards. The termite report is a separate document — the Texas Official Wood Destroying Insect Report, form SPCS/T-5 — administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture under a separate licence. Many inspectors hold both credentials and perform both in one visit, but it is two engagements, not one.
Who is allowed to perform a WDI report in Texas?
Only a certified applicator or a technician licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture in the termite control category. Apprentices may assist for training purposes but may not independently conduct the inspection. A TREC inspector licence does not by itself authorise a WDI report, so ask directly whether the person holds the TDA termite licence and whether you will receive a form T-5.
Does evidence of previous termite activity mean I should walk away?
Usually not, and the form is built to help you tell the difference. Active infestation, previous infestation and visible previous treatment are three distinct findings in three distinct places on the T-5. Evidence of past activity accompanied by evidence of treatment describes a problem that was identified and addressed, which is a maintenance history rather than a current condition. What matters more is whether structural damage was noted, and that question needs an engineer rather than a pest control operator.
Does mulch around the foundation cause termite problems?
Mulch against the foundation can create conducive conditions, but the answer is placement rather than removal. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends a two to four inch mulch layer to reduce evaporation and help stabilise foundation soil moisture, and explicitly says not to cover the foundation itself, giving pests as the reason. Keep mulch in the bed and off the slab edge and siding, keep soaker hoses 8 to 18 inches out from the foundation, and both objectives are satisfied at once.
Will a WDI report tell me whether there is structural damage?
No. The report identifies evidence of wood-destroying insects, previous treatment and conducive conditions. It is expressly not a structural evaluation, so it will not tell you whether a damaged member has lost load-bearing capacity or what repair is required. If damaged wood is noted in a structural location, the next step is evaluation by a Texas-licensed professional engineer, not a larger treatment quote.