---
type: "Bill"
title: "Home inspectors."
description: "Existing law regulates a person who performs certain home inspections for a fee in connection with a transfer of real property. Existing law provides that it is the duty of a home inspector who is not licensed as a general contractor, structural pest control operator, or architect, or registered as a professional engineer to conduct a home inspection with the degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "SB 988"
citation: "California SB 988 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Home inspectors."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Galgiani"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-02-05"
last_action: "2018-08-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1f1f739f-3793-4720-8048-29b3e0d38a85"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988"
source_hash: "4d05fdffabfd226b191d676b74b7144890391776215fc9b766dbc17ae70256f5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 988 (20172018) — Home inspectors.

Existing law regulates a person who performs certain home inspections for a fee in connection with a transfer of real property. Existing law provides that it is the duty of a home inspector who is not licensed as a general contractor, structural pest control operator, or architect, or registered as a professional engineer to conduct a home inspection with the degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/05/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988&version=20170SB98899INT)
2. **05/03/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988&version=20170SB98898AMD)
3. **08/27/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988&version=20170SB98896CHP)
4. **SB988** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988)
5. **08/10/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB988&version=20170SB98897ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **14–2** (pass) · lower
- SB 988 Galgiani Senate Third Reading By ARAMBULA — **59–5** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Galgiani — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-05** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-06** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 8.
- **2018-02-14** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-20** Set for hearing April 2.
- **2018-04-02** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 4496.) (April 2). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-04-03** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-05-03** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2018-05-03** Ordered to second reading.
- **2018-05-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-05-10** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 5007.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-05-10** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2018-05-17** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-12** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 2.) (June 12). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-06-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 59. Noes 5. Page 6216.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-09** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2018-08-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2018-08-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-08-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 225, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1f1f739f-3793-4720-8048-29b3e0d38a85`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).