Glossary, 58 terms
Home inspection terms: E
Each definition is the Key Term from the lesson named under it. Where two lessons define a term for different uses, both are here.
- Easing
- A curved handrail piece that joins two handrails running in different directions into one continuous run.
Lesson 18A, Stairs, Ramps, Handrails and Guards - Eaves
- 1. The rafters where they extend past the exterior wall.
Lesson 4A, Exterior Scope and Terms, Adhered Masonry Veneer, Metal and Asbestos Cement Siding and Brick Veneer - 2. The part of the rafters that extends past the exterior wall of a house.
Lesson 4C, Exterior Trim, Flashing and Sealants, Eaves and Cornice - 3. The rafters extended past a building's exterior wall.
Lesson 11A, Structural Scope and Terms - Eaves trough
- A regional name for the gutter.
Lesson 9C, Roof Drainage: Gutters, Scuppers and Internal Drains - EBPHI (Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors)
- The independent, not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1999, that offers the NHIE.
Lesson 1, Course Introduction and NHIE Overview - Economic Loss Rule
- A rule that may bar a negligence claim whose damages are solely monetary.
Lesson 21A, Business Law, Claims and Liability - Edison base fuse (Type T)
- An older fuse that threads into a round holder, with the same base size for every rating.
Lesson 24B, Overcurrent Protection, GFCI and AFCI - Effective length
- The length of a duct as increased by its bends; a 90 degree bend adds as much as 20 feet.
Lesson 29, Air Distribution Systems, Ducts, Returns and Filters - Effluent
- The liquid that leaves a septic tank.
Lesson 38D, Septic Systems - EGC
- Equipment grounding conductor; in a subpanel it is isolated from the neutral conductors.
Lesson 24A, Service Equipment, Enclosures and Panelboards - Egress door
- A side-hinged door, reachable from every part of the house, that opens straight outside and not through the garage.
Lesson 42, Life Safety Systems: Egress, Fire Separation, Alarms and Sprinklers - EIFS
- 1. A wall covering, the Exterior Insulation and Finish System, that resembles stucco but is not stucco.
Lesson 4A, Exterior Scope and Terms, Adhered Masonry Veneer, Metal and Asbestos Cement Siding and Brick Veneer - 2. The Exterior Insulation and Finish System, a proprietary wall covering made to resemble stucco; it is not stucco.
Lesson 4B, Fiber Cement, Hardboard, Insulbrick, Stucco, EIFS, Vinyl, Wood and Wood Structural Panel Siding - Elastomeric compression gasket
- A gasket seated in a cast iron hub that the spigot seals against.
Lesson 37A, DWV Rules and Pipe Materials - Elbow
- 1. A supply pipe fitting that turns the flow, named by its degrees.
Lesson 34A, Plumbing Scope and Plumbing Terms - 2. A common name for a bend in DWV work; properly a water supply fitting.
Lesson 37B, DWV Fittings, Cleanouts and Defects - Electric resistance heating
- Heating in which electricity flowing through a wire makes the wire hot by resistance.
Lesson 33A, Electric Heating Systems - Electric vehicle
- In the 2023 NEC, an on-road automobile, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, or neighborhood electric vehicle driven mainly by an electric motor; golf carts, boats, tractors, and lifts are excluded.
Lesson 27C, Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (Supplement) - Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)
- Equipment that transfers energy from the premises wiring to an electric vehicle or back, made up of its conductors, plugs, connectors, outlets, devices, and a personnel protection system.
Lesson 27C, Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (Supplement) - Electrical metallic tubing (EMT)
- A round steel or aluminum pipe that routes and protects conductors and cables; also called thin wall.
Lesson 25A, Wiring Methods, Cables and Raceways - Electrical nonmetallic tubing (ENT)
- A flexible corrugated tube, usually PVC, that routes and protects conductors and cables.
Lesson 25A, Wiring Methods, Cables and Raceways - Electrocution
- Injury when contact with an energized part puts a person in the circuit.
Lesson 24B, Overcurrent Protection, GFCI and AFCI - Electrolysis
- Corrosion caused by an electric current induced from outside, a term frequently used for galvanic corrosion.
Lesson 34B, Pipe Supports, Copper, CPVC, Galvanized Steel and PEX - Electronic expansion valve (EEV)
- A metering device that may be used in higher efficiency units and gives better control of refrigerant flow into the evaporator coil.
Lesson 28A, Cooling Systems: Understanding the System - Electronically commutated motor (ECM)
- The more efficient variable speed fan motor, paired with two stage or modulating gas valves in high efficiency systems.
Lesson 31A, Gas Appliance Categories and Gas Forced-Air Furnaces - Emergency escape and rescue opening (escape opening)
- 1. A window or door that lets occupants out and rescue personnel in during an emergency.
Lesson 5B, Windows, Window Flashing, Glazing, Window Wells, Escape Openings and Fall Protection - 2. A window or door that lets occupants get out in an emergency and rescue personnel get in.
Lesson 42, Life Safety Systems: Egress, Fire Separation, Alarms and Sprinklers - Emissivity
- The ability of an object to emit infrared radiation; the lower it is, the greater the chance an infrared temperature reading is wrong.
Lesson 20, Inspection Tools and the Inspection Process - Enclosure (electrical)
- The case or cabinet that houses a panelboard and keeps people from touching energized parts.
Lesson 23A, Electrical Terms and Basic Electricity - End lap
- The short vertical lap where one sheet ends and the next begins.
Lesson 9B, Low Slope Roofing: Modified Bitumen, Foam and EPDM - Energized conductor
- The hot wire, which carries current from the source to the load.
Lesson 23A, Electrical Terms and Basic Electricity - Energy recovery ventilation (ERV)
- A designed and controlled ventilation system whose exhaust components are not in scope for condition or adequacy.
Lesson 14A, Insulation Scope and Terms, R-Value and How Insulation Works - Energy Recovery Ventilation System (ERV)
- A whole house ventilation unit that transfers heat and some moisture between incoming and outgoing air.
Lesson 16A, Mechanical Ventilation, HRV and ERV, Whole-House Fans - Energy source
- The fuel or energy a heating system uses, and a basis for classifying heating systems.
Lesson 30, Heating Fundamentals, Combustion and Capacity - Engineered wood
- A floor covering of wood layers set at 90 degree angles to each other under a natural wood top layer.
Lesson 17B, Interior Doors and Floor Coverings - Engineered wood siding (composite wood siding)
- A name sometimes used for newer versions of hardboard siding.
Lesson 4B, Fiber Cement, Hardboard, Insulbrick, Stucco, EIFS, Vinyl, Wood and Wood Structural Panel Siding - Environmental hazards
- An open category of conditions outside home inspection scope, including asbestos, lead, fungi (mold), animals, and air and water quality.
Lesson 19E, Inspection Limitation Statements and Other Report Contents - EPDM
- Ethylene propylene diene terpolymer, the thermoset single ply membrane used most in residential construction.
Lesson 9B, Low Slope Roofing: Modified Bitumen, Foam and EPDM - Equalizer
- The CO2-filled tube and sensor bulb of a TXV, which detects evaporator coil pressure changes and opens or closes the valve.
Lesson 28A, Cooling Systems: Understanding the System - Equalizer pipe
- A pipe joining the steam supply to the wet return so that the pressure in both is equal.
Lesson 33C, Steam Heating Systems and Distribution Piping - Equipment grounding conductor (EGC)
- 1. A bonding conductor, bare or insulated green, that gives metal equipment a ground fault current path.
Lesson 23A, Electrical Terms and Basic Electricity - 2. A bonding wire in electrical cable that gives metal parts, such as switch plates and equipment cabinets, a low resistance return path; outside the grounding system.
Lesson 23B, Grounding, Bonding and the Electrical Service - 3. The conductor that a GFCI does not use to detect a ground fault.
Lesson 24B, Overcurrent Protection, GFCI and AFCI - 4. A conductor that connects metal parts to the grounding system.
Lesson 24C, Panelboard Defects, Subpanels and Problem Panels; Lesson 25A, Wiring Methods, Cables and Raceways; Lesson 25B, Older Wiring: Knob and Tube, Cloth NM and Aluminum; Lesson 26B, Switches, Lights and Ceiling Fans - 5. The grounding conductor that receptacles, switches, metal boxes, and metal face plates connect to.
Lesson 26A, Receptacles - Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance
- Insurance that pays the client for damage from a defect the home inspector did not properly report; also called professional liability insurance.
Lesson 21B, Contracts and Insurance - Errors and omissions insurance (E&O)
- Insurance under which the insurance company defends claims against a home inspector and pays costs above the deductible.
Lesson 21A, Business Law, Claims and Liability - Ethics
- The standards or rules that govern how a person, or the members of a profession, conduct themselves.
Lesson 22, Ethics, Starting a Business and Marketing - EV charging port (charger)
- The part of a charging station that serves a single vehicle at once, however many connectors it has.
Lesson 27C, Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (Supplement) - Evaporative (swamp) cooler
- 1. A cooling system that pulls air through water-soaked media; once common in dry western climates, it has usually been replaced by central air conditioning.
Lesson 28A, Cooling Systems: Understanding the System - 2. An appliance that cools air by pulling it with a fan through wet media; most effective at low humidity.
Lesson 28B, Cooling Systems: Inspecting Equipment and Typical Defects - Evaporator coil
- The coil in a heat pump air handler, or downstream of the combustion chamber on a furnace, that should not sit ahead of the combustion chamber because its moist air may damage the furnace.
Lesson 28A, Cooling Systems: Understanding the System - Evaporator panel (pad)
- A humidifier part that needs periodic replacement.
Lesson 33E, Steam Boiler Components, Solid Fuel and Related Components - Evidence-based (defect)
- 1. A defect category for an adverse impact visible now, whether or not its reason is known.
Lesson 12A, Floor Framing, Spans, Bearing, Notching and Boring - 2. A defect with a visible adverse impact, whether or not its reason is known.
Lesson 12D, Wood Wall Framing, Bracing and Wall Defects - 3. A defect with a visible adverse impact, whether or not its reason has been identified.
Lesson 13B, Roof Framing Defects, Trusses and Attic Access - Exchange cylinder
- A small propane container, 25 gallons or less, that serves one or two appliances.
Lesson 38H, Gas Meters, Regulators, Sizing, Leak Detection and Propane Tanks - Exhaust
- Air mechanically removed from one location, as by a bathroom or kitchen exhaust fan or a clothes dryer.
Lesson 28A, Cooling Systems: Understanding the System - Exhaust hood (vent)
- An appliance over a range or cooktop that removes or filters cooking odors and moisture.
Lesson 41A, Appliance Scope and Terms, Cooktops, Ranges, Ovens and Dishwashers - Expanded polystyrene (EPS)
- Foam insulation of white beads stuck together, sold as sheets and as loose fill.
Lesson 14C, Insulation Materials - Expansion joint (movement joint)
- A joint in brick veneer left free of mortar and filled with backer rod and sealant, to take up expansion and movement.
Lesson 4A, Exterior Scope and Terms, Adhered Masonry Veneer, Metal and Asbestos Cement Siding and Brick Veneer - Expansion tank
- A tank near the boiler that takes up part of the volume heated water gains by compressing the air it holds.
Lesson 33B, Hot Water Heating Systems - Expansive clays
- A type of unstable soil that water can make expand and contract.
Lesson 2B, Grade, Drainage and Vegetation - Expected service life
- How long a system or component can be expected to last.
Lesson 19C, Deficient Conditions, Service Life and Imminent Threats - Exposure
- The length of a shingle or shake left open to the weather.
Lesson 8C, Steep Slope Roofing: Slate, Polymer, Wood and Ice Dams - Extension spring
- The less common garage door spring type, with two springs, each over one horizontal track.
Lesson 7, Garage Vehicle Doors and Operators - External toilet parts
- The flush handle, the tank, and the bowl.
Lesson 35D, Toilets and Bidets - Extruded polystyrene (XPS)
- Foam sheet insulation, usually pink, blue, or green by manufacturer.
Lesson 14C, Insulation Materials - Eyebrow window
- The usual name for an oval window.
Lesson 5B, Windows, Window Flashing, Glazing, Window Wells, Escape Openings and Fall Protection
Try the question style
Answer 20 practice questions from 17 of the 19 tasks on the outline. No email needed.
Not ready for that yet? Get the free NHIE study guide, a printable checklist of all 19 outline tasks, by email.