Hello everyone. Welcome to today's Tuesday tip. I'm Mary Celone. Today we're talking about NSPIRE.


If you'll remember, HUD issued notice H2025-06 back at the end of September 2025. And it talked about items that did not previously count for scoring on NSPIRE inspections. It said that they would start counting in the final scores on October 1st, 2026. So now that we're a month in, let's do a quick check-in and make sure your property is ready for its next inspection.

So, first, let's just review exactly what we're talking about with this notice. When NSPIRE was rolled out, the scoring notice mentioned new affirmative requirements. These were standards that were not covered under UPCS standards. So they were brand new with NSPIRE. And understanding that it would take properties some time to meet these standards had actually delayed scoring on these new items when NSPIRE was first implemented.

So properties still received deficiencies for these items. They had to be fixed still, but they weren't made part of the official final score. They were part of a projected score, just to let you know exactly what the scoring would have been if these had counted. So scoring for the new affirmative requirements was pushed out, but it was finally implemented for multifamily housing programs on 10-126, meaning these are scored items now.


So let's go over now what those items are. And of course, you'll want to refer to the NSPIRE Scoring Notice and HUDS NSPIRE resources for full details on all of these. And you can find those links on the blog on Navigate's website. But for now, here are the items that were previously unscored that now count towards your final inspire score as of 10, 126.


The first is fire label doors. All potential defects of fire label doors in all locations of the properties will now be scored.

GFCI outlets will now be scored for an unprotected outlet within six feet of a water source.

And guardrails, like fire labeled doors, will be scored for all potential deficiencies in all property locations. As for HVAC standards, the previously unscored HVAC standards all apply to heating and actually depend on the dates of the inspection. So if the inspection is between October 1st and March 31st, deficiencies will now be scored if a permanent heating source is not working.

Or if it is working, but the interior heat is below 67.9 degrees. And there's a different finding if it's below 64 degrees as well. If the inspection is between April 1st and September 30th, though, the deficiency for a missing, damaged, or inoperable permanent heating source is now scored as well.


For interior lighting, it will now be scored if there is not at least one permanent light fixture in the kitchen and bathroom. And minimum lighting and outlets will be scored as well. Now, this is the requirement for at least two working outlets per room, or one working outlet and one permanent light fixture per room.

We wish you luck on your next inspection. Please let us know if you have any questions on these items. We're happy to help. And let us know if you have any other suggestions for future Tuesday tips. Take care, everyone, and we will see you next week.