An RV inspection checklist covers two vehicles at once. There is a chassis with an engine, brakes, suspension and tyres, and there is a house on top of it with a roof, seals, plumbing, propane, twelve and hundred and ten volt electrical systems, appliances and a fresh and waste water system. That is why a motorhome walk runs to something like four times the points of a car multi-point and why an inspector who prices it like a car inspection loses money on every one.
The coach systems, which are where the expensive findings are
Roof membrane and every seal and sealant on it, sidewall and window seals, delamination, the slide rooms and their seals and mechanisms, the propane system and its regulator and appliances, the twelve volt and shore power systems and the converter or inverter, the fresh, grey and black water systems, the water heater, furnace, air conditioning and refrigerator, and the floor for soft spots. Water intrusion found here is the finding that changes a purchase decision, and it is the reason a pre-purchase RV inspection exists at all.
The chassis systems, which look like a car and are not
Tyres by age as well as by tread, because an RV tyre usually times out years before it wears out, and a date code is a point on the sheet. Brakes, suspension, steering, exhaust and fluids as on any vehicle, plus the tow and hitch arrangement, the breakaway system and the trailer brakes on a towable, and weights against the plated ratings, which is the point most owners have never had checked.
Why the walk takes as long as it does, and how to price it
Ninety odd points across two systems, many of them requiring a ladder onto a roof or a crawl underneath, is a half day rather than twenty minutes. An inspector charging by the job needs to know the hours it actually takes; a shop adding RV work to a bay needs to know what it is displacing. The free checklist on this site takes the point count and the minutes and gives the cost of the walk against what it finds, with the RV option carrying a higher default point count for exactly this reason.
Pre-purchase, seasonal and annual walks are the same sheet at different depths
A pre-purchase inspection for a buyer, a spring de-winterising check and an annual owner walk cover the same systems; what changes is how much is opened up, whether appliances are run through a full cycle and whether the roof is walked. Running one sheet with a depth setting keeps the findings comparable year on year, which is what makes the record worth keeping.
Questions people ask about rv inspection checklist
Is an RV inspection the same as a dealer's pre-delivery inspection?
No. A pre-delivery inspection is the selling dealer preparing a unit for handover. An RV inspection is a walk carried out for the buyer or the owner, by someone who is not selling them the unit, against a published standard of practice. They cover different ground and answer to different people.
How many points should an RV inspection checklist have?
Enough to cover both the coach and the chassis, which in practice means somewhere near a hundred rather than the twenty odd on a car multi-point. Set your own count on the sheet and put it into the checklist with your real minutes; the seconds-a-point figure will tell you quickly whether the count is honest.
What is the finding that matters most on an RV?
Water. Roof and seal failures, delamination and soft floors are the findings that cost thousands and that a buyer cannot see, and they are the reason the roof and every seal are their own section on the sheet rather than a line in a general exterior check.
Do RV inspectors work to a standard?
Certified inspectors work to the NRVIA standards of practice, which set out what a walk covers and what an inspector reports. A shop building its own sheet is not bound by them, and reading them is still the fastest way to find the systems your sheet has left out.