Florida WDO Inspection Requirements

One table, every transaction type. “Required” means the deal cannot close without it; details and source links follow below.

The VA lists Florida for the entire state on its wood-destroying insect requirements page (VA local requirements, benefits.va.gov). VA policy treats the pest inspection report as a Minimum Property Requirement in moderate-to-heavy and very heavy termite-probability areas — which covers Florida — and repairs it triggers must be finished before the loan closes (VA Circular 26-22-11).

• The form: the inspector files the report on Florida’s form FDACS-13645 — HUD reference guidance lists Florida among the states with their own mandated form, where the national NPMA-33 is not required (HUD HOC reference guide).
• Validity: VA guidance treats wood-destroying insect reports as valid for 90 days (VA SAR training, benefits.va.gov) — order it so the report is fresh at closing, not at contract.
• Who pays: since Circular 26-22-11 (June 2022, in effect as of July 2026), the veteran may pay the inspection fee and required repair costs — VA still encourages negotiating them to the seller. Older online advice predates 2022, when lenders generally could not charge the veteran the fee.
• Refinances: streamline refinances (IRRRL) have no appraisal and normally need no WDO report; cash-out refinances with an appraisal can be conditioned for one.

Ordering steps, NOV timing, and negotiation patterns: VA termite inspection guide.

FHA does not blanket-require termite inspections. Under HUD Handbook 4000.1, the lender must obtain wood-destroying insect/organism documentation when any of these applies: the appraisal shows evidence of active infestation; a state or local jurisdiction requires an inspection; an inspection is customary to the area; or the appraiser requires one. In practice many Florida FHA lenders treat the WDO report as customary and order it by default.

For existing homes the clear report follows the same 90-day validity convention as VA (HUD HOC reference guide). On FHA-financed new construction, the builder and its pest control company certify termite protection on the national forms NPMA-99A/99B; the treatment itself follows the Florida Building Code process below.

Conventional: neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac imposes a standing termite-inspection rule; the requirement appears when the appraisal notes wood damage and the lender conditions the loan on a clear report. Some Florida lenders go further for older frame houses — ask the loan officer early; a surprise WDO condition a week before closing is a self-inflicted rush fee.

USDA: the Rural Development handbook states it outright: termite/pest inspections “are not required unless the lender, appraiser, inspector or State law requires the inspection to confirm the property is free of active infestation” (USDA HB-1-3555, Chapter 12). Florida law imposes no such mandate, so on a Florida USDA file the trigger is the lender or the appraisal.

Cash: no lender, no requirement — and no appraiser to catch what you miss. Most cash buyers order the inspection anyway: a small line item (current advertised ranges) against a risk standard homeowners policies exclude (FDACS consumer guidance). A dated, clear FDACS-13645 also joins the house’s paper trail for your future sale.

Florida law does not make insurers or HOAs require WDO inspections, and most don’t. The key fact: standard homeowners policies exclude termite damage (FDACS), so owners actually rely on a termite protection contract — the termite bond. Some condo boards ask for a current bond or recent WDO report during unit sales, and a few carriers ask on older wood-frame structures; check the estoppel package and policy application. How bonds work — and transfer at sale — is in the Florida termite bond guide.

New Florida homes don’t get a closing WDO inspection — they get engineered prevention, written into the building code. The Florida Building Code (Residential R318 and its Building-volume counterparts) requires preventive treatment against subterranean termites with registered termiticides — soil-applied chemicals, bait systems, or wood-applied pesticides — plus construction details that keep wood inspectable, like clearance between grade and siding (Florida Building Commission, termite protection provisions).

• Certificate of Protective Treatment (FBC 104.2.6): the pest control company certifies the required treatment applications — no certificate, no certificate of occupancy.
• Notice of Termite Protection (FBC 104.2.7): the builder posts a consumer notice inside the home: maintain the treatment — renew the contract, re-inspect annually.
• The contract behind it: Chapter 482, Florida Statutes makes the treating licensee back the pretreat with a renewable warranty contract and hold a specific permit for the work (Ch. 482, F.S.).

Buying a nearly-new home? Ask for the treatment certificate and the status of that renewable contract — a lapsed new-construction bond is a common surprise in young Florida subdivisions.

Whoever requires the inspection, only one kind of company can deliver it: a pest control business licensed by FDACS under Chapter 482 for termite and wood-destroying organism work. The inspector carries an FDACS employee identification card, and both the company license number and the card number appear on the report (s. 482.226, F.S.). A general home inspector cannot issue FDACS-13645 without that license — which is why buyers book the WDO inspection separately even when both happen the same morning.

Our Florida WDO inspector directory draws every listing from the FDACS licensing registry — and check any company yourself in two minutes: verify a Florida pest control license.

They answer different questions under different licenses. The home inspection surveys the house as a system — roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC — under Florida’s home-inspector licensing; the WDO inspection answers one regulated question on a state pest-control form, and lenders never accept one in place of the other. Most buyers schedule both for the same visit window; the full comparison is in WDO vs home inspection.