As some of you may know, I’ve been back in college now for several years, taking one course each semester in an effort to increase my knowledge and keep my old brain engaged to (hopefully) ward off the gradual mental decline that comes with age. I earned my bachelor’s degree last year (2025) and I am currently working on my master’s (with the hope of eventually earning a PhD – so I can be Dr. Inspector!)
The class I’m currently taking is focused on interdisciplinarity, which is defined as the integration and synthesis of knowledge from various disciplines, which enables someone to apply different methods and perspectives in an effort to address complex questions or tasks. It didn’t take me long to realize that the thing we do every workday of our lives, being a home inspector, is the perfect example of an interdisciplinary practice. We take the knowledge that we’ve learned about all these different disciplines like plumbing, electrical, and roofing, and use it to try and solve a complex problem: whether or not the house our clients are considering buying is going to give them (and us!) any problems in the near future.
The intersection of interdisciplinary thinking and the home inspection industry proved to be a blessing for me, as I am able to use my experiences as an inspector to inform the writing assignments that inevitably come with taking master’s level classes. I wanted to share my first writing assignment with you here, as it perfectly illustrates the fact that what we do for a living, inspecting houses, depends on us taking an interdisciplinary approach; combining our vast knowledge of a homes numerous systems and components into a single inspection report that our clients can use to make a better informed decision regarding their upcoming home purchase.
The relationship between interdisciplinarity and the disciplines is somewhat fraught: interdisciplinarity depends upon disciplinary knowledge while at the same time trying to improve upon its limitations. Repko et al. argue that “the disciplines are the place where we begin but not where we end” (58).
Disciplines provide specialized knowledge, theories, terminology, and research methods that allow scholars to develop a deep understanding of a particular area of study. However, each discipline also necessarily approaches a problem from its own perspective, viewing reality through its own particular “lens.” Repko et al. explain that “the purpose of a discipline, then, is to interpret reality according to certain prescribed guidelines” (81). The same specializations that give the disciplinary perspective its power (an ability to focus on an issue to the exclusion of other issues) can also become a limitation, preventing the type of progress that can only be made by taking a more comprehensive approach.
Interdisciplinarity becomes valuable when we’re presented with a problem that is too complex to be adequately understood through the lens of any single discipline. Moving beyond the limitations of a multidisciplinary approach, interdisciplinarity does more than simply accrue insights from multiple disciplines. It takes the additional step of integrating those insights to construct a more comprehensive understanding of the situation. Augsburg similarly argues that considering something from another perspective can encourage interdisciplinary thinking (35).
Performing a task as exacting as integration requires recognizing not only what different disciplines contribute, but also how their bodies of knowledge, research methods, theories, techniques, and attitudes influence their understanding of (and approach to) a problem (Repko et al. 81). Two disciplines may come to disparate conclusions when examining the same phenomenon. Being able to knit together these seemingly incongruent stories, turning them into a coherent message, is key to the interdisciplinary approach. While disciplines provide depth to our knowledge, interdisciplinarity seeks to expand that knowledge base without sacrificing the depth that has been painstakingly gained.
Success in the home inspection industry requires an interdisciplinary approach. Providing a homebuyer with a useful inspection report requires that an inspector incorporate knowledge from numerous disciplines without requiring mastery of any one of them, which echoes Repko et al.’s distinction between disciplinary mastery and disciplinary adequacy (72).
The physical part of our job, the actual on-site inspection, requires varied knowledge across multiple disciplines. Obviously, engineering and building science play a major part in the assessment. Architecture and construction technology are also top of mind. Chemistry, biology, and environmental health all inform our opinion of the house.
The business side of our career adds even more data points to the mix. Knowledge of law and ethics helps direct our actions, while disciplinary adequacy in psychology, philosophy, and communication helps us more effectively relate to our clients. All the while, behind the scenes, a rudimentary knowledge of economics helps keep the books balanced and the lights on.
A good inspector doesn’t simply make independent observations from electrical, structural, HVAC, plumbing, and other systems. The important (interdisciplinary) part of the job comes when the inspector integrates the knowledge obtained from those various disciplines to better understand a single problem.
Repko et al. emphasize the importance of experience in developing interdisciplinary skills, arguing that proficiency is “mastered through practice” and that we learn to integrate multiple perspectives “by doing these things repeatedly” (138–39). An inspector doesn’t need to become a physicist, microbiologist, structural engineer, electrician, and psychologist. Instead, they need sufficient disciplinary adequacy to understand the relevant information, along with the experience necessary to integrate that knowledge into a useful analysis of the house.
It is an idea that should be instilled in every home inspector: Education helps provide disciplinary adequacy; sustained in-field experience helps develop the ability to integrate that knowledge into a useful assessment for the client. The disciplines provide an understanding of the pieces of the puzzle; the inspector ultimately has to put things together to help discern the big picture.
Being an effective inspector necessitates a broad skill set, and the ability to integrate distinct areas of knowledge into a comprehensive assessment undoubtedly makes each of us a better and more valuable inspector. Learning how different disciplines conceptualize and communicate knowledge also impacts how we relay information about complex subjects to our clients.
Our goal, as an inspection professional, should not be simply accumulating knowledge from a wide range of disciplines, but to become more intentional and proficient at recognizing when those different perspectives are relevant and integrating them into a more complete understanding of the problems we encounter in our professional lives.
Works Cited
Augsburg, Tanya. Becoming Interdisciplinary: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. 3rd ed., Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2015.
Repko, Allen F., et al. Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2026.
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Thanks, Joe
