Why would an Orleans inspection fee land above ontario.ca's range?

Because ontario.ca's range has a stated top end that can be passed. Ontario.ca puts home inspection fees at $350 to $600, and says they "may be higher, depending on the size and condition of the home."

The factors that move a fee are the size of the home, its condition, the type of home, and any add-on service you ask for. Published Ottawa-area inspector pages put a detached or semi-detached house up to about 2,000 sq ft at about $450 to $640, which already crosses $600 at the top. For larger homes the price is set by size, so the written quote is the number to rely on. Add-ons such as thermal imaging or a sewer camera scope are priced by each inspector, and we found too few published figures to show a range for them.

Those factors apply to a house anywhere in the City of Ottawa; we found nothing that makes Orleans different.

To understand a quote above the range:

• Ask the inspector what size and type of home the fee is based on.
• Ask which add-ons are in the total, and which are optional.
• Get quotes from more than one inspector, as ontario.ca suggests, so you can compare like with like.

If the agreement includes an estimate, Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 says the final charge cannot exceed it by more than 10 per cent. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada counts inspection fees among the upfront costs of buying a home.

Ask the inspector to break the quoted fee into the base inspection and each add-on, in writing.