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NSPIRE-V in brief

This page summarizes how NSPIREos applies HUD's NSPIRE-V standard. It is a working summary for people using the app, not legal advice; HUD's notices and your agency's administrative plan govern.

The checklist

NSPIRE-V is HUD's inspection standard for Housing Choice Voucher and Project-Based Voucher units. NSPIREos carries HUD's HCV/PBV checklist: 63 components and 206 deficiency lines, each tagged to the rooms where it is inspected. The lines are updated in place when HUD revises them; nothing an inspector cited is ever lost.

Three areas, three columns

HUD inspects three areas, and a deficiency has a severity for each area where it applies:

Area In NSPIREos Examples
Unit The Unit tab Rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, smoke alarms, GFCI, windows, heating
Inside (common areas) The Building tab Entry, hallways and stairs, laundry, mechanical, trash, elevator
Outside (site) The Site tab Grounds, walkways, parking, exterior walls, exterior lighting

A line can only be cited where HUD allows it, and its severity is taken from that column. The inspector never picks a severity for a checklist line; only for an "other observation" that is not on the checklist.

Severities and correction deadlines

Badge Severity Correction
LT Life-Threatening Within 24 hours of notification
S Severe Within 30 days, or an agency-approved extension
M Moderate Within 30 days, or an agency-approved extension
L Low Information only. No correction required; does not fail the unit.

Pass or fail

A unit fails when it has any Life-Threatening, Severe or Moderate deficiency, in the unit or in the common areas and site walked the same day. A unit with only Low deficiencies passes. NSPIRE-V has no score and no separate building pass or fail; each building's report lists what was found.

Re-inspections

The agency re-inspects after the correction window. The inspector marks each carried deficiency corrected or still failing. A still-failing deficiency keeps the unit in fail and, where the agency tracks corrections, reopens the matching work order.

Compliance date

HUD has set February 1, 2027 as the date by which voucher agencies must inspect under NSPIRE-V (Federal Register notice of September 30, 2025, docket FR-6086-N-12, the third extension). Agencies may adopt it earlier. Check HUD's NSPIRE page for later changes.

Note

NSPIRE is a HUD inspection standard. NSPIREos is a product of Housing Programs Software, a dba of Clever Administration LLC, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.