Housing Quality Standards
Inspections
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Overview

Before NHA can make payments on behalf of a tenant family,
the unit must meet HUD's minimum Housing Quality Standards (HQS). These
standards have been implemented by HUD nationwide to ensure that all assisted
units meet minimum health and safety standards. NHA will inspect the unit
for HQS initially and at least annually.
In order to ensure that the unit meets HQS, review the
requirements and correct any HQS violations before the inspection. At the
time of the inspection, the unit should be ready to move in. This will
prevent delays in the housing assistance payments.
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Required Repairs

If the unit fails the initial inspection or annual
inspection, an inspection report with the failed items indicated will be mailed.
First housing assistance payments can not be made until the unit passes an
inspection. Repairs for the annual inspection must be made within 30 days
or 24 hours for life threatening emergencies. For annual inspections, if
repairs are not made by the stated deadline, housing assistance payments will
stop.
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Most Common HQS Failed Items
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Non
functional smoke detectors
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Missing
or cracked electrical outlet cover plates
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Railings
not present where required
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Peeling
exterior and interior paint.
Lead Paint
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Trip
hazards caused by improperly installed floor coverings (carpets/vinyl)
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Cracked
or broken window panes
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Inoperable
burner on stoves
or inoperable range hoods |
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Missing
burner control knobs
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HQS Checklist

The following is a listing of items inspected to meet
Housing Quality Standards
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Bathroom
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The bathroom must be located in a
separate room and have a flush toilet. |
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The unit must have a fixed basin with
a sink trap and hot and cold running water. |
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The unit must have a shower or bathtub
with hot and cold running water. |
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The toilet facilities must utilize an
approvable public or private disposal system, which may
include a locally approvable septic system. |
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Kitchen
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The unit must have a cooking stove or
range and refrigerator of appropriate size for the unit
(i.e., family) all in proper operating condition.
Stoves, ovens, and ranges must have all control knobs and
handles. Gas stove burners must light by pilot jets
without the use of incendiary devices (i.e., matches,
lighter, etc.). |
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The unit must have a kitchen sink in
proper operating condition with a sink trap and hot and cold
running water which drains into an approvable public or
private wastewater system. |
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The unit must provide space for the
storage, preparation, and serving of food. |
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There must be facilities and services
for the sanitary disposal of food waste and refuse,
including temporary storage facilities where necessary
(i.e., garbage containers). |
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Space and Security
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The unit must have a minimum of a
living room, kitchen area, and bathroom. |
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The unit
must contain at least one sleeping or living/sleeping room
for every two (2) people. |
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The
unit's windows which are accessible from the outside, such
as basement, first-floor, and fire escape windows, must be
lockable (e.g., window units with sash pins or sash locks,
and combination windows with latches). Vertically
opening windows must stay up and open without the use of
props. Windows designed to open, should be operable. |
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Bedroom
windows must be able to open and close freely. |
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The
unit's exterior doors (i.e., those that allow access to or
from the unit) must be lockable, and compliant with current
Texas Property Code requirements regarding security devices
for residential tenancies. |
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Thermal Environment
(Heating and Cooling System)
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The unit must contain a safe heating
system (and safe cooling system, where present) which is in
proper operating condition and can provide adequate heat
(and cooling, if applicable), either directly or indirectly,
to each room used for living in order to assure a healthy
living environment appropriate to the climate. |
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In the
absence of a cooling system secure screens must be present
on all outside windows. |
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The unit
must not contain any unvented room heaters, which burn gas,
oil, or kerosene. A working radiator would be
acceptable. |
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Illumination and Electricity
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There must be at least one window in
the living room and in each sleeping room. |
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The
kitchen area and the bathroom must have a permanent ceiling
or wall type light fixture in working condition. The
kitchen area must also have at least one electrical outlet
in operating condition. |
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The
living room and each bedroom must have at least two
electrical outlets in operating condition. Permanently
installed overhead or wall-mounted light fixtures may count
as one of the required electrical outlets. |
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All other
rooms used for living require a means of natural or
artificial illumination such as a light fixture, a wall
outlet to serve a lamp, a window in the room, or adequate
light from an adjacent room. |
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Each
electrical outlet must be permanently installed in the
baseboard, wall, or floor. |
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Table or
floor lamps, ceiling lamps plugged into a socket, or an
extension cord plugged into another plug cannot be counted
as an outlet for HQS purposes. |
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Electrical hazards of any kind, either inside or outside the
unit would receive a fail rating. |
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Structures and Materials
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Interior ceilings, walls and floors
must not have any serious defects such as severe bulging or
leaning, large holes, loose surface materials, severe
buckling, missing parts, or other serious damage. |
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The floors must also not have any
major movement under walking stress, or tripping hazards
presented by the permanent floor coverings. Carpets
must be tacked down. |
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The roof must be structurally sound
and weather tight. |
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The exterior wall structure and
surfaces must not have any serious defects such as serious
leaning, buckling, sagging, large holes, unfastened and
falling components, or defects that would result in air
infiltration or vermin infestation. |
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The condition and equipment or
interior and exterior stairways, halls, porches, walkways,
etc. must not present a danger of tripping and falling.
Examples include, but are not limited to, broken or missing
steps and loose boards. |
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Elevators must be working, safe, and
compliant with locally enforced codes. |
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Manufactured homes must be securely
anchored by tie down devices, which distribute and transfer
the loads imposed by the unit to appropriate ground anchors
so as to resist wind overturning and sliding. |
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