However, it is understood at law that inspection is often not sufficient to detect certain deficiencies in the product that can only be discovered through destructive testing or other means that a seller could not reasonably be expected to allow under normal conditions.
For example, wood beams and interior brickwork often cannot be fully assessed without destructive testing, and it would be unreasonable for the seller to allow the buyer to destroy part of the property in order to discover such defects.
Under common law, there is no automatic right for a buyer to claim against a seller for such latent defects when they are discovered, absent an agreement in contract.
Civil law in some jurisdictions (Quebec, Canada) does provide for such an automatic right unless a property is sold "without guarantee" as to its quality.
[2] In the 1864 US case of Dermott v Jones, the latent defect lay in the soil on which a property had been built, giving rise to problems which subsequently made the house "uninhabitable and dangerous".