How NSPIRE Scoring Works — the Short Version

Multifamily and public-housing properties get a score from 0 to 100. (Voucher units are pass/fail — no property score.) Here is the model, minus the 200-page notice:

Inspectors sample. Nobody inspects every unit. HUD's protocol draws a sample of units, plus the building systems, common areas, and the site — and the score is built from what the sample shows.

Every deficiency costs points, weighted twice. Once by severity — life-threatening costs most, then severe, moderate, and low — and once by location: a deficiency inside a unit weighs the most, common areas (HUD calls them “inside”) weigh less, and the outside weighs least. Health-and-safety items are the heavy end of the scale in every location.

Below 60 is a failing score. The score also sets how soon HUD comes back: 90 and above earns roughly three years, 80–89 about two years, and below 80 means annual inspections.

The 30-point cap. If the deficiencies found inside the inspected units average 30 points or more per unit, the property's score is capped at 59 — no matter how clean the rest of the property is. One bad unit can't do that alone; it's the average across the sampled units that trips the cap.

Scored with HUD's published NSPIRE model. When this forum talks about checking a property against the model, the line is: scored with HUD's published NSPIRE model — kept current whenever HUD updates it. Only HUD's own inspection sets the official score.

The full model lives in HUD's scoring notice and on the NSPIRE page at HUD. For the day-to-day arguments about points, join Scoring & Points.

Plain-English summary of HUD-published material — the official text is HUD's. NSPIRE Forum is run by All Building Services LLC. Not affiliated with HUD.