Housing Quality Standard (HQS) inspections come in three different varieties:

• Initial Inspections occur when a voucher holder indicates to their PHA that they desire to lease a specific housing unit. The unit must pass the initial inspection before the execution of the assisted lease and housing assistance payments (HAP) contract and the initiation of payments.
• Biannual inspections occur once every two years on housing units that are currently under lease by an HCV participant family. Biannual inspections ensure that HCV housing units continue to meet HQS throughout the tenancy of the HCV participant family.
• Special inspections may be complaint inspections or quality control inspections. Complaint inspections occur when a tenant, owner, or member of the public complains about the condition of an HCV housing unit. Quality control inspections examine a sample of housing units within a given PHA’s jurisdiction each year to verify the work of the inspectors and occur throughout the year.