Here are the facts – 

The best authority for home inspectors in California is the California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA). Here is what they say about inspectors doing repairs- They refer to the California Business Professions Code 7195-7199. 

https://www.creia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:california-business—professions-code-7195-7199&catid=24:inspector-enews-inspector-journal

And here is a page from ca.gov on the same code 

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=9.3.&article=

And here is our page on that code

 Below is what ASHI says about California-

Has a page for California – https://www.homeinspector.org/StateLicensingRequirements/State/California   

HERE IS THE CONCLUSION FROM ALL THE ABOVE

A search for the question “can a home inspector in CA make repairs?” returns this –
“While California has no licensing requirements for a home inspector, there is the California Trade Practice Act, which prohibits home inspectors from performing repairs on a home they have inspected within the past 12 months. It prohibits “unethical” inspections.”

NOW- THE REASON WHY I CAN

My legal advisor tells me that if I do a home inspection for you and I find a problem and I fix the problem at no cost then there is no unethical activity. You can see that I limit my repairs to simple actions having to do with loose items. These repairs take me less time than it takes to snap a picture of the issue and insert it into the report and write a caption about the issue. I prefer to simply repair it – not report it.