The inspector that I use is great, however, at one house he inspected for me he skipped over the furnace because it was unnacessible. It was only a few boxes, easily movable. However, he didn't move them and wrote in the report "Was not able to inspect." He then wanted to charge me for coming back out. Is there a law against moving stuff or was he just lazy?

There's not a law against it. However, it indicates to me that the inspector was carrying Errors & Omissions and General Liability insurance.

Moving things is a common area where home inspectors run into trouble.

The purchase contract used by the California Association of Realtors states that "seller shall ensure that all utilities are on and that all areas are accessible." Well, if the seller is still living there, many times making "all areas" accessible is not possible. So what do we do?

Here's how I gently tell my Clients about moving things and why I don't do it:

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Home inspectors as movers—-We often get asked why we didn’t move something during the course of our inspection. Mainly insurance concerns. We do not know how much an item might have cost, or the special history of any item, so our insurance precludes us from moving something and possibly damaging it. Even the unlikeliest-looking item could be a priceless heirloom, or a priceless heirloom could be in that common cardboard box. Additionally, if we were to move only one item, we might be asked why we didn’t move every item. Obviously, time constraints preclude us from taking on that role. Home inspectors are not movers, and we do not know of any movers who are home inspectors. They are two different professions.
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So I suspect he wasn't "just lazy." He was protecting the seller's property and his own assets.

Additionally, everyone's time is valuable, so it is reasonable that a home inspector would charge to come back out.

Since the seller has violated the purchase contract by not making all areas accessible, what usually happens here in San Diego is that the seller winds up paying my re-inspection fee, which I believe is only fair.

Want to sell the house? There's going to be a home inspection. You need to make sure all the utilities are on and that all areas are accessible, particularly major appliances (water heater, furnace) and major areas (attic access, foundation crawl space). If you don't do that, expect to be paying for the inspector to come back out to inspect those things.

I know that different states have different laws. I am just curious I notice that you stated you have an inspector that ... and that the inspector wanted "to charge you ... ". We have been told not to even give a specific referral let alone hire the inspector. Don't you or your broker have concerns about the increased libility of hiring an inspector? Just wondering how these things work in various states.

I know your post is not addressed to me, but many of the companies that provide E&O insurance to home inspectors also include a Realtor Indemnity clause in our policies to protect against Realtor's having increased liability by referring home inspectors.

Thank you. I wonder if that is true here. I will have to do some checking.