About Professional Equipment

In 1987, Professional Equipment was born when two Long Island-based home inspectors realized how hard it was to find the equipment they needed to do their jobs right. Knowing others were probably having the same trouble, the pair bought a box of tools from their local Grainger branch and took it, with a price list, to the national American Society of Home Inspectors conference. They took orders for $7,000 worth of equipment and thought they could change the world. Professional Equipment was officially on the map.

PE experienced strong growth during the 1990's, taking their show on the road to ASHI, NAHI, NACHI conferences across the country, at the local, state and regional levels. The catalog started as a 5” x 7 black and white number, using employees as models. Through the years, the catalog got bigger, the product line grew and the customer base multiplied as PE became the leading national distributor of home inspection equipment. With our focus home inspectors, PE sold many moisture meters, voltage testers and IR thermometers. What we discovered along the way was a strong community of professional home inspectors who were building an industry. PE is proud to serve this legion of small business owners as they help educate and protect the nation's homebuyers in what is typically the biggest single purchase of a lifetime.

But PE didn't stop there. By the mid 2000s, a strong web site was beginning to bring new kinds of customers. The tools that home inspectors use every day were often the same tools used by other building trades. PE responded by adding greater depth and breadth of product for the HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical and other skilled trades. The company's success resulted in its acquisition by industry-leading MRO supplier Grainger in late 2006. Now based in Janesville, Wisconsin, PE had come full circle back to the very place its first inventory had come from. The acquisition allowed even greater access to leading brand name manufacturers and improved distribution channels.

Today, the PE catalog sports more than 150 pages of full-color photos of the latest and greatest in testing equipment, safety supplies and building trade support products. The website boasts more than 13,000 items complete with product reviews to help customers make more informed buying decisions. Both support emerging markets such as Weatherization/Home Energy Auditing that allow small businesses like home inspection companies to grow their revenue by applying the tools and knowledge they have with a new discipline needed in a changing world.

Professional Equipment is proud to be your partner and looks forward to growing with you!