When my daughter was buying a house a few years back, the HI report had a note to the effect that the GFCI in the garage should be removed in case she want to put a freezer out there
That's when you install a GFCI with a trip alarm.
Failed Home Inspection ! Code Ref or Made up by Home Inspector ?
- Thread starter Cletis
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That's when you install a GFCI with a trip alarm.
mbrooke
Batteries Included
- Location
- United States
- Occupation
- Technician
Those who defend HIs keep bringing up "its not a code inspection"
Fred B
Senior Member
- Location
- Upstate, NY
- Occupation
- Electrician
Exactly, and to make matters worse mortgage companies and insurers take there reports as gospel, insisting on remediation to qualify, even on items that were code compliant at time of installation. We (as electricians or electrical inspectors) are obliged to accept prior compliant installation even if it no longer meeting code, but a HI (who has no real knowledge of what they are looking at) can make an unsubstantiated claim and most homeowners will fall over themselves to "fix" the HI's complaint to satiate the bank or insurer.
rnatalie
Senior Member
- Location
- Catawba, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Engineer
Better to get a freezer temperature alarm. GFCI tripping is just one way that the food can go bad. I've more often had the open.
The thing is, she has never owned a freezer anyway.
It’s bad enough when an HI calls out perfectly acceptable stuff as being bad, but when he tells you to make a change that creates a real violation, that’s another level of bad!
On the same inspection, he missed the copper tubing run through the floor feeding the range!
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
I like to call those gas lines - copper is acceptable for LP
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
They have a certain usefulness but below is where there is a problem:
They generally are not experts in any field of what they are all inspecting. Just someone that takes a look and makes a list of things that may be questionable and should be referred to experts to determine if further actions are a necessity.
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
It not really defending the home inspectors. It's pointing out what a home inspection really is.
It is the "opinion" of the home inspector.
I nearly went nuts trying to understand home inspection reports for the first few years. After getting it straight in my head that it's not a "code inspection" that makes it much easier to understand and deal with.
At one time I even had the head electrical inspector for the county call a certain home inspector to set him straight but it didn't do the least bit of good.
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
That's where I would tell the buyer to get another mortgage company or look for another insurer. Your problem isn't my problem.
-Hal
rnatalie
Senior Member
- Location
- Catawba, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Engineer
I've been with home inspectors and have seen them miss serious stuff (not always electrical). Did you ever notice those tell tail stickers they leave on panels. That reminds them to check for previous reports to make sure they get their story straight (I literally had one tell me that was the reason as he was putting it on my panel).
The last two homes I sold it was easier just to fix the drivel they found than to waste time arguing. Stuff like "no splash blocks on the downspouts." Well gee,take your $5 down to Home Depot and buy one if you want one.
I did have one find a dead receptacle in the garage (looks like something hit it, old house). The buyer's realtor wanted the receipt from the guy I hired to fix that. I told him not to be silly. Frankly, I wasn't even obliged to replace the receptacle under the terms of the sales contract, but again it was easier to fix it than to fight over it and frankly I couldn't justify passing on a defect that I should have noticed and fixed myself long before.
The last two homes I sold it was easier just to fix the drivel they found than to waste time arguing. Stuff like "no splash blocks on the downspouts." Well gee,take your $5 down to Home Depot and buy one if you want one.
I did have one find a dead receptacle in the garage (looks like something hit it, old house). The buyer's realtor wanted the receipt from the guy I hired to fix that. I told him not to be silly. Frankly, I wasn't even obliged to replace the receptacle under the terms of the sales contract, but again it was easier to fix it than to fight over it and frankly I couldn't justify passing on a defect that I should have noticed and fixed myself long before.
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
Starting a thread about home inspectors is about the easiest way to get an argument going followed only by a thread about drywallers. Thread closed.
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