Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

[wolfman56]

Once again I've come across another one of those bad messes where you feel real bad for the homeowner. 3 years ago they bought their first home. This week they had satellite TV installed.

I was called in because the installer was getting a full 120v. hit, at the dish!!
I found that, the home had a 50 year old ungrounded system. The previous owner had installed grounding receptacles, with a jumper from the ground screw to the neutral screw on every receptacle. However on 5 receptacles he had crossed the hot, neutral. This caused a simple plug checker to indicate "OK". Even worse this situation caused the grounding system on any devices plugged in to be hot.

My contention is that one look in the panel shows an ungrounded system. The inspector should have spotted this and then noted the wrong receptacles, and recommended calling in an expert for a closer look.

I think that home inspectors are not qualified to look at the electric at all, and should not be allowed to. People are misled into believing it's all safe!

 

[luke warmwater]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Originally posted by wolfman56:

I think that home inspectors are not qualified to look at the electric at all, and should not be allowed to. People are misled into believing it's all safe!

I'm sure there are some home inspectors out there that have an electrical background, but in my experience, most do not.

In my state, by law, only a licensed Electrical Inspector can Inspect an Electrical system.

This has been debated many times on this and other forums.

I have not met a home inspector yet who acknowledges the fact that they should simply recommend a thorough Electrical Inspection be performed by a Qualified Electrical inspector from the start.

They always want to check it out themselves and then 'recommend' that an Electrician look at the 'potential' issues that they've found.

Then the Electrician goes in and finds that either there was no problem or there was a problem and often finds other issues. Then the homeowner thinks the Electricain is trying to rip them off because the home inspector didn't say anything about the other issues.

I'm not trying to bash anyone, that just seems to be the way it's done.
Now if only they would start giving out medical advise.

 

[jimwalker]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

If home inspetors had to foot the the bill over items like this that they should have caught they would either go out of buisness or learn fast.I think a plug tester would have caught this.Home inspectors at best catch a few items that the buyer might not.I seen a truck just a few days ago that made me wonder.He advertised his general contractors name and then under it says home inspector.Seems like a conflict of interist.Perhaps home buyers are in a tight spot.Even if they hired a licensed EC to inspect the home there are limits as to what he can see and time is a factor too.The best county/city inspector would have a hard time to find all violations in a finished building.That is why they do rough inspections before sheetrock.Perhaps if they could afford it the buyer should hire an AC,EC,PLUMBER,and a GC might cost a few hundred but probably get better results.

 

[petersonra]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

I won't tell you that the average home inspector is an electrical genius but in most cases they will know a lot more than your average homeowner. I would rather pay someone a few hundred bucks to take an unbiased but admittadly incomplete look at a home I was considering purchase, but having to pay a few hundred bucks to 4 or 5 different people might make it not be worth the cost.

I would expect that the guy would have at least some clue as to what he is doing. It sounds like this guy just did not know anything.

It would be like he inspected the plumbing and did not notice that the drain piping had no vent lines.

 

[iwire]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

I help out at a HI site and I think in general these home inspectors provide a good service.

Yes of course having an electrician look at the electrical a plumber at the plumbing and a carpenter at the structure would produce better inspections.

But lets face it that would run about $1,000 easy and the homeowners do not want to part with that so they get a generalist to look at the entire deal for $150 to $300.

You should see the things these guys do find and cause to be repaired. Electrical systems that have issues that are truly dangerous.

Electrical inspectors can not go around and check out existing homes, the HIs can and do so at a time when the home seller is willing to have the items fixed.

Sure they make mistakes...so do licensed electricians.

Here is one fairly minor example

Now if this person wants to sell the house this will need attention.

IMO the more times a house gets looked at the better and HIs perform thousands of inspections per month.

JMO, Bob

Here are couple more..

[ January 02, 2005, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: iwire ]

 

[tkb]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

I love the pack of matches behind the light bulb.

[ January 02, 2005, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: tkb ]

 

[charlie]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

That is called a "starter kit".

 

[George Stolz]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Really? The gas treatment behind the power strip's the one that sent me rolling...

 

[iwire]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

How about this one, the bare live wires you see are a feeder from the house to the garage.

 

[midget]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

I like the picture of the power strip.

 

[jimwalker]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

anyone notice the polarity of the romex on that strip.The matches is the winning pict.Maybe they were trying to sell the house to the insurance company

 

[jimwalker]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

I don't know about other states but you could get an electrician to your house to take a look for about $45 hour.Allowing travel time and doing a good inspection would be under $100.And many AC contractors offer free inspections,but of course they will always find a problem.

 

[iwire]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Jim what is your point?

The home inspection business is here to stay.

I happen to know a home inspector in FL that is working with Mike Holt on producing some video tapes. His knowledge of the code exceeds that of many full time electricians.

Many times you must get a home inspection to get financing.

I am an electrician, I can not produce a home inspection report. In this state the HIs must be licensed, in order to get a license you must perform 100 inspection under a licensed inspector.

If we are really interested in safety we should be happy that the HIs are out there.

As a bonus when they do find problems we get the business.

 

[George Stolz]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Originally posted by jimwalker:
anyone notice the polarity of the romex on that strip.

Dang, Jim, I think the polarity is the least of their problems!!!

 

[rattus]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Yes, I noticed the polarity was wrong, but this is one of those "non-polarized" plugs is it not?

Bought a new house and one of the problems was the polarity on one of the receptacles. Had a little problem convincing the builder that was not right. He seemed to understand the group of outlets connected in a ring and 240V on the washer outlet. It smoked my Electrolux vacuum cleaner, but cleaning up the brushes revived it.

 

[charlie tuna]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

i have a nephew who is a sprinkler fitter--his wife works for a realtor and she convinced him to take a course to become a "home inspector". he has never built a house nor worked in one since he is a fire sprinkler fitter. he took a course then a test and passed! now he has a side business inspecting homes listed through his wife's company. i have questioned him about typical problems found in residential installations. he only knows the "big picture" items he was exposed to in the home inspector's course--gfi's - panel schedules - open wiring etc..

i do not think that these people have the knowledge to inspect electrical systems in homes.
the typical residence that has never been remodeled or expanded is one thing, but if you get into a large home that has had a couple of remodels--where the service has been increased and sub panels installed, maybe a pool added, is another! even a qualified electrician is sticking his neck out by certifying this house since he can't see many aspects of the installation--and it ain't gonna be done in a couple of hours including travel!

my own experience following up on home inspector reports tells me they are useless--electrically!
they know nothing about bonding and grounding and should not be allowed to leave the new home owner a false sense of security concerning thier new house. the average purchaser believes that if these few items are corrected --his house is up to code and safe! not to say that a qualified electrician would find every problem --- but if something went wrong and a new home owner is electrocuted in their improperly grounded hot tub -- who is responsible?? the realtor--home inspector(fire sprinkler fitter) -- his home inspector instructor -- the original contractor -- the hot tub manufacturer -- the power company???? with some of the installations i've seen - i don't want that type of liability on work that you can't see. this is one reason for the existance of the "home inspector"! it would be very expensive for a licensed electrical contractor to "sign off" or certify a residence that was sixty years old and had four additions. then the realtor doesn't want a three page list of code violations -- this could nix the sale! i only ask "how did we ever get along all these past years without home inspections"? it would be wise for the purchaser to hire "qualified" people for an honest evaluation of the installation -- but let this be the purchaser's option! this way the person inspecting is working for the new owner!

[ January 03, 2005, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: charlie tuna ]

 

[bigjohn67]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Home inspections are in favor of who pays for them.
We are required to have an electrical lisence, so should they!

 

[iwire]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Originally posted by bigjohn67:
Home inspections are in favor of who pays for them.
We are required to have an electrical license, so should they!

And who would an electrician be in favor of?

 

[jimwalker]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

If the buyer asks for a home inspector i just bet the realtor has one ready.Wonder how much they get as a kickback and dam sure they won't suggest him if he finds many problems.This is a conflict of interest

 

[iwire]

Re: Home Inspectors inspecting electric!

Originally posted by jimwalker:
If the buyer asks for a home inspector i just bet the realtor has one ready.Wonder how much they get as a kickback and dam sure they won't suggest him if he finds many problems.This is a conflict of interest

Jim I agree with you and many inspectors will admit that is a problem they face.

As with everyone you hire you hope you got someone with ethics.

You are free to find your own inspector if you smell a rat. It is probably wise to get your own.