After many years in the trades, I just have to ask

[stubrooks]

.... snipped

Home Inspectors shouldn't be tying code passages to their findings, at least not in my state. My Standards of Practice mentions that home inspections are not code inspections. We remain free to read and study them. When I see ungrounded branch or feeder circuits in a house, a salvo of recommendations follows. It doesn't matter to me how old the house is. The hazards of ungrounded circuits is not mitigated by the age of the house.

Code inspectors can require, home inspectors generally only recommend.

Just my opinion is all.

Marc

I agree about using the code word in home inspection BUT, when I do a pre-drywall inspection, new remodeling work, or an end-of-builder's- warranty inspection and find deficiencies that the builder is trying to blow off on my client, I do make reference to the relevant IRC or NEC section. Example: 1 year modular home with a 6 foot sliding door about 8 feet above the ground. No deck yet. When my client was going through the pre-closing walk through he asked the contractor why there wasn't a guardrail installed like you could see on a number of other houses in the neighborhood. The contractor told him that he didn't have to but one up. Excuse me? I made certain to include reference to section R312.1 of the 2006 IRC which was the applicable standard when the house was built. Oh, there were a few other things too, like copper fittings to galvanized steel nipples on a water heater. Most anyone on this board would laugh at the wiring in the service panel. Not too sure how an OP was issued. I do not say the work was or was not in compliance with codes. Just the standard statements of what was found, how it can effect the client, and that it requires repair or corrective action. I just add, in special cases, the applicable code section in parentheses so when the contractor says, "I don't have to fix that" or "It's built to code" the client can say, "oh yeah, what about IRC Rxxx.x?"

And there is another little bit I gladly pass on to clients with new homes. There is an automatic 2-year warranty built into the contractor's Virginia License - I don't think many of them bothered to read the fine print. What it translates to, according to the head of a large county code compliance office, is that the state realizes the code inspectors and inspections are not perfect and that if something within 2 years of closing is found not to be in compliance with the codes in effect when the inspection was made, the contractor has to correct it to bring it into compliance. PLUS, there is a 1 year period that if an issue if found that would not be deemed competent workmanship by an appropriate and qualified tradesperson, the contractor has to fix it. PLUS in either case, if a valid issue is made there an additional year of coverage is automatically tacked on.