To all you who said I should refer it, what I should I say exactly. “Looks suspicious.”
you’ve been at this long enough, would you actually put that in a report
what do you think you should say, you were there
And Joe… wearing your other hat as an AHJ, what would you say about it?
Could it have been a rubber donut insert style compression fitting that has been caulked or is leaking?
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As I said earlier, I didn’t address it. I addressed other issues nearby (PVC to ABS, cross threaded connections, waste line running uphill) so if it’s wrong the plumber can point it out. Next time I’ll look very hard at the connection…I didn’t do so on this job.
I’d look harder at the connection and ask some pointed questions. This one in particular is still a question mark for me. But it’s history now.
The house was > 40 years old and that piping had probably been there a while.
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
- You are guessing that you won’t report it?
- You are stating that it is your opinion that a plumber will not show up at all?
- You did not address the issue in your report?
- You’re expecting a plumber to catch it? Yet in the earlier post you stated it is your opinion that a plumber will not show up at all?
- You are a CMI?
- According to your WEB site “Experience” “I am currently employed as the Building Official / Code Enforcement Officer for the town of Clover, SC.”
- According to your WEB site “[FONT=Times New Roman]OSHA ingrained in me a detective-like mindset, along with thoroughness, documentation and report writing skills that are the main assets I bring to the home inspection industry.”[/FONT]
- [FONT=Times New Roman]According to your WEB site “[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]There’s never been a lawsuit or threat of one.”[/FONT]
- [FONT=Times New Roman]According to your WEB site “[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]As mentioned above, an associate inspector has done less than 100 inspections. He’s essentially a rookie. A home inspector in training. And your house will serve as the training ground.”[/FONT]
My questions:
- How will your client know that a potential problem exists if you do not report it?
- How will a Plumber find it if they are not expected to be out there anyhow?
- What does your State SOP and COE state about this if your State has one?
- What does the INACHI and CMI SOP and COE state about this?
- As a BO/CEO you would be potentially required to identify this if it was required of you under that position and inspecting related major changes. As a BO/CEO what would you say about this?
- With OSHA ingrained detective like mindset, complete with thoroughness, how would you further research this and report it?
- Without ever being threatened with a lawsuit for 5 years and 1100 inspections what is your secret to preventing it?
- At what point does a Home Inspector have to stop training and know everything?
- Should I move to NC and start an inspection business there as it appears an easier gig?
Pretty mouthy for a “truck driver,” “dirt worker” and “weapon carrier”. Come on down to NC…your resume’ and lack of parking tickets will blow everyone away.
From your website:
"For 30+ years I have worked in career fields, and other endeavors, requiring:
- Installing and maintaining: High tech equipment
High tech software
Mechanical equipment
Power systems
Various structural systems
- Using investigative techniques to undercover issues and creating
solutions for them.
- **Use of heavy equipment and even driving tractor trailer rigs.**
- **Performing dirt work** and other construction tasks.
- Working around nuclear weapons, missile silos and strategic
bombers.
- Carrying weapons.
- Managing personnel and workcenters.
- Managing $1M+ budgets and multimillion dollar equipment inventories.
- Maintaining homes
I have two current and extensive Federal and State background checks in effect for other licenses I carry. To date I have absolutely no criminal record whatsoever, not even a parking ticket. I will do nothing to jeopardize my Professional Inspectors license nor the others I carry!
I have been entrusted to; handle large sums of money, access and maintain extremely sensitive personal and other data, access and move freely about sensitive areas of government facilities, business’ and residences, maintain the security of government facilities, business’ and residences. I am highly sensitive to the safety and security of your property and its contents. I can certainly be trusted to freely move about any area of your property!
I own property and live here in Texas. I have no intention of leaving any time soon.
I was raised with “Old World” values and ethics. Our teachings were about doing what is ethically and morally right. With these concepts you, nor I, ever have to worry nor look over our shoulder.
With that being said, I can guarantee you that I will perform the job you are paying me to, and it will be performed properly!"
Thank you for posting what is readily available on my WEB site for all to see. Please in the future though at least post the link to it as well. That should drive some traffic to my WEB site and help the hit counters and ranking.
Yes I am very proud of my hard working background. But you should understand that is not all of it. My background is very extensive and maybe some day you will have the opportunity to learn about it.
What is most important is what does “blow everyone away” about me. I’ll list a few of those things but for brevity sake just a few. I don’t care to toot my own horn but since you are concerned about my future prospects here are some examples.
- I don’t try to be something I am not. I am me and am thoroughly happy with that. You see when you are happy with yourself you tend not to get cranky, highly defensive, nor build yourself up in others eyes.
- My clients, as well as others, really enjoy my honesty and integrity. As for inspections on very infrequent occasions I do run across something I just don’t know about. If I can not find an answer in time for report issuance I tell the client, right there in the report, basically “I don’t know” and advise them to seek additional guidance. I most certainly do not try to hide the lack of knowledge on something found by not reporting it. Even with the report issued I continually look for an answer because I not only want to know but the client needs to know! I update my client on the information search as well, and if it is significant enough will update the report with a revision and send it out. If it is not significant enough I do at least email my client to tell them the insignificance of it.
- I work very hard at increasing my knowledge, performing the inspection, and creating a useful report. That is what the client is paying me for and the client is KING (or QUEEN for the female gender)!
Above our knowledge and abilities the most important traits needed, for this or any other career, are honesty and integrity. So please take a minute and answer the questions posed above. Feel free to leave out question #9 as you can’t answer for anyone else’ career choices.
If it looks like it has been leaking or has been caulked just make a note of that … 
I won’t waste my time with your questions DH. (DH can stand for anything you want it to.)
Joe I sincerely apologize for my lack of ability to regress to an elementary grade level to decipher the meaning of “DH”. Could you please explain as it might be helpful to other college level educated people viewing this post? Your assistance with that would be greatly appreciated. We might all learn something new?
Since you know it all, DH, I don’t expect you to be on the BB asking for help. But if you do, I can’t wait to jump in and scald you for being an idiot who doesn’t know his job.
Joe,
Thank you for bestowing such a great designation onto me. I have been told that DH stands for “Designated Home-N-Spector”. It seems that this title has been created and is similar to the Designated Hitter in MLB. In the inspection world it seems the DH is called out by a client when the first Home Inspector is unable to perform their job, has a low record of catching and writing up deficiencies, or is generally sub-standard in performance.
That is to bad that I can’t work in SC or NC as they are licensed States and I do not hold their license. Are their other DH’s located in SC or NC?
Since cast iron pipe connections are done with a wick and poured seal, there are no mechanical connectors which would transition from CI to ABS. The common method for this transition is to insert the ABS into the CI as pictured, and inject a silicon seal. The seal method is not visible in the photo. The AHJ in my area has approved this method for me, personally. I see it often.
Since this post info is in the plumbing section DHW could stand for Demand Hotwater system also.
But you new this already didn’t you Mr. Scanlan.
But it could stand for Domestic Hot Water:(
Dirt Worker, I see that you are an ICC certified plumbing inspector. Please cite the code this connection violates and I’ll change my report. You’ve got all the answers…please cite the IRC chapter and section, instead simply running your mouth.
Joe,
You just don’t get it do you? My posts have absolutely nothing to do with whether that connection is or is not a problem. With two college degrees I would certainly have thought you could figure that out already! So I will make it blunt and easy for you to understand.
On this post you have stated that you are not sure and don’t know if the connection is correct or not. Well no Inspector can know everything about everything and any that feel they do are full of crap!! However what you have done here is state that you did not know and chose to “OMIT” it from the report in the hopes that a plumber would catch it. You also indicate that you don’t feel that a plumber will even come out or go down under. This is a publicly viewable BB which means anyone can view that you have openly stated regarding what information you did or did not place in an inspection report in hopes that another licensed trade would discover it “IF” they come out for a follow-on inspection.
You want me to cite the code sections for this issue. Since this has nothing to do with the plumbing issue we will forgo citing any building codes. But since this is about you potentially omitting information from a report let’s cite some other important references.
From the South Carolina Code of Laws
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c059.htm
How many of those articles above have been potentially violated?
Since you are licensed in SC and NC this is from the North Carolina Home Inspector Licensure Board
http://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/Engineering/hilb/engineering_hilb_statutes_and_rules.asp
How many of the above rules have been potentially violated?
From the INACHI COE:
You are a CMI and this is from the CMI COE:
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[FONT=Verdana]How many of the INACHI and CMI items above have been potentially violated?
To recap for you it has absolutely nothing to do with whether you knew or not if that condition was improper or not. It has everything to do with how you handled it! There is nothing wrong with admitting to a client that you just don’t know and you will find out, or pointing it out and advising to have it checked further. What is simply incredulous is to post on a public BB that you chose to potentially omit the issue because you did not know!
But gee whiz what do I know about honesty and integrity anyhow? After all I’m just " [/FONT][/FONT]Pretty mouthy for a “truck driver,” “dirt worker” and “weapon carrier”." anyhow right?
:roll::roll::roll:
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DH, I asked a simple question. You attacked my capabilities and professionalism in a public forum. The fact is nobody has convinced me that this is an improper connection. I saw no need, after posting the question and pic to include the issue in my report. If it IS an issue, the plumber can address it when he’s 2 feet away fixing the pvc to abs connection that I did call out. I have the right to do my job as I see fit. Sorry you don’t agree. You run your business, I’ll run mine. I’m moving on. You’re on my ignore list.