I bet agents have a field day with you.
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Every purchase agreement around here specifies that the seller will not negotiate based off of code issues. If you make the emphasis on code issues and not safety, you are doing everyone a disservice.
I don’t believe that buyers should get to negotiate everything that is wrong with the home. At the same time, if they can’t negotiate repairs or compensation, it is too often overlooked.
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20/21 code on a 100 year old house where you are… of course you are not citing code. I do a crap-ton of new construction and have ZERO concerns about citing code, because I know I am right. Texas is on the 2020 NEC… pretty simple to use code to back up your findings in those cases.
And I have no problems with agents, because I know how to explain the reasons why things are called out.
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A whole different animal.
Thanks for explaining yourself! 'Course if you’d include all the information in the first post you wouldn’t have to explain yourself in a second.
'Course if I couldn’t return to explain myself I wouldn’t get to blow my own horn. I’m just so misunderstood.
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You are very articulant.
I agree. The emphasis is on safety, but if that means including a code citation to strengthen your argument as to why something is not safe, then I fail to see the problem… take a guardrail for example 30 inches high over a 36 inch radius. How does a home inspector determine that? Code… but if you just say “for safety” or “per modern standards”… IMO, you are only doing half the job.
Why not say “Guardrail is not installed along rear patio. See photo(s). This is highly recommended due to height over 30” above grade, based on modern safety standards. (IRC312.1.1.)
I’m not advocating for a code citation in every comment, but if you know it… why would you not share that knowledge with a client and help them to strengthen their negotiation power?
There are also some comments that the verbiage I use is really nothing more than the code citation, mostly for electrical. Take Surge Protective Devices, for example… my comment is “Surge protection is not installed at the main panel, as required. See photo. Current standards require a Type 1 or Type 2 Surge-Protective Device (SPD) as an integral part of the service equipment or located immediately adjacent. (NEC230.67)”
I actually had a builder a month or so ago tell a client, “We don’t do that…” and the client called me and asked about it. I simply told them that the code reference was included, the electrician that installed the main panel is a state-licensed electrician, and the state of Texas is currently on the 2020 NEC (as of January 1st, 2021)… the builder does not have a choice as to whether they do it or not.
I typically put the code references on the most commonly debated items because it makes it easier for ME to remember and reference them. 
To each their own.
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It’s a double-edged sword. I performed a new construction inspection on Thursday. The steps located at the front of the home only have three steps and are less than 3’ in rise, therefore not requiring a handrail, per code. I recommended adding a handrail as a safety enhancement. The agent instantly spouted off that it is not required by code, so I was wrong for calling it out. He is technically correct. But when 85 year old grandma with mobility issues comes over for Christmas, you are going to wish that one was there.
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How hard did you look? I don’t have the time to look that hard (either), but I don’t think the advice to avoid code references is grounded on myth. One of the truths of the real estate business in general, is that changes and advice come about from disputes. I haven’t run into an attorney or E&O insurance, in our business, who recommends citing code in reports. If your attorney or insurance recommends that, I’d like to hear his/her reasoning.
We all run our business as we see fit. Viva the difference! Most of us are not true code experts with every line of every page of every code book committed to memory, and so for the majority of us, I will shout from my little soap box, " DO NOT QUOTE OR CITE CODE IN YOUR REPORTS!"
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I disagree. You pointed out a problem that needs to be rectified. Your elevating this problem and transferring the liability to the buyer to seek a skilled tradesman for correction. Citing code will likely land you in a pissing match between you and the builder, when in fact it should be between the tradesman, buyer, local jurisdiction and the builder.
As in my market and many other markets, there is no way for me to know code in each jurisdiction.
And what if you miss a code violation? Were you bias in your code application? Meaning, you apply code to electrical but choose not to apply it to energy codes.
Now, you can disclaim your code reference. Such as; this was not a code inspection, however there were some possible code violations which I may choose to reference in the report at my discretion. Citing code is for your information but should be verified by the local building department. Code is often subject to interpretation or not always enforced. I have no enforcement power nor will I petition the local building department for enforcement. Recommend buyer due diligence.
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My statement is very similar to what you put as far as the disclaimer.
IMO as to the only doing half your job part… if you know something, you should be sharing that knowledge.
I wouldn’t personally make that recommendation, but I do sometimes have comments like that. I put something along the lines of “Although technically not a deficiency, we recommend you be mindful of X. Client may choose to do Y to help this condition.” But that is pretty rare and honestly never on new construction. I actually think some of my clients wouldn’t want me to do that and would see it as a nuisance. (Although I don’t blame you. My own mother would make use of that handrail.)
I also don’t mind citing code. It’s never my one and only piece of evidence for the deficiency. Im pretty sure I always explain, in my professional opinion, what the implication is, also. It’s just a reference for my comment. It just backs me up in the inevitable cases of seller/builder skepticism. That’s at least how I see it. If there are cases out there that prove that rationale wrong, I’d love to see them. Maybe I am wrong.
And realtors & clients certainly expect us to be savvy of code! If I had a dollar for every time I was asked “…but that wasn’t code when the house was built, right?”.
How do you answer? There is a long and convoluted history to building codes in the US.
Before about the mid 90s (1990). there was no ICC. There were 4 different code authorities in the US depending on what section of the country you were in.
We now have over 20 years of ICC code, but it is adopted and amended at varying intervals in every municipality in the country. To add to the confusion precise dates of adoption and or build dates for various homes are rarely available.
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If I know the answer I give it to them because that seems to help in most contexts, but always with a disclaimer than I’m not a code inspector, Texas still requires me to call out certain deficiencies regardless of age of home and code, it’s my professional opinion anyway, etc etc.
Thi post reminds me of a question I had about CYA photos. Here’s an example of what I’m wondering:
There’s a big hole in the wall behind a dresser that was present at time of inspection. The inspector did not move the dresser so they did not see it. They did take “CYA” photos of the accessibility, but instead of putting the photos in the actual report and “cluttering it up”, they just saved the photos to their computer.
Do those photos saved to the computer and not in the report help the inspector at all when they get sued for gross negligence in inspecting by an indignant client? Or would they have to be in the delivered report?
Hopefully the client would not proceed with the complaint after sending them the picture showing that the hole was hidden. But if they did, the picture would definitely be part of my defense, regardless of whether the picture was in the report or not.
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Good point
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Yes! That’s why you time and date stamp all your photos. If you take pictures with your phone you may need to upgrade your camera app. Open Photo works good for Android.
Maryland law requires you to keep everything relatd to the home inspection for 5 years. That includes notes. I do very little with notes, my photos are my notes. The law in your area may be different, but I would think a date and time stamped photo is a good defense step.
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That reminds me of another question… does the image file metadata accomplish the same thing? It always records the date & time taken. Thats gotta be harder to falsify, anyway.
It might, but my thinking is why make the judges job difficult? The meta-data should certainly support the face printed date if asked for but courts are busy and lawyers and judges are just people and prone to be as lazy as the rest of us. Metadata can also be changed / edited. No electronic evidence is tamper proof.
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Short answer…YES. Several years ago, a year after my inspection, the client called me to say that the “electricity in her home had blown up” and the electrician said that the neutral was not bonded and the home inspector should have caught that. One of my general photos of the panel (I take about six) that was never used in the report clearly shows the neutral bonded in the panel box. When I called the electrician and advised him that I had a photo of the neutral, he immediately changed his story and with my threat echoing in his ears, called the client up to tell her that they had misunderstood him and there was no way the home inspector could have known that there was a possible electrical problem. In short, that extra photo never used but saved, avoided a lot of trouble for me.
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