Flooded basement caused high humidity which resulted in corrosion and rust in the main panel electrical system. I suspect the meter will need to be pulled, panel replaced, and then the power company will not put the meter back in until the contractor gets a copy of the Electrical Codes report indicating everything is good.
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OK ! And?..
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Is this something you inspected? Even if not, lets see your narrative for this problem. Write it up just as you would for a buyer.
That is not from a flood.
That is from an unconditioned basement, over a long period of time.
Yup, that’s how it goes.
Please do what Robert asked. What are you going to say about thhis.
I recomend you read your SOP as to what you are reporting here.
There is a lot of stuff there to talk about, but what caused it (the flood), is not your call. Does it require replacement like your talking about, is not your call. Is it functioning at this point, is your call. Deacribing what you see, is your call.
Recomending further evaluation is your call, after you do your job as a HI.
I. The home inspection is based on the observations made on the date of the inspection, and not a prediction of future conditions.
1.2. A material defect is a specific issue with a system or component of a residential property that may have a significant, adverse impact on the value of the property, or that poses an unreasonable risk to people. The fact that a system or component is near, at, or beyond the end of its normal, useful life is not, in itself, a material defect.
If you use the NACHI SOP: Consider these.
VIII. An inspection does not determine the life expectancy of the property or any components or systems therein.
2.2. Exclusions:
I. The inspector is not required to determine:
A. property boundary lines or encroachments.
B. the condition of any component or system that is not readily accessible.
C. the service life expectancy of any component or system.
D. the size, capacity, BTU, performance or efficiency of any component or system.
E. the cause or reason of any condition.
F. the cause for the need of correction, repair or replacement of any system or component.
G. future conditions.
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Bottom line is that panel needs to be replaced. As others have asked how would you report that?
Well I’m in a non license state, so I have no state standards I would need to follow, but I would write it up for replacement.
“The main electrical panel was observed to have rust and deterioration throughout, which might be more costly to repair than to replace, the inspector recommends a license electrician evaluate. repair or replace as needed for safety.”
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There is no Professional Electrician anywhere that will spend the time and energy needed to attempt to…
Realtors must love your “soft reporting” to help them sell houses!!
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It addition to the corrosion it has the red main breaker that is an issue also. Time to replace.
If it had been flooded NEMA has guidelines that call for replacement
What constitutes “soft reporting” can be subjective. I would word it differently, but I don’t see William’s report as “soft.” His recommendation is a call to action and moves the responsibility to the client to act forcefully with an electrician.
On this forum, a lot of our disagreements originate with our differences in how we see our job. I see us as generalists. We are not the expert or licensed tradesperson. For us to say, “this panel is unsafe and must be replaced” is accurate, but arguably more than we are qualified to say as a generalist. So, while I would report this panel as “Appears unsafe,” I think William’s recommendation is still a good one.
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I’d like to say I don’t disagree with your comment/opinion, but I can’t. At least with some of it…
“Soft… Subjective”… it absolutely is, but we all know that a Realtors sense of subjectiveness is biased towards making the sale to get a paycheck! As the Realtor is the person of most influence with our Client after the inspection and report are delivered, which way do you think that subjectiveness flows?
Soft comes in play from making comments/recommendations that are included/intended to “soften the blow” of information that will likely cause uneasiness with realtors, thus harming the possibility of future referrals from said Realtors. References to “Repairing” is deceitful at best, regardless of the expense. As I mentioned above, there is no professional or ethical electrician out there that will sell a “repair job on that panel” to that client to make that panel “Safe”!
In MY professional opinion, (that is how my Client sees me, not as a “Generalist”), the only safe ‘repair’ is a full ‘replacement’ of the panel. No additional evaluation necessary. All the indicators are there, and if you don’t see them, you either need more intensive training or another line of work!
Any inspector that does not state the honest and obvious facts, are doing their clients a disservice!
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I think that being a “professional” and a “generalist” are not different things. I think we are both. This is part of setting expectations with a client that I think is so important.
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