I do agree with you, but only under certain circumstances.
When I see something that I am confident is wrong, I don’t like to refer it for further evaluation. It gives the impression that the inspector is not confident in their own evaluation.
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I agree and feel the same way.
This is the tricky one and the one I struggle with, especially on this forum. @mfellman always makes a great point to “stay in my lane”. I have to ask myself, what is my lane? While us home inspectors come from various trades and can make solid recommendations on how to correct a defect, does it make sense to make the recommendations or refer it out. Is it my duty as a Home Inspector to make the recommendation or refer it out?
My thought on this is…a Home Inspector is a knowledgeable professional that comes to a home and evaluates many systems/components in typically 3 hours or less and creates a report, ie. roofing, attic, exterior, interior, heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, appliances, cabinetry, venting, foundation, crawlspace, etc.
Our profession and a Home Inspection is designed to give a Seller or Buyer an overall observation on defects present at the time of the inspection with a report detailing these observations. Imagine if there were no Home Inspectors. What option would a Buyer or Seller have? They would have to hire individually a: roofer, general contractor, plumber, electrician, HVAC contractor, appliance professional, foundation contractor, structural engineer, etc. How much would a “Home Inspection” cost for a Seller or Buyer to hire all these trades to individually inspect each component/system mentioned if there were no Home Inspectors? This is something I see come up often and this is how I justify my value as a Home Inspector, at least in my own mind. I feel our trade is WAY undervalued.
I don’t feel that my client will think I’m incompetent by not offering a recommendation on how to fix something, even though I’m very capable of making recommendations on many defects. From the input on this forum, I don’t feel that is my duty to make recommendations on how to fix a defect and I feel comfortable not doing so and providing the value that a Home Inspector provides.
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It may appear that way but I’m thinking he simply snuck his wires in through the meterbase and used the same conduit to get into the electrical panel. Did you take the panel covers off or see these conductors snake through on the inside?
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That thought crossed my mind as well. The main panel was not accessible to remove the cover unfortunately and it was in a finished wall so nothing to look at there. There wasn’t a breaker in the main panel labeled in a way that would make sense for the garage receptacle, but of course we all know that doesn’t mean much.
An option would have been to kill the main breaker and then go check for power at the garage receptacle, but the house was occupied so I usually try not to shut off breakers.
I decided not to contort myself into the shape needed to get the main panel cover off. One of only two or three covers I have not removed in my three years of inspecting.
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