Hi all
Just wanted to get your feedback on the following:
I was told by an insurance agent yesterday that they will not insure any homes that have PEX piping due to the fact that there is a history of it problems. He did specify PEX as well as polybutylene. I asked him about new homes being built with PEX and he said it does not matter.
He said the only company that will insure a house with PEX is Citizens.
Another note he mentioned was that any home with a roof of 15 years or older is going to be subject for review – this could be that the insurance company increases the rate or if older could ask the roof be replaced. It does not matter what the report says even if the 4 point report states that there is 15 years remaining. They only look at the age of the roof and not the life remaining.
We’ve been saying “PEX is the new Poly” for years. There is lawsuits against many manufacturer’s and more coming. IMO Builders continue to use it because it is cheap and a kid could assemble it.
Code almost always lags behind best practice/state of the art. Look how long it took them to require GFCI in all the locations where it is currently required. Many catastrophic events have pushed code to better levels.
The Plumber I use for all my scopes is old school and won’t install PEX or CPVC, but only copper, without SharkBites, solder joints only. A few years back he told me there will be failures with these materials mostly due to the water treatment systems.
I’m now wondering how this will be effecting us going forward and if I should start alerting my clients about this, being that I see a lot of PEX and would hate to see this happen to one of my clients.
You know… when you look at PEX and hold it in your hands it feels indestructible and still there is this. Anyway my town in Florida was a testing site for PB took years to replace it all, of course the retrofit was CPVC, my current home (2004) is plumbed in it but the ones completed in 2012 were all PEX, so if there is going to be failures with this material it should start showing up here fairly soon as it did with PB.
I see it first hand down here all the time with CPVC failures being replaced (typically 30+ year old installations), problem is usually they are typically replacing them with PEX. I couldn’t believe it a couple weeks ago I saw a new build were all visible supply piping was copper
I did a new construction inspection for an engineer last year. Within seconds of meeting each other I asked him if he had any concerns regarding the property. He immediately asked me if I was familiar with PEX piping, I said, “yes PEX is the new Poly”, we hit it off after that. He showed me evidence from locations around the world where PEX was failing in less than 5 years. It was hair line cracks that emanated from the interior of the pipe.
PEX as been used throughout Europe since the 1970’s! It made it to the USA in the early1990’s and became the pipe of choice around 2006 in new construction. I would say that about 80% of the new homes built in the country since 2010 are plumbed with PEX.
Yes, it has had some issues, mostly with fittings made in China! Try and find any pipe that is without issues. Has everyone forgotten about the copper pipe and pin holes developing in it!
This could also just be a Florida issue and most likely it is from an insurance person that just has no clue what they are talking about.
There are several companies who will not insure a property with PEX,Poly, etc…However, there are also several that will…until they drop or transfer you to someone else…going through this with several clients now…
Also, apparently one insurer, Loggerhead, will not accept wind mit or 4-point inspections from home inspectors…only general contractors…at least for now…
I have informed the agent of the following:
(2)(a) The Financial Services Commission shall develop by rule a uniform mitigation verification inspection form that shall be used by all insurers when submitted by policyholders for the purpose of factoring discounts for wind insurance. In developing the form, the commission shall seek input from insurance, construction, and building code representatives. Further, the commission shall provide guidance as to the length of time the inspection results are valid. An insurer shall accept as valid a uniform mitigation verification form signed by the following authorized mitigation inspectors:
1. A home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314 who has completed at least 3 hours of hurricane mitigation training approved by the Construction Industry Licensing Board which includes hurricane mitigation techniques and compliance with the uniform mitigation verification form and completion of a proficiency exam;
That has been going on for years and is getting a lot worse. We have a situation in our neighborhood right now, where the insurance company told the homeowner his roof is too old and they’re going to drop him. He ended up going to one of those roof dot com people claiming hail damage and now they’re in the middle of an insurance dispute. I guess there’s more than one way to skin a cat…
Insurance companies have taken a huge hit and are desperately trying to avoid payouts. They are, after all, a for profit business. I’ve even heard of some of them starting to do “inspections” where the agent will call out various defects and require repairs to continue the policy.
Hey John, with the exception of the previous PEX class action, I haven’t heard about anything else, but we have thousands of miles of PEX and CPVC in our area and I guess we’ll have to just try to keep up on the issue best we can.
I couldn’t believe it a couple weeks ago I saw a new build were all visible supply piping was copper