Folks I have question that I would like to get feedback one, if you would be so kind. Yesterday I inspected a home with a pool. The pool and home are older, built before bonding and GFCI requirements per NEC. My question based off the following….
(1) The pool pump was replaced in 2024, it has no bonding wire and is not on a GFCI circuit.
(2) Pool light was not GFCI protected
(3) All exterior receptacles at or by the pool deck not GFCI protected.
Items 1, 2 & 3 above are going on my inspection report, but would it also be appropriate to put these items on the 4-Point as electrical defects knowing that they were not required at the time the pool was installed?
I thank you for the professional reply.
So bonding was first required in 1962. The fact that there is no bonding of the pool, equipment or any metal items around the area is a huge health/life/safety hazard. The same goes for the lack of GFCI protection. Yes, I would include all of this on a 4-Point.
You’re muddying the 4-point waters.
And don’t try to determine when things were required or not required for an insurance report.
No visible bond wire at the filtration equipment doesn’t mean the pool isn’t bonded, FWIW.
Did the pool light have a transformer? Gfci bill not required if transformer present. (Which I think is safer anyways, and more common)
I would put that in the 4 point if it didn’t have either one
Consider these:
- What if the insurance company through a law firm request your full home inspection report and the 4 -point report? (This happened to me)
- What if the issues in the reports do not match? (Mine did match)
- Our job is to just report what we observed on any reporting system.
My policy was if it is on the home inspection report as a defect, it goes on the 4-point. It would be pretty hard to convince anyone that you performed two inspections at the same time, and somehow, the reports are different. It is why for the last 2 years when I was performing inspections, I gave my client the option of either doing the 4-point or having one done by an outside party.
Of course, I also explained to them that these defects that appear on the 4-point can be used as leverage… if you can’t get insurance, neither will anyone else especially if you back out, because now, the seller must disclose all known defects…
If a condition exists that could potentially kill someone put in your report, even if the house was 200 years old.