Not a big issue but I’ve been calling it when the range isn’t fastened down.
Child opens the oven door and climbs up to stand on it and look into a pot of boiling liquid… range flips, spilling boiling liquid on the curious kid.
Who would pay for fastening it down became an issue at the last inspection and the question was whether code required it. AHJ or manufacturer’s recommendations seems to be the answer here. The issue was access for maintenance, cleaning and gas shut-off.
If you must refer to code (which is inadvisable) you can refer to the requirement that gas and electric appliances be installed according to the manufacturer’s instruction which will include an anti-tipping device.
I just call it a safety concern. The seller didn’t want to pay and started the code discussion. I happened to be walking past the building dept. this afternoon so I stopped in to ask just out of curiosity.
Me, too.
This is definitely a safety hazard. There was a $5M law suit settled on the east coast where a child was seriously injured because of the lack of a anti-tip bracket.
When I explain what can happen, people raise their eye brows. Especially the investors who rent out their places. They are direcly held liable for the tenants safety.
Here is some good info on this.
A properly installed anti-tip device will not interfere with sliding the range out for maintenance, cleaning and gas shut-off. Greg’s reference shows how that works.
I always call these out. I have not had much flak from the seller when they find out it is a safety issue.
Who cares who pays. Point it out as a safety hazard. If you dont, you may get one of those "fat’ letters.
I view it as my primary job–to keep someone from getting injured or killed in a house due to a defect. It would be a “big issue” to your client if you didn’t address it as a significant item and their child was scarred for life.
Bingo. I always bitch about it.
I include safety tips under differenct sections to ensure
these items are pre-written into my report…
Range-Oven-Cooktop:
(Tip: Anti-tip devices and solid anchoring is required as needed)
So you don’t examine the range to see if it includes an anti-tip, but simply put a catch-all “tip” about it in your reports?
My view is that they are “needed” in all circumstances.
Joe’s right. I test each and every range, and if it doesn’t have anti-tip I’m recommending it. I could never have imagined that an inspector in California would be sued when a young girl was killed by climbing on a fountain and pulling it down on herself, but he was. Since then, I do everything I can to prevent injury and accidents, and particularly as it relates to children and the elderly.
Its very simple really. If they’re not there, open the range door and show them the sticker telling them “anti-tip devices” are supposed to be there.
We talked about this last year also…
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In my experience, anti tip devices are delivered with the range (from the appliance manufacturer). I usually (on newer homes) find these in one of the drawers. About one in twenty are actually installed. The are simple to install and work well. Don’t know why contractors neglect to install them. As to who pays, it should be very cheap.