I would never energize any system that was found to be off during an inspection. I inform the buyer before the inspection that it is their responsibilty to make sure all utilities are on at the time of the inspection.
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If you, or an agent, turns on water.
The crucial step is to post someone at the meter, looking at the little spinny thing.
Dead stopped? OK.
Spinning: not OK.
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That is a GREAT bit of advice! There have been a lot of comments on this topic as to whether or not its a good idea to turn on the water to a home when a home inspector arrives to the home and it is turned off. I usually don’t. With that being said, I do use the meter and the “little spinny thing” to check for leaks in my own home when we get a larger than normal water bill or when I’m troubleshooting my drip system for the garden. If the meter needle isn’t moving, its generally a good indication that there are no leaks.
I hadn’t thought of using this practice during a home inspection but since the secondary water shutoff (which is the one I would use, if applicable) is usually fairly close to the main meter shutoff, I may feel more comfortable in turning on the water and immediately running over to the meter to view the activity or lack thereof on the meter.
Edit: I still feel that it is not my responsibility to turn on the water and probably won’t, if it is off when I arrive. This has not happened on any of my inspections yet, but I know it will somewhere down the road…
That may be good where you are but around here, and in many areas, there is no water meter because 90 percent plus are on wells and not municipal water systems.
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Are used to replace a ton of water meters for the city I lived in many many years ago. Those little spinny things on the water meter are about as useless as a calibrated screwdriver.
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Agree, especially with slow leaks in walls.
There can be leaks in walls for weeks/months before anyone realizes theres a problem, and by then the damage can be much more severe than with a quick leak in a ceiling that is discovered right away!
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Case by case would be wise. New builds sometimes have the hot water shutoff valve turned off for the kitchen dishwasher. I choose to open the valve and run the dishwasher.
If water is turned off on arrival, then it is turned off when leaving. I try to not create drama and use common sense but also don’t want my work ethic to be called in to question. I do think it important to have your own SOP and have solid logic behind it.
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Exactly what I have done for years. I’ve had REA’s offer to turn it on, but I quickly say no - it has to be done in a certain order so that I can make sure there are no problems. If a fixture doesn’t have an individual shutoff or the valves appear in ill repair, I disclaim it and refuse to turn it on. Only once, I turned on the main and the kitchen water line popped loose. Because I took it slowly, I just had a small puddle to deal with, and quickly shut everything down.
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And document everything w/ photos!
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