When home inspectors collide

Electricity does strange things that I can not explain to you .
I had a flourscent light and about 50% of the time when you turned it on the automatic light out side would come on.
Obviously the light did get some sort of signal to cause this . I just lived with it no big deal .
I am one who does not want a GFCI on my sump pump.
Many years ago ( Like about 30±) ( I am going from memory ) at one of the Continental Can plants in the USA they had a 1/4 horse motor burn out it cause a momentry short that caused a in rush surge that went through the plant and in a quick instant they had many many motors fail.
The more I learn the more I realize how little I know.
Roy Cooke Sr

Except the problem goes away when the appliance is put on a dedicated circuit. Nothing else trips the circuit once the appliance is taken off of the circuit. I say again, determine the cause is not my job, but when the appliance works properly but trips the GFCI, and no other cause for tripping that GFCI can be found, initial electrical surge seems to be the culprit, which, as I said before, appears to be in the process of being addressed by GFCI manufacturers with new technology. I’ll be happy to see that new technology in use.

In some states the RE contracts actually specify what is to happen.

In FL one of our contracts specifies the buyer and seller must hire, and share the cost, a third inspector to review the two reports and issue his own. The third inspector generally has to have equal credentials or better that the first two. Each party submits names and credentials and the inspector is chosen from the submittal.

Another common method that we have seen is for the more stringent of the reports to be followed. This method takes into account the credentials of the inspectors.

Hey, Jeff.

What happens when the more credentialed of the inspectors also happens to be the more complacent because he’s so full of knowledge that he simply believes he can’t be wrong about anything? There are many instances where I’ll take the young, enthusiastic person over the complacent, experienced, credentialed person. Same thing with politicians; unfortunately, they also eventually become complacent.

Its nice to be hired by both the Seller & Buyer…Only problem is that I argue with myself over stupid pitty things like “which way the pin goes”. I should be agreeing with myself instead to work together and find the right answer for my clients, I find the latter keeps me working and out of court.

Paul Pendley
Premier Property Inspections

GFCIs are a very mature product. Every time I have actually investigated something that trips a GFCI I have found a ground fault.
I can understand why you might want to live with the fault (sump pumps etc) but you also want to be very sure your grounding is solid or you might end up dieing from the fault

That is a problem! One that I would hope would not be the norm. :frowning:

As far as arguing with yourself. If an inspector is doing his job the report should reflect exactly the same things, whether inspecting for the buyer or seller. If it does not, lets just say we may have a dishonest inspector who is not providing an unbiased opinion. :wink:

Regular readers know that I am not unbiased by any stretch of the imagination. Whoever/Whomever hires me gets my biases in their favor. Everyone else incurs my wrath. :margarit:

Your questionshighlights one of the reasons that many Realtors advise against Pre-Listing inspections.

It alerts the seller to issues that they then must disclose or repair. If they repair them and the Buyer’s inspector has a different opinion, finds things the previous inspector missed, or has some specialist background that results in items found far exceeding SOP, in most cases the seller will feel like they wasted the money on the pre-listing inspection.

I provide as much information about items as possible for my clients. I often cite professional sources, add diagrams or websites for more info, and occasionally add citations from the IRC where appropraite and educational.

The bottom line is I can support my position, so I do not fear being sued. I educate my clients (as RR does) so they understand the issues, different possible interpretations, and are prepared to react accordingly.

WAIT…I lost track of the question…when Home Inspectors Collide…we FIGHT…be bring out the BIG GUNS…the 22 inch Pythons ( ok for those who have ACTUALLY met me…no I dont have 22 inch Pythons…but I can SLAP them around with the old 38 inch GUTBUSTER…:slight_smile:

I think the problem lies with being nit pickers. I can’t believe the stuff I read on this forum that is being called out as a concern. I am there to find the big stuff. I am not there to recommend further investigation unless I don’t understand how it is to function or whether its hidden and needs to be looked at further by disassembly.

Of all the pre-listing inspection I have done, I have yet to have a problem. (touch wood)

It seems to me that the buyer is the one that should get what he wants. He is going to be the new owner and inherents all the defects etc and has to deal with them.
Once the seller has sold it he walks away and has no reason to care about the house.
As far as the HI’s interest goes if the buyer walks then the HI has the potential for another inspection.

Case law suggests vendors do have obligations if fraud, or negligent misrepresentation can be proven fwiw.

BTW, it was recently pointed out to me by an electrician that the *rational *way to install side-by-side duplex outlets is with one up, one down - that way it’s more likely users will be able to install multiple “wall-wart” style transformers and/or right angle plugs witout conflict.

Thats tough to prove. They used to have a disclosure sheet that the seller filled out. I believe it has been discontinued because of the law suits.
When I sell this house it will be “As is, Where is”.
No way in h*ll am I going to fill one out.

I suppose you have enhanced the opinion that the seller should never have an inspection. That gives him pausible deniability about anything they have not disclosed. If they never had the A/C serviced and it still blows cold air they can say it is perfect.

Whether the seller has an inspection done for themselves has nothing to do with the sales transaction. The sales agreement gives the buyer an out based on the inspection he pays for. If the buyer CHOOSES to accept the information from the seller’s inspection that is contrary to his inspector’s report, that is their choice. The choice is the buyer’s alone. When the seller receives a counter offer in the form of requested work orders, they can say yes, no or as RR noted, deal cancelled. There is a difference between no and cancelling the transaction. A no simply puts the ball back in the buyer’s court to see if they will now complete the transaction without the requested work being performed. A cancelled agreement can now start from scratch with new buyers that don’t have any contingencies.

Sellers should have inspections. They can greatly help in the preparation and marketing of a property. It can show them the weaknesses of their pricing and any potential pitfalls that may arise. Of course in California where RR is located, the required disclosures are much more demanding than many other states.

Put two inspectors in the same house at different times and there will most likely be differences in their reports. They may have different background specialities that they tend to rely on and that may show in their report. Not better or worse, not right or wrong, just different styles in reporting.

“Collide”???

What does the code say?

There is a better way but no code requirement.

Ivory outlets must have the EGC down, white outlets must be up, And decora outlets must be replaced.

I can’t believe anyone would even point out an outlet for having the ground up/down. My concern is it working and is it grounded and no chunks missing. Sounds like someone is being too picky. IMO.

I don’t know of any inspector who would. I think that was just to stimulate the conversation.