Attention Kentucky Licensed Home Inspectors:

[D. Michael Green]

ATTENTION KENTUCKY LICENSED HOME INSPECTORS:

The Kentucky Board of Home Inspectors has issued the attached Advisory Bulletin on the inspection and reporting of Federal Pacific Electric Panels. Your attention to this matter is manditory.

07-001FPE PANELS07-101107-12031.pdf

[wsiegel]

That should create some converstation.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

So...what percentage of the Board Members are Realtors ???

[Michael R. Boyett]

That seems to be a legitimate, reasonable directive to me.

[Blaine Wiley]

My guess would be that the board is not made up of home inspectors or electricians..

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by mboyett

That seems to be a legitimate, reasonable directive to me.

ALL KENTUCKY HOME INSPECTOR LICENSEES SHALL REVIEW THEIR INSPECTION
REPORTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ADVISORY BULLETIN
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Does this include past reports?

[D. Michael Green]

The Board has 5 licensed home inspectors, 1 Realtor, 1 Builder, 1 Manufactured Housing Rep, and the Director of the Office of Housing Building and Construction.

This matter was also fully reviewed by the State Electrical Board.

It applies to all future inspections only.

[Tracy Schoop]

Originally Posted by dgreen1

The Board has 5 licensed home inspectors, 1 Realtor, 1 Builder, 1 Manufactured Housing Rep, and the Director of the Office of Housing Building and Construction.

This matter was also fully reviewed by the State Electrical Board.

It applies to all future inspections only.

What a crock of *****. The KY board is also run by a guy name Ralph Wirth
who is BIG time NAHI supporter and would be for something like this. This directive is nothing more than a dumbing down of the home inspection process to help the Realtors sell homes.

[D. Michael Green]

Tracy,

You have no idea what you are talking about!!!! Ralph Wirth does serve on the Board but he does not control it! I have many times locked horns with him. I have also known him for over 20 years and although I don't always agree with him I know him to be an honest and very good man. This matter came up because of a number of compliants received from the State Electricians Board about home inspectors taking on look at FPE panels and calling for replacement without even taking the cover off and inspecting for problems. The Realtors had very little to do with it....next time get your facts straight!

[James H. Bushart]

Licensing solves nothing.

[Tracy Schoop]

Sorry, I might have been a little rough on Ralph. I have known Ralph as well but only for about six or seven years, mostly through NAHI. If Ralph is such a stand-up guy for home inspectors why did he not fight this? If he and other board members had gotten their facts straight then they could have defeated this mandate.

As it is now all FPE panels will need to be inspected by an electrician and that cost will be passed on to the homeowner. NO home inspector in a right mind would say that an FPR panel is OK, and an electrician would be a fool to sign off saying an FPE panel is OK.

[David A. Andersen]

I for one see nothing wrong with this directive.

This appears to be like knob-and-tube, if it is working it's ok.
Report what you see, nothing more.

It does not say anything about advising the client that there are know recalls and problems with some equipment.

It is talking about the flat across the board "If it is FPE, it must be replaced."

Licensing solves nothing.

In this case, it is protecting the seller and client from "assuming" Home Inspectors.

This should be a wake up call for those that are so hot to refer outside contractors when there is no evidence of significant defect.

It says nothing in the State Laws that recall information must be reported by HI's. This is something HI's are adding themselves.

NO home inspector in a right mind would say that an FPR panel is OK, and an electrician would be a fool to sign off saying an FPE panel is OK.
Why do State Laws get crazy? Because people do crazy things and damage others in the process.

No one is asking for a warranty or insurance. It's OK when there are no adverse conditions visible.

Like the age of appliances (ie. hvac), you don't know if or when it may fail. Our job is to determine if it is working today. Is there visible signs of deterioration or damage? If not, it's OK.

There is nothing wrong with reporting the "condition" of the equipment. It gets wrong when you start talking about the need for replacement when it is still working.

This has evolved from HI's "afraid" that the client is going to blame them when the equipment fails in the near future. Quit being afraid and just be sure that the client understands the scope of the inspection before you begin. We get blamed for stuff, that's just part of the job. Just document everything. It does not have to be in the report, just handy if you get questioned. Keep your camera running in one hand non-stop. Take reference photos of all major components and equipment.

Increase your inspection prices so you can afford those complaints when they arrive.

[bkelly1]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Licensing solves nothing.

Actually it just did. I believe this is a good directive, and that was the not the best place you could have written that statement.

[John Bowman]

Isn't it kinda disturbing to see a Home Inspection board dictating to the point where the home inspector no longer renders "his opinion" but rathar the "legislative opinion" of a Home Inspection board.

Very disturbing....

[Peter C. Russell]

Originally Posted by jbowman

Isn't it kinda disturbing to see a Home Inspection board dictating to the point where the home inspector no longer renders "his opinion" but rathar the "legislative opinion" of a Home Inspection board.

Very disturbing....

Sounds like code enforcement to a certain extant to me.