AHJ Sued for Missed Code Violations

[James H. Bushart]

Looks like people are no longer taking shoddy building practices...and those who support them...laying down, anymore.

MONROE, NC (WBTV) - In the quiet of Union County farm country Heather and Lee Henage built the house they always wanted.
"The outside looks great," said Lee Henage.
It turns out looks can be deceiving.
"What we've discovered is underneath that, the bones of the house, there are problems," said Henage.
Piers that support the weight of the house are missing.
"It's not going to be easy, or inexpensive for them for them to correct," said Paul King, a certified home inspector. "It poses a structural instability problem."
Engineers hired by the Henages put together a detailed report and found dozens of structural and safety issues.
The windows in the children's upstairs bedroom are 46" off the floor. Fire code says they can only be 44" off the floor to provide an exit in an emergency.
There are other issues found in the home's crawl space. Straps designed to keep the frame of the house connected to the foundation aren't installed correctly. It could cause problems in a strong windstorm.
"Yes, I would be nervous about that," said King.
The most serious of the problems were backed up in a report by investigators with the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal. It points out "life safety issues" and code violations.
"We thought the house is passing inspections it must be structurally sound," said Heather Henage.
King says Union County code inspectors should have been able to spot the problems.
"At a framing stage yes, it should have been caught," said King.
The violations weren't caught. Union County inspector Greg Capehart kept passing the home. The Henages are now suing him and the Union County Inspections Department.
Capehart has not returned WBTV's calls for comment. Union County Inspection Department Director John Reavis also declined to comment citing the pending lawsuit. In its response to the court, the county says it did nothing wrong.
The Henages say they've gotten nowhere with the builder Tsitouris Homes and dismissed it from a lawsuit because the company is no longer in business.
Just before the Henage home was finished, the state was wrapping up another investigation. It found Capehart guilty of "willful misconduct, gross negligence, or gross incompetence" for failing to enforce code provision on a different home.
Capehart did not admit guilt in the case, but he did agree to a 3 month suspension of his license.
"Just infuriating to me that the county is denying that they did anything wrong," said Heather Henage. "Yet they know that they guy who inspected my house has done the same thing before."
"You sink all your savings and future income to buy a house." said Lee Henage. "And put it on your family property and it's devastating."
The Fire Marshal Office's final report on the Henage home is expected to in the next couple weeks. It will then be determined if Capehart will face any state ordered discipline. As of right now he is still doing inspections in Union County.
The Henages say repairs to their home will cost $162,000. Their lawsuit is still working its way through the legal system.
King says homeowners should consider hiring an inspector at the framing stage to catch problems before drywall and insulation goes up. But he says most people don't because they rely on county inspectors to pick up code violations.
Copyright 2011 WBTV. All rights reserved.

[Jeff Merritt]

So nice to see

[Gary Farnsworth]

Until all states adapt standard building codes in every city and county, this will happen; especially when they have home inspection laws. It is hard for us to really determine what a defect is a defect, when we have nothing to really go by.

[James H. Bushart]

As we all know (and the public is only beginning to discover) many municipal and county inspections are made in the same manner as appraisals.....from a passing car.

When homes were still increasing in value as they deteriorated from shoddy building, nobody seemed to care. They simply sold it for a profit to the next sucker.

Times have changed and people/lenders are getting stuck with these properties. AHJs are only protected from lawsuits by what they actually inspect...not what they pass over. I would suspect that there are some pretty sweaty palms and rapid heart beats...not only among AHJs as they reflect upon their "inspections" over the last five to ten years...but also those of builders who will slowly but surely be seeing their work more closely scrutinized.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

This was on TV last night. The home inspector hired (a friend of mine) is working for the home owner’s attorney as an expert witness. He told me that the builder downloaded a sketch of the house off the internet but never bought the detailed plans. The county issued a building permit without seeing any plans. The inspector didn’t really know what to look for when it came to the load bearing part of the structure, because no plans were available.

The pretty columns blew off in a wind storm because they were not secured. The porch was not bolted to the house. The windows were not flashed and were leaking. The 2nd story load was transferred to an OSB floor. Lots of other issues. An engineer from the NC Office of the State Fire Marshall confirmed the things the inspector wrote up. I think the County is in pretty hot water right now.

[Marc-Andre Beauchemin]

"Union County Inspections Department."

Unfortunately, James, municipalities and agglomeration bodies around here in Quebec Canada also refuse to hire enough code inspectors which means that most constructions are completed without a visit from a code inspector.

When they go by coincides with the time they send the tax bill out!

These few code inspectors never see as much of a construction as we do.

We come in after much unqualified work has been performed, many DIY's without permits, no wonder why the public is weary when they hear of inspections.

The official tax seal of approval is for the code inspector to give.

Code inspectors are too few!