Texas - Required to move items

[Barry Adair]

Originally Posted by bking

What about an attic stair above a car and the keys are in the car (owner not home)? Do you texas guy's have to move the car to gain access to the attic?!

Sometimes, but these are also considered "bonuses"
Unless Lo-Jack system is seen then we don't touch 'em

[Bruce A. King]

I helped a client roll a car out of the garage that had a dead battery so I could get into the attic. It was a 1yr warranty inspection so she owned the car.

No problem but she said the last time they did that it rolled over into the neighbors yard. I said, yep you gotta watch how you move these things ya know.

[Michael R. Boyett]

The TREC Inspector Committee SOP sub-committee has been presenting the proposed SOP to the full committee yesterday, today and tomorrow. Amongst much discussion was this latest version of the definition of "Accessible":

Accessible – in the reasonable judgment of the inspector, capable of being approached, entered, or viewed without:
A) Undue hazard to the inspector;
B) Moving furnishings or large, heavy objects;
C) Using specialized tools or procedures;
D) Disassembling items other than covers or panels intended to be removed for inspections or maintenance;
E) Damaging property; or
F) Using a ladder for portions of the inspection other than the roof or attic space.

[John Cahill]

New proposal says:
Accessible – in the reasonable judgment of the inspector, capable of being approached, entered, or viewed without:
A) Undue hazard to the inspector;
B) Moving furnishings or large, heavy objects;
C) Using specialized tools or procedures;
D) Disassembling items other than covers or panels intended to be removed for inspections or maintenance;
E) Damaging property; or
F) Using a ladder for portions of the inspection other than the roof or attic space.

The use of the word "reasonable" is not needed. All judgment must be reasonable and it is up to the skill of the prosecution to prove it. Adding term "reasonable" is bureaucratic bloviation. Oh well, with 1 TREC complaint for every 55,000 inspections it should find good use.

What is definition of "undue" or what is "due"?

Does this mean the inspector it to remove small light objects? I would argue that it does against your insurance policy.

What is "specialized"?

The cover requirement is worded to require removal of all covers intended for home owners AND professionals. That means EVERY cover.

The ladder statement requires a ladder to be used for the roof and attic. That includes roofs that require 30 foot ladders.

A good expert can make money on this definition.

[Michael R. Boyett]

There is a definition of 'specialized' and the SOP does not require the use of any specialized equipment. Here's what the proposal says:

Specialized tools and procedures – Tools and procedures such as thermal imaging equipment, moisture meters, gas leak detection equipment, environmental testing equipment and devices, elevation determination devices, ladders capable of reaching surfaces over one story above ground surfaces, or any method employing destructive testing that damages otherwise sound materials or finishes.

I'm more concerned about the Furnace/Heating System requirement to report as deficient "the presence of forced air in the burner compartment" yet, at the same time provides a specific limitation of inspecting Heating Systems that the Inspector is not required to verify "the integrity of the heat exchanger". When asked about this apparent contradiction the chairman of the SOP sub-committee told me, on record, that this was to show the inspector made a good faith effort to make sure there were no heat exchanger defects. When asked further how he expected the inspector to accomplish this he said with a 'match test', a 'smoke test' or one of several other methods. Well, that's trying to have it both ways. He was saying, to me, inspect the heat exchanger as best you can but we are not gonna hold you to it. I bet the lawyer will.

The same anomaly almost occurred with Smoke Detectors. After an hour of discussion focusing on the impossibility of an inspector to be able to verify the interconnectivity of smokes unless there were more than one inspector on site or the inspector could run very, very fast to listen to each distant detector then one of the public members suggested wording, to the effect, that the inspector test the smokes and interconnectivity "where possible". But again, an exclusion would be that the inspector would not be required to verify such interconnectivity. Thankfully, with some last minute wrangling by myself and 2 of the sub-committee members that wording was not accepted.

[John Cahill]

They have no idea what is going on. Only two members inspect full time.

I discovered that evaporative cooler manufacturers recommend GFCI on all their coolers. Did they discuss that?

Did they discuss the 30 pages of changes I suggested?

[Michael R. Boyett]

No, they relied 99.9% on the committee member from El Paso to write the evaporative cooling section. I have to admit that I learn a lot from the committee members when attending these meetings. For instance, this time I learned that:

1. Electrical branch circuits in metal conduit do not need AFCI protection.
2. All pool pump motors require a driven ground rod.
3. Electrical main/SE panels require two grounding methods.
4. Pool equipment bonding is internal to the equipment and grounding is external.

Now, some or all of those are new or foreign to me and I'm going to have to go spend time and make sure I understand each one of those .

[John Cahill]

Mike, thanks very much for going to the meeting and the great minutes. I was in an insurance adjusting class.

The SoP are flawed but we can make em work . . . . just like we did the last batch. The Committee members are hard working and well intentioned. I have not seen a regulated industry that was not without problems.

As for me? I plan to quit trying to change the system and just work around it. Not sure how fast I can do that after being active for 24 years. It's futile when you realize only 50 inspectors in the state know the SoP are being revised and half of them are bench warmers. You my man are a masterful and effective representative. I want you on the next committee.


(following is message to secret NACHI surfer: Hi DB at Camino LC; TY for your work and congrat on promo; yer next GC )