testing exterior GFCI's in homes full of furniture

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Always remember a few rules.

We're not their cradle to grave insurance policy.
We're not adopting and raising them, just inspecting the house.
We're not the seller NOR are we a warranty company.
We're the initial cursory screening process - not the final word.
***** happens - it works one minute & breaks down the next.
Its not my house - its yours, take care of it.

Sellers, Realtors and many buyers would have you paying for anything that quits working or breaks during an inspection or shortly afterwards.

Buyer moved into a house we did an inspection on 2 months ago. Two days later the floor drain backs up. Wants us to be responsible & pay to fix it.

Sorry Guy - last fall same thing happened to me. Last night its OK, today the drains backed up. I paid to fix mine - you take care of yours.

I feel the worst thing for our profession is to baby these people. It sits up all kinds of unreasonable expectations.

I once tested a garage outlet and heard the GFCI trip. I'd seen a reset on another outlet in the garage and assumed it would be that one. It wasn't.

That reset also controlled the half bath & upstairs bath and O/S outlets. This happened at the end of the inspection. The seller had just came home and when we explained that we couldn't find the GFCI reset he told us it was behind the garage storage shelf unit.

The sellers kid had an old car he was working on stored in the garage (without its wheels and the kid is away at school). There was a floor to ceiling solid storage shelf in the garage with a solid wood back on it. The car was wedged up against the storage shelf. The 2nd garage reset was behind there. You couldn't get to it. The seller was ballistic. I had another job to go to, so couldn't stay to help him move everything. He was pissed.

I don't blame him for being pissed - but it was his problem not mine. On top of that the buyer backed away from the house.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Yep.......your job is to test....their job is to make it available to test it. I would prefer to TEST and worry about not finding the reset than not testing at all because I can tell you this.....all the recent documentation I have received on the fact that in some states GFCI's that are older failed 60% of the time when tested.......Florida is BAD for this because of the MOV in the GFCI being damaged from lightning and surges.......and couple that with the fact some GFCI's will go defective in the CLOSED position meaning it still works as a receptacle without GFCI protection and gives the false sense of actual PROTECTION.......just not worth NOT testing them.

Solution for the person who says...what about the meat in the fridge...guess what in a few years those fridges will have to be on GFCI...regardless.....so here is a solution...BUY a cheap extention cord and if you trip a GFCI you cant find and it trips a fridge.....plug it into the cord and to a working plug for a TEMP FIX.......then tell the agent and owner....cheaper to give a $10.00 extention cord away IF that ever happens versus paying for the LIFE that could be lost........ya think....

[Peter W. Bennett]

Two years ago, I got a call from the seller, a week after the inspection, who claimed there was $15,000 of special medication in the garage refrigerator, which was on the GFCI protected circuit. He wanted me to pay for it. I question his motive by asking: 1. when did you notice the frig was not working, 2. what did you do to trouble shoot, and 3. why did it take a week to contact me, and 4. how come there's no warning notice posted in the house???? His stuttering answers were; 1. about one week. 2. looked around in the panel with a friend and could not find anything tripped off. ( not even the GFCI outlet) 3. he only takes his med. every 2-3 days. 4. didn't think he needed it.
I told him 1. I check t-stats and GFCI's before I leave. 2. there were two days of severe t-storms which could have set-off the GFCI. 3. His agent, who knows me well, and did not know about the meds either, and told me he was a flake anyhow.
I told him to pound butter, salt and pavement.