Testing GFCI's in an occupied Home

[David Nasser]

Who is responsibe if I test a Bathroom GFCI and it doesnt reset and all
the bathroom outlets go dead including the outlet outside running the
irrigation? The house is occupied and they need the bathrooms outlets

David

[Bob Elliott]

You are allowed to use normal operating controls, so they can't blame you .
That is the straight up answer.

They should be tested once a month anyway.
Easy fix .
I can say that with confidence since it was not caused by anything other than a bad GFCI obviously.

Defiantly would have made contact or discussed the matter however.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by dnasser

Who is responsibe if I test a Bathroom GFCI and it doesnt reset and all
the bathroom outlets go dead including the outlet outside running the
irrigation? The house is occupied and they need the bathrooms outlets

David

If it didn't operate that is how I would report it.

[Doug Edwards]

One caveat; newer GFCIs will not reset if the device is wired incorrectly. It is a safety feature to prevent the device from being used until wired correctly. I have done brand new homes and all the GFCIs were wired incorrectly and none could be reset. That is why you are checking it for function in the first place. If it is an older home (or device) it "failed" upon testing, write up as such.

[iniquette]

It failed. The owner of the home would be responsible. To not test these and find out from your client down the road that they do not work would be poor inspection practices on your part in my opinion. You can rest assured that if you do not test them in an occupied home and they do not function properly when your client takes ownership you will hear about and it won't be to say thank you for the great home inspection. Responsibility lies with the owner.

[wsiegel]

Report it as 'failed under test". It is up to the homeowner to repair.

[David Nasser]

Thanks...this is info that I needed.

[David Nasser]

Thanks Doug....I was almost was in this type of situation. And I wondered what
would I say....

[Michael R. Boyett]

Also keep in mind that some GFCI's are installed downstream from another GFCI. When testing the downstream GFCI it can trip the upstream GFCI that may not be as visible as you might like. Make sure power is getting to the GFCI in question...a simple voltage ticker will prove that.