I was trying to review the standards for a residential inspection and have a question. Is the evaporator / A-coil in the furnace part of the heating/cooling inspection or not?

Also, to add on, the evaporator coil is behind an access panel, not screwed on, easy snap on/off access.

[Bruce A. King]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;851621]I was trying to review the standards for a residential inspection and have a question. Is the evaporator / A-coil in the furnace part of the heating/cooling inspection or not?[/QUOTE]


Can you please be more specific with the reason for asking?

As a general rule, no, its just not visible without dismantling.
Some inspectors will exceed the standards and look at the coil.
Some have trouble getting the cabinet covers back on due to missing parts or improper prior installation and damage.

On some manufactured housing, the coil is partly visible on the closet unit.

Rust and dust is totally normal depending on the age and maintenance.

A bad coil would typically mean the refrigerant has leaked out of it or that it has clogged orifices. If the refrigerant has leaked out to the point of making the supply air much less than functional then an inspector is going to indicate the system is not working properly but is not required to test for actual performance. It would be the HVAC tech's job to determine what the problem is.

A coil can fail at any time after the general HVAC inspection was done and are known to have a service life as low as 1 year (faulty design/manufacture) to an average of 17 years with some lasting over 20. Some coils have a syndrome that causes smells in the house that are not part of home inspections.

Thank you for your reply. I talked to someone else, and as unusual as it is, our coil is behind an access panel that is not screwed on/secured but just snaps on and off. I'm asking because there is potential bacterial growth and if it was missed, I may consider filing a complaint.

Nevermind, it's behind a secure panel, so is outside of home inspection purvue.

[Bruce A. King]

Where did you get the idea that a home inspection includes looking for and reporting bacterial growth? Did you sign an inspection agreement that stated which standards of practice would be used?

For future reference, it is usually more cost effective to get a home inspection to see what all is wrong within that scope then if the issues found can be renegotiated/repaired you could then safely spend more money on mold testing, radon testing, lead and asbestos etc if the particular house seems to need it.

Buying real estate is a high stakes activity, a home inspection can only reduce your risk within the scope of the inspection.

Also, most all inspectors find something wrong or lack of maintenance with the HVAC and recommend technical servicing which should include all possible concerns.