Every home inspector should carry one.
I’ve got one, seldom use it.
Ben, Do you check every outlet for blade and ground pin retention?
No. Never even heard of such a thing until Joe showed me.
Never test this and never even test all Plugs in the Home.
My guarantee is I will miss some thing in the home.
Cookie
I use this only on new construction and one-year warranty inspections.
But the idea of the tester is to see of the tension is still good. Typically a concern about old plugs - not new ones. ?
Not worth $80 IMHO.
If someone wants one, you can buy it HERE or Here
I have one from a previous career.
This is in NFPA 73:
“4.9.8 Receptacles that fail a blade retention test, with a listed retention tester, shall be replaced.”
So?
Joe we are not code inspectors. ( I know you know this, I saw you say it in your video)
We have no authority to order anything done.
NFPA 73 may be a useful document but you won’t see it incorporated into any association’s SOP any time soon.
In all my years of operating a home inspection business, I never felt powerless to make a change. As an inspector, I felt an enourmous amount of focus on my words and opinions. I found my recommendations being implemented within days if not hours of writing my inspection report.
It just didn’t matter that I was not the AHJ. My recommendations were followed through. There was typically too much riding upon it.
Yes I hope and expect all my recommendations will be implemented but I have no “authority” to make sure it happens.
Receptacle tension is tested by “rental inspectors” in cities with regular rental property maintenance inspections. Loose wires cause fires, as the saying goes. Lack of appropriate receptacle tension is the same thing; a potential genuine hazard. By the time you seen brown heat stains on the face of the receptacle, the thing has already been trashed for quite some time. The use of a Woodhead type receptacle tension tester can head off potential property loss.
Just a side note.
This is what I meant in the past when I have said that your reports and requests are given much more weight than many of your guys like to think.
I often get the same impression as Ben when dealing with a H-I’s report.
It is common to hear: “The inspector said this NEEDS to be done.”, or “We HAVE to do this to sell the house. It’s in the inspector’s report.”
Gosh Marc, that was spoken like a true slumlord, no mention at all of loss of life.
That’s why I don’t use a listed retention tester.
I was thinking up rigging up a 2-prong plug with a small weight and use that if I suspect worn receptacles.
Thanks for your input.