I got a blast from the owner saying i was unfair to her home and wanted it taken from the report, Recommend it to be bolted to home and support for post and a review for stringers not in the exact wording mind you, she said it was up to code, after telling 10 times i am not a code inspector , she threaten me with i am telling the Realtor to never use you again . Oh well the home is going up for auction in week and inspection was done for that.
got more on railing and lack of hand rails and sink draining into back yard from garage (keep in mind just small distance from lake . ) But all was done to code was her agruement
Assuming that you wrote this report to the seller, refer her to the contract she signed understanding that this is not a code inspection.
Remind her that “meeting code” is a term that simply means that the extreme minimum amount of skill and materials were applied to the extent that any less would be illegal.
Remind her that she already had a “code inspection”, obviously, to present to future buyers and still wisely asked for your services, which you have provided in your report.
Thank her and assure her that when you inspect your next home, which is one that she may someday purchase, you will be as equally diligent…then go on your way.
LOL i did James she went on and on and on. She told she was the Main contractor on site. and overseen the project.
This place listed 1.2 a year ago now on auction after it didn’t sell for 750. Hmm maybe being down stream from ash spill may have something to do with it. Anyway small change to fix any of the problems . just hurt feelings i believe.
Small fix or not, you may be saving the lives of everyone on that deck when it collapses as seems to happen here Chicago on a regular basis after it supposedly passes code.
We had a few children die in a porch collapse recently.
Tried to explain that to her Bob she ranted on , I just told i could not change the report unless it was fixed.
People with Money seem to have a different view than most.
When builders tell me “It passed the code inspection” I ask them to show me some documentation of that. Documentation of a passed code inspection is simply NOT available in Chicago, and most suburbs.
In this area, I rarely see inspectors on site. In the last 15 years of construction, I have seen a code inspector maybe 20 times, and half of that he usually said… " you guys know what your doing… " and promptly left. I built my own home 5 years ago, and never saw him at all, although I know he showed up at least once.
My sister and her husband contracted their own house too. I happen to be up there one day doing some work for them when the mechanical inspector showed up. He did not know what that yellow piping (CSST) that was installed on the range and fireplace was. When my brother in law tried to inform him what it was he then tried to tap dance around and bs his way out of his ignorance. Unknown to him my BiL was in the gas Service / Tech for about 45 years before he retired a year or two earlier. He just let the inspector talk and told me later the guy didn’t know his *** from his elbow.
A construction “meets code” at such time that the AHJ has documented that it does. No other opinions matter, regarding “code”, after that has been accomplished.
A wise and prudent inspector will refer to acceptable and established building practices to support the argument that you are presenting.
Once the AHJ has ruled that the jurisdiction is satisfied that the minimum basic standard has been met, anything you present to the contrary is wrong…even if you’re right.
In the sales process of a home…never be the inspector who says that “code” has not been met when the AHJ says that it has. If your report “kills the deal”, you may have just bought yourself a house.
I’m not convinced that is accurate. Getting a CO don’t equate to every component of a house “meeting code” in my view. Please show me where it is defined as such.
Just because they don’t cite it, doesn’t mean it “meets code”. A competent person can prove the AHJ didn’t do his job in many cases. And lawsuits have been filed against AHJ’s in some cases; some of which have been discussed on this board.
Again…the balls of the home inspector who has “killed a deal” by reporting something that is “out of code” are in the vice of the seller who has a code official who disagrees, and especially when the work has already been officially passed.
Kill a deal over a “code” issue for a dwelling or condition that has already been approved by an AHJ and you are road kill.
What “meets code” is only to be determined by those who enforce it. No one else has been provided by the codes books themselves with that authority.
So, James…I am left to assume that you don’t report the following issues in a home that obtained a CO in the last 20 years because you don’t want to blow the deal.
TPR drains that “don’t meet code”.
Ungrounded outlets. Outlets with reverse polarity. Open junction boxes. Open splices…
Guardrail pickets > 4" apart.
You don’t report any tempered glass issues.
Missing guardrails are OK too.
Improper discharge from AC condensate drains.
Doors without landings. That’s just dandy.
Stairs without railings. Hey…the code inspector said it was OK.
Missing GFCIs.
Garage doors that don’t auto-reverse.
I’m not sure why you got on this topic, but I never said I’d say the “c*de” word in a report. But if the woman was berating me and said her house “met code”, she’s full of it and I wouldn’t hesitate to tell her (in a nice way of course). Saying that passing a code inspection equates to having all aspects of a house “meet code” is just baloney.
I report all of those things…but I do not report that they “do not meet code”.
If the woman who built the house…who met with the code inspector at the appropriate intervals and received his blessing before moving to the next step…said the house “met code” I would believe her and I would not argue with her.
I would simply state that the fact that it met the minimum basic requirements as interpreted by the particular inspector who looked at the house…it fails to meet what is considered to be the acceptable and established building practices for the industry and that is what will appear in my report. She can’t sue for that.
Remember that a building can “meet code” and still be inferior.
I’ll bet that you are not reporting a house without a sprinkler system as “defective”. That has been in the code for ten months.
I never mention code i recommend a qualfied contractor review and estimate repairs, she tried to get me to state it does not meet code statement i just told her it didn’t meet standards and i was not a code keeper.
