Friday, December 30, 2016

Turning on valves....

Turning on valves

Home inspectors are not allowed to turn valves on that are off. This is true for water and gas. How do you inspect the item if the valve is off you ask? I don't. I can visually inspect the item but if the valve is off I cannot tell you whether or not it will function as intended. Why don't you just turn the valve on? It's just a valve! I don't know why it is off. There may be a leak in the line and it was turned off to protect the property. That is why I ask that all of the utilities be turned on before the inspection. That includes gas and water valves and breakers in the panel boxes.
Story time.... Once there was a home inspector who inspected a house and found that the water to the home was off. The inspection was completed and it was noted that the water was off in the report. The buyer wanted the plumbing inspected. A few days later the inspector was asked to go back and inspect the water system. He was told it was OK to turn the valve on. The homeowner told the realtor everything was fine and there would not be any problems if the inspector turned the water on. So the inspector went back to the home and turned the water valve on. He heard water running upstairs so he went around the house turning off all of the faucets that were on. Next he needed to check the water heater to see if it was full (not a good idea to turn the breaker on for the water heater if it's not full). He heard a drip coming from the front of the basement around the area where the main electric panel was located. He grabbed his camera to take a picture of the leak. The drip was coming from a copper pipe cap. The solder joint was losing the battle. Just as he was taking a second shot of the drip, the cap gave up its fight. Water shot 20 to 30 feet across the basement. Luckily the shut off valve was just a few feet away. As the water pressure dropped, the stream of water flooded the electric panel and most of the basement floor before finally stopping.
Who is at fault? The same thing would have happened to whoever turned the valve on. Who would be responsible had the water line broke in a ceiling on the third floor? There would be drywall damage, flooring damage and maybe even furniture damage. Thinking it's "just a valve" could cost a lot of money because in the end someone has to pay to repair the damage.
That is why home inspectors don't turn valves on that are off.

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