Cooking with gas? You may have air quality that would be ilegal if found outside!

Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds that "interior air quality in homes that cook with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors."

Full Article

Contaminates include nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide.


My inspection reports always stress that in all homes with gas cook-top or ovens, the occupant needs to run the range hood during the entire cooking period and for at least 1 minutes after the burners have shut down.  However, the above mentioned article also touches on range hood effectiveness:

"Previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their effectiveness at removing pollutants. In a laboratory study of seven models ranging from $40 to $650, Singer found capture efficiencies ranging from 15 to 98 percent, and also found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance."

So it is important that the range hood stays on long enough after the cooking period to adequately remove the contaminants.  A better option is to have never installed the gas appliance in the first place.

Maintenance Matters: Below-Grade Assemblies in Multi-Unit Residential Buildings

This Home Owner Protection video identifies the responsibility to maintain below grade assemblies.

A water leak is never a good thing.  If water is coming into your parkade or underground facilities, notify your Strata immediately.  Repairs should be performed ASAP as ongoing water movement can start to rust the embedded reinforcing concrete leading to much more costly repairs.

Annual inspections of your underground facilities should be performed annually and SENWI can assist in this matter.

Paying too little for an inspection

I recently came across this quote by John Ruskin (1819-1900) and felt it really addressed the home inspection industry and the common consumer who shops by price alone.

There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.

Agent admits it is not a good idea to choose an inspector that the agent recommends

Good Morning America interview a Real Estate Agent who confirm you may not be served by an agent refered inspector.


Good Morning America Video

How can I reduce the potential liability of buying a Condo

In my last post I was prompted to comment on the liability that can be present when buying multi-family-dwellings after reading two articles from the Vancouver Courier.

I will now try to give provide the reader tools for a thorough due diligence process to hopefully avoid a large portion of the potential liability that exists with these purchases.

My number one piece of advice is to have the unit inspected. This may seem like self serving advice, and in part it may be, but it is imperative that you have a Condo inspected before purchasing if you have any chance of avoiding liability. As this CMHC research report shows, many of the people that ran into financial difficulty after purchasing a Condo, did so because they did not have the Condo first inspected (in the studdy this represented 29 of the 40 case studies!).

The Vancouver Courier articles discussed how you cannot rely on the documents provided by the vendor and I cannot agree more. First of all, the commonly provided 2 years of minutes is not nearly a long enough time frame to properly evaluate the buildings performance. But it also is far too short of a period of time to properly evaluate the performance of the STRATA and PROPERTY MANAGER to ensure they are capable of properly managing the best interests of the building and owners. This is often a much larger area of liability for a potential buyer than that represented by the structure itself and a process that is often overlooked. A poorly managed and maintained building significantly escalates the costs of repairs and often the complexity and duration of those repairs.

Finally, another reason to not rely on minutes or property disclosure statements (PDS) is that they rarely reflect an accurate assessment of the property. A PDS is often not truthful and as I wrote about on another blog entry, there does not seem to be a reasonable way to hold the vendor responsible for what they fill out in the PDS. Likewise, Strata Minutes seldom tell the whole storey. Strata Council are of course owners and are often reluctant to divulge any information in minutes when they know that information could lower the values of the homes they own and make it difficult for them to sell in the future. They participate in the practice of “In Camera” meetings where no official minutes of what is discussed are kept or made available to the public and instead the discussions and resulting actions are “off the record”. This is of course illegal but regularly occurs in Strata’s across the lower mainland.

So, what can a buyer do to reduce their potential liability? I mentioned above that my number one recommendation is to have the unit inspected. Well my second piece of advice is to choose the ‘right’ inspector.

When the average time spent on site by a home inspector for an apartment style Condo is 1.5 hours or less, it is important to realize that this type of inspection will often not be thorough enough to have any meaningful impact on the potential liability you face as a purchaser. Further, the checklist style reports, usually provided by this style of inspector, are often unable to sufficiently inform the purchaser on any deficiencies or liabilities that this brief inspection uncovered.

Instead, a purchaser should look for an inspector that is going to take the time to perform a thorough inspection of not just the unit but also the building envelope/exterior, roof, parkade, and all common mechanical areas. Most important of all, look for an inspector who’s ‘process’ includes a detailed review of all engineering reports commissioned by the Strata in the last 5-10 years.

As home inspectors, we are generalists that if correctly trained are able to usually identify problems or the risk of problems. But we are only performing a visual inspection which has many limitations to defining the true condition of a building. A reputable building envelope firm will go beyond visual inspection and will disassemble components or perform some destructive testing to determine the full condition of the building enclosure. By including the review of these detailed engineering reports, an inspector can then provide a lot more insight to a potential purchaser to allow them to make a more informed decision.

In my next entry, I will discuss the type of report you should ensure your inspector provides and why that style of report is going to benefit you.

Home Inspections and Infrared Cameras

Ever since Mike Holmes broadcast his first 'Holmes Inspection' program, home inspectors across Canada have been clambering to buy the cheapest Infrared (IR) Cameras and offer 'IR services' as part of their inspection process.

Now any press for the home inspection industry is generally a good thing, but I am afraid the Mike Holmes inspection show has done more harm than good, in that it portrays the services of an inspector in an unrealistic way (but more on that on a later post - back to the topic).

A home inspection is best performed by an individual with a broad base of knowledge of all the systems and components in a home. The inspection is visual in nature, as we as inspectors are not authorized to perform destructive testing/investigation. The addition of an IR Camera would seem like a godsend for an inspector, as it would allow them to 'see' behind walls.

However, as with most things, it is not that easy. The cameras that most inspectors are buying are at the bottom end of the technology and cheap (<$5K). They are very low resolution and a very narrow scope of field with limited accuracy. Even a professional would be hard pressed to use these cameras in anything but the most basic and focused of investigations. The concept that a home inspector can use these to 'scope the house' is ludicrous. The technology does represent an excellent opportunity for a home owner or purchaser to asses a dwelling from the standpoint of thermal bridges (missing or poorly detailed insulation), air leakage (poorly detailed air barrier), and even moisture issues (rain leaks, plumbing leaks, & condensation in the walls). However a meaningful and accurate result can only be accomplished by using professional equipment (Still priced in the $10K range) and utilizing an inspector who has the required training to operate the camera, understands the building science that indicates where and how to look, and has the overall experience and field training to interpret what the camera is 'seeing'. For single family homes this means having at the very least, a Level 1 ASNT certification. If the inspector is providing IR inspection on Multi-Family or Commercial properties, they are then required to have a minimum Level 2 ASNT certification. This represents an additional $2-5K in training on top of the camera cost. And in order to stay current on their skills, an IR inspector has to use the technology at least weekly (preferably daily) and must continually update their education and equipment over time. In fact the certification program requires the inspectors to continually update their training as part of the certification program, which is why you want to ensure your IR inspector has a current certification certificate.

A typical non-trained home inspector would look at this photo and state that the upper windows are cooler than the bottom windows, when in fact the upper windows are reflecting the night sky radiation off the Low-E coatings on the window, due to the viewing angle of the camera and are most likely hotter than the bottom windows, due to the stack effect that would be present in the tower.

The facts are, that in order to perform quality Infrared inspections you must have the right equipment and right training behind you, and then you must perform the inspection under controlled conditions at the right time of the day. Criteria very few home inspectors have met, have knowledge of, or can even afford if they do.

The 'IR' services that many home inspectors are advertising are really more of a marketing gimmick, as opposed to providing the client any real level of additional security against liability. The services usually represent negligence at best (providing a service they are not trained to perform) and sometimes even fraud at the worst.

At this point SENWI will not be providing Infrared Services and will instead leave it to the experts. We will instead provide the best visual inspection we are capable of providing and when warranted, recommend an independent IR inspection follow up by a contractor who performs IR inspections as their major business activity, and who has a current Level 1 or Level 2 certification.

One source of professionally trained thermographers is City Green Solutions

Should you wish to discuss the issues of IR inspections with us further, please feel free to contact us at mailto:inspector@bchouseinspections.ca?subject=IR%20Inspections

So, do not fall victim to those that claim to provide 'IR Inspection' as part of their home inspection services, but do not have the equipment or training to provide this service competently. Look for these warning signs that the inspector does not have the proper training to perform an IR Inspection:

1. They advise that they will be providing IR services during a brief 4 hour or less home inspection.


2. They advise that they will be performing the IR portion of the inspection during daylight hours (After sunrise or before sunset is required for accurate readings).


3. They advise that it will be easy to identify water related issues on the interior or exterior of the home. (nothing could be further from the truth)


4. They advise they will only do an interior or exterior scan of the home (not both as is required for accurate interpretation).

Why are these warning signs?

1. Ron Newport, Director of Institute of Infrared Thermography agrees with these sentiments and indicates a complete and thorough IR inspection of a standard single family residential dwelling will take in the order of 4-6 hours (this is just for the IR portion, the inspection has not performed any regular home inspection tasks yet). The City Green website indicates that their thermal imaging assessment overview takes on average - 2 hours.


2. Most thermographers will take any scans of the exterior of the home prior to sun-up or after sunset. The whole purpose of using an IR camera is to look for temperature differences (indicated by the infrared light that radiates from an object) between various building components and trying to determine if they make sense. Once the sun is out, much of the 'evidence' is wiped out as the surfaces heat up under the sun's rays. This will also very quickly effect the readings on the inside face of exterior walls and so even interior scans are often done before the sun has reached the particular wall(s) of concern.


3. Even a seasoned IR inspector, with the best equipment, will advise that finding moisture issues is one of the hardest tasks to perform with an IR camera. In order to perform this task, the technician usually has to artificially cause a significant temperature change to the structure of concern (often also accompanied by artificially lowering the air's humidity in the region). This investigation takes a very thorough knowledge of building science (something the vast majority of home inspectors due not have) and preparation, and even then can often not be conclusive.


4. In order to get a true 'picture' of the situation, a good thermographer will scan both the interior and exterior of a dwelling to allow a comparison between the two surfaces and allow the development of a hypothesis of what is happening within the building structure at that location. Just think, would a home inspector ever inspect just the exterior or interior of a home and advise that a given building envelope was OK based on only seeing only half of it?

The BC Institute of Property Inspectors (BCIPI)

In a recent post, I refereed to the 'Former BCIPI'.

On November 30, 2009, ASTTBC dissolved BCIPI (and removed the duly elected BCIPI Board) after many years of struggles between the Institute and ASTTBC over the rights to advocate on behalf of the inspector membership, communicate with the membership directly, and choose as a membership our own direction outside of certification.

The active portion of the BCIPI Membership had just voted with over 80% in favour of lobbying ASTTBC to dissolve the institute and support us as an independent business body with members still certified by ASTTBC (ASTTBC has always run the certification program for home and property inspectors and no changes to this arrangement were being requested). The desire was to form a business organization better able to market on behalf of its members in a timely manner and better able to communicate freely between members.

ASTTBC made the decision to dissolve the Institute without its Council even once meeting with the BCIPI Board at the time. The notice sent to the BCIPI membership by ASTTBC at the time, identified that the Institute would be re-formed the next day with representation assigned by ASTTBC (to be called the 'Steering Committee'). It is the opinion of many of the former BCIPI members, that you cannot have an Institute without a duly elected Board and a member approved Constitution (neither of which the current 'BCIPI' has after being formed over 1 year ago).

It is important for the public and government bodies to realize, that although this development has not effected the certification and practise of ASTTBC Certified home inspectors in any way, it has removed the voice that those home inspectors once had. While the actions of the Steering Committee and ASTTBC have benefited the former BCIPI inspectors (finally updated website, introduction of webinars, & Home Show marketing initiatives) over the last months, it is important to realize that the ASTTBC appointed committee represents ASTT and does not represent the voice of the inspectors, as the Committee have not been elected into their currently held positions by the members.

Carbon monoxide law draws criticism

Manitoba has just announced it is making it mandatory for all homes to be retrofitted with a CO sensor. I applaud this decision and hope that it will ripple to other provinces including BC as well.

As a home inspector, I ALWAYS recommend a CO sensor in any home with gas appliances or an attached garage. I am dissapointed that some mayors and building officials in Manitoba only look at the logistics and costs of the inspections or false alarms.

Is saving a life not worth all the false alarms that may occure over a year?

This article explains CO gas and where the sensors should be located.

Home Inspection Tools

The two most important tools an inspector has in their arsenal is their brain and their eyes.

A mentor of mine once answered the question

What are you looking for during an inspection?

with

I do not know but will tell you when I see it.

Does a house inspection kill the deal?

Is any home perfect?

It is important to realize that a seller is under no obligation to repair everything identified in the inspection report. No home is perfect, and it is important for the buyer to be reasonable in their demands for a vendor to address found issues. As long as the dwelling is not brand new, there will always be components in the house at various stages of their life cycle. It is not reasonable to expect everything to be brand new, and normal wear and tear on components throughout the dwelling is acceptable and expected. This is where you need to work closely with your Realtor who should be providing you a summary of similar properties for sale in the area. The properties listed should all have similar parameters and be broken down into a per sq. ft. cost so that you can compare apples to apples. For example, if the inspection report identifies that the roof is at the end of its service life and in need of replacement and you see that the sq. ft. cost is above the market average, it may then be appropriate to ask the vendor to compensate for the worn out roof. But if the pricing is below the market pricing, then the vendor most likely has already accounted for the expenditure of replacing the roof and it would not be appropriate to ask for a further discount (or at least to expect it).

Home Inspection - How long should it take?

Our research, based on Realtor and client feedback, indicates that the average total inspection and report generation time for an apartment is 1 hour and the average time for a house or townhouse is 3 hours.

At SENWI, we feel that it is very difficult to perform an accurate and complete inspection within this time frame and demand our inspectors take the time required to do the job right.

We have a two part inspection that takes a minimum 8 hours and on average 15 hours.

See our website for more information on why we take more time to provide you with our quality reports.