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18 Inch Stands and Gas Water Heater Installation The 2002 edition of the National Fuel Gas Code has been changed to reflect the new flammable vapor ignition resistant (FVIR) product. The FVIR product is a new American National Standards Institute (ANSI) testing standard that will prevent a water heater from igniting flammable vapors outside the combustion chamber. The new ANSI standard Z21.10.1-2001 will go into effect July 1, 2003. All 30, 40 and 50 gallon conventional vent gas-fired water heaters, both propane and natural gas, will have to meet the FVIR standard. PowerVent models and all remaining residential gas products such as 75 and 100 gallons and direct vent models will follow.The 2002 National Fuel Gas Code reads as follows: 8.1.10 Installation in residential garages 8.1.10.1 Gas utilization equipment in residential garages and in adjacent spaces that open to the garage and are not part of the living space of a dwelling unit shall be installed so that all burners and burner ignition devices are located not less than 18 in. (460mm) above the floor unless listed as flammable vapor ignition resistant. The 2003 International Fuel Gas Code has also been changed to reflect the exception:305.3 Elevation of Ignition Source: Exception: Elevation of ignition sources are not required for appliances that are listed as flammable vapor resistant and for installation without elevation.Do you have to put an FVIR compliant water heater on an 18-inch stand? The answer to the question will depend on the local, city, country or state codes that govern the installation of gas water heaters where you live. IF the local codes advise you to put the gas water heater on an 18inch stand, then you must do so. You should comply with the local codes and governing agencies until their codes relating to 18-inch stands have changed. If in doubt, please contact your local plumbing inspector. Technical Competence, Product Confidence This Rheem technical service bulletin is provided through special arrangement between Rheem Manufacturing Company and The Inspector's Journal. To obtain a printer-friendly version of this article for your customers, click on this link. You can find additional plumbing-related topics at TIJ's Plumbing Forum or discussions about other inspection-related topics on TIJ's Other Forums.

This March 16th Article from the Pulse of the Twin Cities describes the nightmares that first time, low income Latino buyers experienced after dealing with an unethical real estate agent who went so far as to fraudulently certify that homes had been inspected. Read More...

To Inspect something really well, it's necessary to have at least a basic understanding of how something is put together and is supposed to work. This free online Essentials of Plumbing course is from a basic Army plumbing text and is an excellent way for a rookie inspector to gain a better understanding of the basic elements of a plumbing system and veteran inspectors can use it to refresh their memories. Click here...

To Inspect something really well, it's necessary to have at least a basic understanding of how something is put together and is supposed to work. This free online Essentials of Plumbing course is from a basic Army plumbing text and is an excellent way for a rookie inspector to gain a better understanding of the basic elements of a plumbing system and veteran inspectors can use it to refresh their memories. Click here...

In Norm Becker's Homeowner's Clinic in the February 2006 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine a reader complained that he hadn't received what he believed to be a complete and thorough annual tuneup on his boiler and asked Becker what constituted a proper annual tuneup. Becker's answer will be very informative for homeowners who have boilers. Even more useful from an inspector's standpoint is the free annual boiler tuneup checklist that accompies the article. It can be downloaded separately from the article and then printed out on heavy cardstock and given to clients to be hung next to the boiler as a handy reference guide and reminder for when to do boiler maintenance. Download the article here and the annual boiler tuneup checklist here.

In Norm Becker's Homeowner's Clinic in the February 2006 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine a reader complained that he hadn't received what he believed to be a complete and thorough annual tuneup on his boiler and asked Becker what constituted a proper annual tuneup. Becker's answer will be very informative for homeowners who have boilers. Even more useful from an inspector's standpoint is the free annual boiler tuneup checklist that accompies the article. It can be downloaded separately from the article and then printed out on heavy cardstock and given to clients to be hung next to the boiler as a handy reference guide and reminder for when to do boiler maintenance. Download the article here and the annual boiler tuneup checklist here.

Commercial building inspectors will want to download this free 120+ page pub entitled Practical Solution Guide To Arc Flash Hazards. Ordering is simple, just fill out a one-page form and within one business day the guide is sent to you by email. NOTE: By ordering the free guide, you are consenting to receive periodic electronic updates from ESA. The docoment walks commercial inspectors through the necessary steps to implement an arc flash assessment as part of their recommendation to the client for overall safety improvements. To begin the process, visit this link and use registration number TN414.

Commercial building inspectors will want to download this free 120+ page pub entitled Practical Solution Guide To Arc Flash Hazards. Ordering is simple, just fill out a one-page form and within one business day the guide is sent to you by email. The docoment walks commercial inspectors through the necessary steps to implement an arc flash assessment as part of their recommendation to the client for overall safety improvements. NOTE: By ordering the free guide, you are consenting to receive periodic electronic updates from ESA. To begin the process, visit this link and use registration number TN414.

Mike Holt is offering his interpretation of Article 680 of the NEC - Swimming Pools, Spas, Hot Tubs, Fountains and Similar Installations as a free pdf download. A Code misinterpretation can result in invisible lethal voltage gradients right in the water or adjacent ground. If you're an inspector who struggles when it comes to understanding all the various requirements for pool wiring in the NEC, this is the publication for you. This is essentially a textbook that is meant to be used along with the NEC and not as a stand-alone document. In includes Article 90 - An Introduction to the NEC and totals 31 pages. Click here to download the text now.

Washington, D.C. - With the new changes in the HUD rules for appraisals and home inspections, HUD is providing consumers with a free brochure that will explain the home inspection process and the differences between an appraiser and an inspector. This brochure is primarily for homebuyers that buy their homes with the help of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs. All homebuyers can benefit from the information in this brochure to understand the difference between home inspections and appraisals, the benefits of home inspections, how to find a qualified inspector, and the importance of radon testing. To see an online version of the brochure Click here. To order a free copy by telephone call 1-800-767-7468.

WASHINGTON, March 28 - Anyone in the construction sector, including inspectors - especially those living in areas with a strong seniors population - who are eager to learn about the fastest-growing segment of the housing industry will convene at the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium 2006[/url] held April 24 - 26 at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix, Ariz. Hosted by the National Association of Home Builders'(NAHB) 50+ Housing Council (formerly the Seniors Housing Council), the symposium is considered the premier educational and networking conference for the 50+ market. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FASTEST-GROWING SEGMENT OF THE HOUSING MARKET Join us in one of the nation's hottest active adult markets for the ultimate learning experience. The Symposium follows last year's successful show with a fresh, new format to prepare you for the future. With separate tracks such as amenities, design, multifamily, operations, planning, and sales and marketing, you'll learn how to design and develop active adult communities, develop innovative marketing strategies, and streamline your operations to help you manage from the ground up. Learning doesn't stop at the educational sessions. Please join us in the exhibit hall to learn about exciting new products, find out how to brand and promote your own product and establish valuable relationships with key decision makers in the 50+ housing industry. If you have a product or service tailored to the 50+ market, contact Iain Mitchell at 800.368.5242 Ext.8208 or email imitchell@nahb.com for more information. HOTEL INFORMATION The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort is sold out. The following hotels have rooms available - PointeHilton Squaw Peak 7677 North 16th Street 1-602-997-2626 Embassy Suites Phoenix-Scottsdale 4415 E Paradise Village Pkwy S. 1-602-765-5800 Embassy Suites Phoenix North 2577 W Greenway Road 1-602-375-1777 To go directly to the convention website click here. For more information about course availability click here! Fore more information and to register for the Executive Session click here!

B.C. Minister Promises Regulation of Inspectors by 2007 Vancouver, B.C. - Only a day after being criticized on radio and television for inaction relative to regulation of home inspectorts, by Bill Sutherland of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspector (C.A.H.P.I.), the B.C. minister responsible for housing says the provincial government will take action by the end of the year to protect home buyers who rely on inspectors. To read more Click here... To hear a 5-minute audio clip of the interview with the minister, Click Here...

Vancouver, B.C. - According to a March 27th CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) newscast, a report by the B.C. government's Homeowner Protection Office says consumers are being left unprotected when they hire a home inspector. This, despite the fact that the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI) has been lobbying that same government hard for years to regulate the profession. To read more about the report Click Here... To hear a 7-minute audio clip of the show segment Click Here... To see a 2-1/2 minute video news segment related to this subject Click Here

According to a March 25th article in the Washington Post, home inspections, which saw a sharp decline back in 2003 due to a strong sellers market, are seeing a resurgence in the Washington D.C. area. Read More...

A new internet website dealing exclusively with termites - TermiteInstitute.com - has just debuted that bills itself as "the web's most comprehensive termite education resource". According to information found on the home page, dealing with termites is tough enough so it shouldn't be hard to learn about them. The site points out that, even though homeowners insurance coverage does not include termites, every year Americans spend more than $5 billion treating for termites and repairing the damage they cause, and that this is about as much as the US government invests in the CIA. For more information Click here...

Research Trianble Park, N.C.-- A widely reported rumor that termite-infested mulch being processed in southern states ravaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita is winding up on the shelves of nationwide home centers is completely false, according to Dr. Bob Davis, a market development expert for BASF, the manufacturer of leading termite defense products Termidor® and Phantom® termiticides/insectides. In recent weeks, an unsubstantiated message has been circling the Internet claiming that trees downed by hurricane winds in states with large infestations of the ultra-destructive Formosan termite are being shredded into mulch that is then sold at extremely low prices to various home centers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. Numerous entomologists and other experts have gone on-record debunking the theory, including Davis. “The mulching process itself will kill most termites in the wood,â€

Ever since the PBS show This Old House first aired on television about 25 years ago, the number of home renovation and do-it-yourself shows on network and cable seems to increase on a daily basis and has spawned two new television networks. Now, according to a March 17th article in the Washington Times a new show on DIY Network called Finders Fixers, which will debut in the fall, not only has homeowners doing repairs, but homeowners will seek advice from, and actually assistance from a professional carpenter and a home inspector to correct their problems. This should be interesting. Will it cause some some viewers to get the misbegotten impression that home inspectors will actually make repairs on the homes that they inspect? Wait and see. Read More...

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. Knauf Insulation today announced the launch of its Thinksulation program, an awareness initiative that will promote the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of fiber glass insulation. Knauf unveiled Thinksulation at the Insulation Contractors Association of America (ICAA) annual convention in Miami, Florida, September 22-24, and has created a website, www.Thinksulation.com, that will serve as a resource for homeowners and buyers, builders, contractors, architects and others. Thinksulation is based on the extensive array of research available that tells a compelling story about the “greenâ€

According to this PRNewswire release dated March 21st, Pillar to Post is reporting a 10% increase in the number of homeowners who are having their homes inspected prior to putting them on the market. Read More...

This March 17th Reuters article details how the British are poised to kick off a one-year trial of their new home information packs (HIPs) which require sellers to have a home inspection performed before listing a home. The trial will begin June 1st and the the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes to have enough inspectors trained by then to initiate full-scale pre-listing inspections from June 2000. The entire program is still strongly opposed by mortgage lenders, the real estate trade and the U.K.'s old guard - building surveyors - who've ruled the inspection roost for decades. Read More...

According to a February 22nd article in Boston.com, three former manufacturers of lead paint were found guilty, after a 3-month trial in a Rhode Island court, of creating a public nuisance. Read More...

PR Leap - March 5th Members of the public should be aware of a possible conflict of interest when using a home inspector recommended by the real estate agent selling the home. "When a home buyer uses a home inspector recommended by the Realtor selling a home to them there may be a conflict of interest. Home inspectors who want future referrals from that Realtor may be hesitant to tell it like it is. If the results of a home inspection cause the buyer to back out of the sale, then the Realtor may blame the home inspector and stop recommending that company in the future," explained Michael J. Del Greco, President of Accurate Inspections. The purpose of getting a home inspection is to help the buyer find out all the problems that exist before the closing, when the sale is completed. Buying a new home in New Jersey is a major investment, so an accurate inspection that "tells it like it is" should be the goal of any home buyer, according to Del Greco. Del Greco has been in the home inspection business since 1993, and is president of Accurate Inspections, Inc. He said that his company does not solicit recommendations from real estate agents because he does not want to have an appearance of a conflict of interest. "Most of our clients choose us based upon the recommendation of an attorney, friend or relative. When we perform a home inspection, we feel free to tell the buyer exactly what is wrong, why it is wrong, and what to do about it. The only person we are concerned with pleasing is our client, the home buyer," said Del Greco. Home buyers need dependable information so they can make an educated choice regarding the quality and condition of their potential new home. The level of experience and no conflict of interest are vital qualities to look for in a inspector. "You can become a New Jersey licensed home inspector in less than a month. That's not much experience. Ask for a resume. By hiring an experienced New Jersey home inspector, who has the buyer's best interests in mind, the client is better able to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the home and avoid expensive problems down the road," said Del Greco. Accurate Inspections, Inc. has a staff of five including two experienced and licensed inspectors. Each of them invites the home buyer to attend the inspection so they can get a complete description of problems as they are found. "We always provide our clients and their attorney a complete written report, but we like to have clients attend the inspection in person. That way they can ask questions and see the problems for themselves to become better informed," said Del Greco. Editor's Note: This article received wide local dissemination in New Jersey in Early March.

Sourcewire - March 3 Buying a house is said to be one of life’s most stressful experiences. Buying a property in Spain that is a 2 -3 hour flight away can only add to the stress, but when Roy Howitt bought a Spanish property it created a business providing professional home inspections (snagging services*), for new build properties, to avoid the dream of owning a Spanish home turning into a nightmare. The service was originally launched in The Costa Blanca, to provide an inspections (snagging reports) for property investors and due to demand is now available to private buyers and has expended to cover The Costa Calida, Costa Almeria and Andalucia areas. The company was formed by Roy Howitt after his experience of buying a new apartment in the Costs Blanca, on an urbanisation of 193 properties, and when he discovered some major defects, could not find a company that could provide a snagging inspection, or advice and discovered that some Estate Agents really do not provide any after care. Buying a property is exciting and you arrive expecting to be able to move into your new dream home. The agent will normally request that you inspect on a one day and complete at the Notary the same or the next day which allows no time to get the builder to repair any defects. Emotionally you want to get moved, you may need to get rental income, you possibly have organised furniture delivery and installation of an alarm so often complete regardless of how many defects the property has or even if the pool isn’t finished, or the property isn’t quite finished. Roy’s own experiences demonstrates what can go wrong. "We arrived on site to snag the property, and were horrified to find the pool not completed, no paths or access, and no water & electricity connected to the property, a 3 bed roomed apartment. We had been assured that everything was finished, and that we would be able to move straight in. With no lighting and a bathroom and kitchen without windows it was difficult to check. I arrived without any tools, torches etc. but I found 36 defects - mostly tiling and decoration, and stupidly completed. The following day, when I was given unlimited access and the electricity and water was on, I could see lots more problems and luckily, via a local builder, found a contact with home inspection experience, who snagged the property properly and found 117 defects including, water outlets not connected; loose window and door frames; 8 sockets and switches not working; no vent in the bathroom; and a large solarium area that needed relaying because the tiles were loose and lifting. 20-20 hindsight is a great thing but I definitely would not have completed on the property with these problems, and now knowing how long it can take to get defects fixed, I would not have completed on the property if I had been able to get the information from a professional home inspection." Roy felt that the developers took advantage of buyers’ ignorance of the process and their legal rights on standards, and took little responsibility for spotting any defects themselves. "Plus the language barrier didn’t help when I was asked to sign off on a snagging list in Spanish," So InspectaHomeSpain was launched to provide homeowners with the expertise of an industry professional and to take the stress out of what is already a highly traumatic process. The news of the service spread and they checked 56 properties on the same urbanisation and identified more than 7000 individual defects. InspectaHomeSpain provides new home inspections in The Costa Blanca, Costa Caliida, Costa Almeria and Andalucia areas and has a team of freelance snagging inspectors from backgrounds including site management, surveying, architecture and civil engineering and provides help and advice to buyers via e-mail telephone and their website, www.inspectahomespain.com which includes a guide to DIY snagging, help and advice plus examples of the most common defects found in Spain. Reports are provided in English & Spanish within 72 hours of the inspection, and prices start from €150 - less than the cost of a typical airline ticket For more information and advice see www.inspectahomespain.com or call (34) 965 31 97 43 *Editor's note: A "snag" is the British slang term for a new construction defect. "Snagging" is the British slang term used for new construction inspections.

You've got some weird beasties where you are. OT - OF!!! M.

Why? You've clearly identified a valid issue. Why call for a plumber to "evaluate" the system? It makes your report sound whimpy and unsure. You get paid to make the call, so make it. I'd write something like: If something is clearly wrong, we shouldn't be saying that it should be "evaluated" by someone else. We just evaluated it. We should say that a professional must correct it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike