Client Safety Procedures for Electrical Inspectors & Home Inspectors InspectAPedia® -
Advice for home inspectors on protecting clients during the electrical inspection
Client sticks finger in fuse socket while reaching over inspector's shoulder
How to inform building occupants or owners of unsafe conditions
How to handle immediate life-safety threats during a building or home inspection
Client and Building Owner Follow-up on electrical safety issues
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This article discusses suggests safety procedures to reduce the chances of injury to or from a client during an electrical inspection. In our photograph a young client shows unsafe electrical wiring - lamp cord that has been run through the building wall cavity. Would we permit him to handle this wiring? Did we let him get too close to make this photograph?
ASHI Home Inspector Educational Seminar Proceedings: ASHI-NE Chapter Annual conference
September 22-23, 2008, Randolph, MA. -- Daniel Friedman.
This is the full text version. A powerpoint presentation version of this class is also available. Original text - Daniel Friedman, as ASHI Technical Journal Staff, January 1992,updates February 2006, September 2008.
This is the full text version. A powerpoint presentation version of this class is also available. Readers of this article should also see these other building inspection safety articles: Safety for Building Inspectors and
Septic Inspection Safety and also STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS - INSPECTIONS, CODES
These electrical inspection suggestions are not a complete inventory of all electrical safety procedures nor of all electrical components that should be inspected; these notes focus on identification of conditions that may present special electrical hazards for the electrical inspector. Contact Us by email to suggest changes, corrections, and additions to this material.
Protecting the Client from Injury During Inspection of the Electrical Panel
Earlier we discussed this topic in detail and offered some strategies in positioning the inspector and client, making sure only one person handles the electrical panel, and other measures. See Electrical Panel Interior Inspection for these details.
Electrical Inspection Follow up and Client Safety
Since the Standards of Practice for home inspectors (such as those published by ASHI, NAHI, CREIA, and CAHI) require home inspectors to
open electric panels, a task not performed in many states during some other types of inspections, we and our clients face additional risks.
In a much less serious incident, the author had the personal experience of having a client ask "What's that?" as he reached over our shoulder to stick his finger right into an open fuse socket.
Among many reports of fires and accidents whose origin was suspected to be electrical, are reported deaths of a number of electricians
and electrical workers - people working in some of the same high-risk areas examined by inspectors.
A home inspector or electrical inspector who has reported a very
unsafe condition, recommended immediate action, and
yet may later learn that occupants of the building were nearly killed by
work by an incompetent repairman. [NOTE: Port Jervis, NY, AHS Ctl#4658911,
7/10/90.] What can be done to reduce the chance of this terrible consequence?
Recommending action on an unsafe condition can convert a pre-existing
problem into an immediate catastrophe if the client or owner calls
an untrained person to the property or if he attempts a do-it-yourself repair.
Often a referral to local fire
inspector, electrical inspector, or utility company can help assure
that repairs are prompt, proper, and safe. If you recommend immediate
action for an unsafe condition, where possible you should provide
some means for the client or building owner to assure that the action
which is taken is proper and safe.
Inspectors are properly nervous and reluctant to prescribe the actual repair that is needed at a property - they may not know the detailed repair procedure, or there may be alternative repairs, or their description may prompt an un-trained person to try to do the work.
The Building Owner or Building Manager Needs to Know About Unsafe Conditions that Need Immediate Action
What kind of trades person, utility worker, or other technician is proper to perform the necessary repair?
What steps should be taken by the building owner or manager to assure that the repair is proper and safe?
Is there an independent follow-up authority such as a fire inspector, utility company representative, or building code compliance inspector who should examine the repair?
Are there well-known and common foul-ups in repair, or local inept repair companies against whom the owner should be warned?
The inspector should inform the appropriate parties both orally and in writing any suspected unsafe conditions.
If an area or component could not be fully inspected, the inspector should explain in writing why she or he
did not enter or examine an area or component, and what additional inspections or steps should be taken, as well as the general risks that may be present.
Handling Immediate Threats to Life and Safety at a Building Inspection
If in the inspector's judgment equipment is an immediate threat to life and property, such as a boiler whose flue connection has fallen off, we recommend that dangerous equipment be shut down and the appropriate people notified. See Shutting Down Unsafe Equipment. In some cases "appropriate people" includes not only the client and building owner, but also building occupants.
In some instances such as sparking electrical panels, gas leaks, or evidence of a fire, the inspector and everyone else should leave the building immediately and from outside, call the fire department and as appropriate, the gas company, police, or rescue personnel.
General Electrical Safety Suggestions describes important basic safety procedures, clothing, and equipment for home inspectors and electrical inspectors.
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Electrical shock injury statistics: www.healthatoz.com - September 2008;
High-tension current generally causes the most serious injuries, although fatal electrocutions may occur with household current (eg, 110 V in the United States and Canada and 220 V in Europe, Australia, and Asia). Contact with alternating current at 60 cycles per second (the frequency used in most US household and commercial sources of electricity) may cause tetanic skeletal muscle contractions, preventing self-release from the source of the electricity and thereby leading to prolonged exposure. The repetitive frequency of alternating current also increases the likelihood of current flow through the heart during the relative refractory period (the "vulnerable period") of the cardiac cycle. This exposure can precipitate ventricular fibrillation (VF), which is analogous to the R-on-T phenomenon.-- circ.ahajournals.org - September 2008
"Frequency of Occurrence and Sources of Rust and Corrosion in Electrical Panels," Daniel Friedman, IEEE HOLM Conference, Philadelphia PA, 1992 - see ELECTRIC PANEL RUST for an online version of this article.
Jim Simmons: Personal communication, J. Simmons to Daniel Friedman, 9/19/2008. Photographs contributed to this website by Jim P. Simmons, Licensed Electrician, 360-705-4225 Mr. Electric, Licensed Master Electrician, Olympia, Washington Contact Jim P. Simmons, Licensed Master Electrician, Mr. Electric, 1320 Dayton Street SE
Olympia, WA 98501, Ph 360-705-4225, Fx 360-705-0130 mrelectricoly@msn.com
Kenneth Kruger: Original author of the sidebar on testing VOM DMM condition: Kenneth Kruger, R.A., P.E. AIA ASCE, is an ASHI
Member and ASHI Director in Cambridge, MA. He provided basis for this article penned by DJ Friedman.
"How to Use DMM's Safely," Leonard Ogden, CEE News, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10106, Dec 1990 p.10.
Dr. Jess Aronstein, consulting engineer, Poughkeepsie NY, 1991 protune@aol.com
Rex Cauldwell, master electrician and contributor to the Journal of Light Construction on electrical topics
New York State Central Hudson Gas and Electric Company, G&E/1-2/85 consumer safety pamphlet
American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI Training Manual, Al Alk -[obsolete, and includes unsafe practices-DF]
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
Recommended books on electrical inspection, electrical wiring, electrical problem diagnosis, and electrical repair can be found in the Electrical Books section of the InspectAPedia Bookstore. (courtesy of Amazon.com)
Aluminum Wiring Information WebsiteAluminum Electrical Wiring Hazards and Repairs: in-depth authoritative info, photos, documents including selection of proper vs. ineffective repair methods. E.g.: Ideal 65 "Twister" purple connector fails in field and lab testing with aluminum wire.
Circuit Breaker, a bad one fails to trip failure at aluminum bus-to-circuit breaker connection - field report and photographs
Electrical Panels, How to Inspect in Buildings, safety for electrical inspectors, electrical panel, fusing, wiring defects, defective products. Inspection Class Presentation
Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Stab-Lok Circuit Breaker Panel Hazards Website - Latent fire hazards, in-depth authoritative research, documents, advice on Stab-Lok electric panel and circuit breaker failures and what to do when this equipment is found in buildings.
"Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985.
"Simplified Electrical Wiring," Sears, Roebuck and Co., 15705 (F5428) Rev. 4-77 1977 [Lots of sketches of older-type service panels.]
"How to plan and install electric wiring for homes, farms, garages, shops," Montgomery Ward Co., 83-850.
"Electrical System Inspection Basics," Richard C. Wolcott, ASHI 8th Annual Education Conference, Boston 1985.
"Simplified Electrical Wiring," Sears, Roebuck and Co., 15705 (F5428) Rev. 4-77 1977 [Lots of sketches of older-type service panels.]
"How to plan and install electric wiring for homes, farms, garages, shops," Montgomery Ward Co., 83-850.
"Home Wiring Inspection," Roswell W. Ard, Rodale's New Shelter, July/August, 1985 p. 35-40.
"Evaluating Wiring in Older Minnesota Homes," Agricultural Extension Service, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108.
"Electrical Systems," A Training Manual for Home Inspectors, Alfred L. Alk, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), 1987, available from ASHI. [DF NOTE: I do NOT recommend this obsolete publication, though it was cited in the original Journal article as it contains unsafe inaccuracies]
"Basic Housing Inspection," US DHEW, S352.75 U48, p.144, out of print, but is available in most state libraries.
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