Home Inspector Failed to find GFI switch for Exterior Outlets (North Carolina)

[galantgirl79]

I am selling a house. The home inspector that the buyer hired left a little to be desired judging by all of the mistakes in his report. He included a line item that had to be rescinded after he could not provide proof of any damage to the vinyl siding, not to mention the multitudes of grammatical errors in his report. The one thing that really got me was that he said the exterior outlets and door bell were not working. Usually this is a GFI reset switch. We had this problem before and I assumed my boyfriend reset it because the exterior outlets were working 3 weeks before the inspection. The inspector also said some wiring seemed to be disconnected in the crawl space and that could be related to the power problem. So we hired a licensed electrician to come out to the house and take a look around. After over an hour of searching the house and crawl space, the electrician found that the exterior outlets and door bell were tied to a GFI switch in the front bedroom. He said this configuration was very rare, but he had seen it before. My question to you is: Do I have a legal claim against the home inspector to have him pay the $220 bill for the electrician's diagnostic fee? I am assuming I can't hold him liable, but it really burns me up and if there is anything I can do to rectify this situation I would love to know. Thank you in advance for any advice!!!

 

[FarmerJ]

I think it is doubtful you can succeed in winning a claim against the inspector he did not represent you so even if he made mistakes the information from them was for his client.

 

[Zigner]

The inspector's job, generally, is to find out if something is wrong, not why something is wrong. The inspector noted that the exterior outlets and door bell were not working. It's not his job to figure out why.

I am selling a house. The home inspector that the buyer hired left a little to be desired judging by all of the mistakes in his report. He included a line item that had to be rescinded after he could not provide proof of any damage to the vinyl siding, not to mention the multitudes of grammatical errors in his report. The one thing that really got me was that he said the exterior outlets and door bell were not working. Usually this is a GFI reset switch. We had this problem before and I assumed my boyfriend reset it because the exterior outlets were working 3 weeks before the inspection. The inspector also said some wiring seemed to be disconnected in the crawl space and that could be related to the power problem. So we hired a licensed electrician to come out to the house and take a look around. After over an hour of searching the house and crawl space, the electrician found that the exterior outlets and door bell were tied to a GFI switch in the front bedroom. He said this configuration was very rare, but he had seen it before. My question to you is: Do I have a legal claim against the home inspector to have him pay the $220 bill for the electrician's diagnostic fee? I am assuming I can't hold him liable, but it really burns me up and if there is anything I can do to rectify this situation I would love to know. Thank you in advance for any advice!!!

 

[galantgirl79]

Thanks!

Thanks FarmerJ and Zigner, that is what I suspected, but thought I'd ask to be certain. Have a great day!

 

[Zigner]

I would also suggest that you research whether or not having the exterior outlets protected by the same GFI circuit as the bedroom outlets is appropriate. I suspect it may not be.

 

[FlyingRon]

I would also suggest that you research whether or not having the exterior outlets protected by the same GFI circuit as the bedroom outlets is appropriate. I suspect it may not be.

As far as the NEC goes, there's no reason why a GFCI receptacle can't protect downstream ones NOR that outside ones be on bedroom circuits.

The circuits that are restricted are for receptacles in the: kitchen/dining/pantry, bathrooms, laundry.


Home inspectors are complete blithering idiots when it comes to technical issues like electrical. Their contracts always disclaim them having any responsibility for their ignorance.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

The last time I wasted money on a home inspection the guy stated the dishwasher had a burned out motor. When he left and I looked under the sink and noticed the water line to the appliance wasn't turned on (and did so) the unit worked fine. I suppose one could add plumbing to the lack of knowledge also.

Gail