Heartland Home Inspection Services Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/06) */
I stated in the home inspection report in the water heater section "The unit was off at the time of the inspection." I noted the age of the unit as years and identified the brandI identified a leak at a supply fittingI recommended
repairI did not tell them a new unit is "only a couple hundred dollars"I told them a new unit costs around $I also told them the unit was turned offI don't really know how that statement could be misinterpretedIf I had turned the unit off after inspection I would have said that in the reportHome Inspectors are not supposed to turn things on by any means other than operating controls, in this case turning on a hot water faucet, or for an HVAC unit, turning on the thermostat, for liability reasonsIf something is off we have to assume it is off for a reasonThe National Association Of Home Inspectors (NAHI) Standards of Practice (SOP), which I practice under states, in part, "The inspector is not required to:Inspect any system that is shut-down or secured"The SOP defines shut down as "A system or equipment is considered to be shut down when its control device(s) will not cause it to become activated or operational"If there was confusion as what "The unit was off at the time of the inspection" meant, they could have contacted me for clarificationI told them in the email when I sent the report, "After reading the report, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me"They cite the fact that I turned the furnace on and therefore should have turned on the water heaterThe furnace was turned on with the thermostatThose are its operating controlsAs I stated, the operating controls for a water heater are turning on the hot water at a faucet or turning up the thermostat on the unitTurning up the thermostat would have done nothing as the unit was switched to "off"As for a list of things needing to be renegotiated, I do not provide any such thingI list things in the report and let the client make that determination, usually with consultation with their realtorAgain, I don't know how "The unit was off at the time of the inspection" could be misinterpretedThis is the first time there has ever been any question about what it meansAnd again, I encouraged them to call with any questions after reading the report