By Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
Before buying my home, I hired a home inspector, but he missed an air conditioning problem. During the inspection, I remember him switching the system on for a few minutes and saying it was okay. But one month after moving in, I found that it only circulates the air, without making it cold. Ironically, repairing the system cost me as much as the home inspection. What is the protocol for inspecting an air conditioner? --Larry
Dear Larry,
Home inspection protocols for air conditioners are limited and sparsely defined. The most widely used standards of practice, published by the California Real Estate Inspection Association, state that, "The inspector is not required to?determine uniformity, temperature, airflow or balance of cool air supply to any room or building?" The inspector, therefore, is excused from noting the coolness of air output at the registers.
In the practical world of home inspection, competent inspectors make a good faith attempt to determine functionality of an A/C system, regardless of published inspection standards. Some employ technical equipment for measuring the temperature and/or volume of airflow at the vents. Others simply place a hand against the register to determine that airflow is reasonably cool. Simply turning on the unit to see that the machinery is physically active may comply with minimum industry standards, but such protocols are of questionable adequacy and not consistent with a best-effort home inspection.
In your case, the problem is to determine whether the system was functional at the time of the inspection. Unfortunately, now is too late to make a definite determination in that regard. One of the uncertainties with operational defects discovered after the close of escrow is that no one can say for certain that the system was or was not fully operative when the inspection occurred. The air conditioner may have been operational then, and the problem could have developed later. Or, as you suspect, the problem could have been missed by the inspector. At this late date, only the sellers know for sure.
. Questions of a Do It Yourself nature should be submitted to our "