By Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
The home I'm buying was acquired through foreclosure. It's been vacant for months, so the water, power, and gas have been shut off. A home inspection has been scheduled, but I'm wondering how the inspector can do a thorough job without the utilities being on. Should we proceed with the inspection or reschedule when the services have been turned on? -- Ernsley
Dear Ernsley,
Active utilities are essential to a detailed and comprehensive home inspection. Without water, electricity, and gas, the inspection report will be a series of disclaimers. Rather than providing the information you need to make an informed purchase decision, the report will list the numerous items that were not evaluated due to the lack of utility service. Instead of containing pertinent disclosures, there will be a continuous series of useless statements such as, "Tubs and showers were not tested due to lack of water...."
Without electricity, the inspector cannot observe the operational condition of lights, outlets, and other electrical fixtures. Without power, outlets cannot be checked for grounding, polarity, or ground fault shock protection, and fixtures such as the garbage disposal and the garage door opener cannot be tested.
Without water, plumbing fixtures, pipes, and drains cannot be inspected for operability or for leaks, and built-in appliances such as dishwashers cannot be actively tested. Also, the piping cannot be evaluated for sufficient water volume, and the pressure cannot be tested for adequacy and compliance.
Additionally, if the home has gas heating and cooking, service will be needed to test the safety and functionality of various fixtures, including the furnace, the water heater, and the kitchen range.
The lack of utilities will limit the ability of your inspector to make pertinent discoveries and will leave you with many unanswered questions regarding the general condition of the property you are buying. An inspection without utilities is a waste of time and money, so be sure to have all services turned on before your home inspector arrives.
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