The home is in Albuquerque, NM.
I had always thought that the GFCI requirements for the present, 2007 (not when the home was built in 1978), apply.
All electrical outlets in a small kitchen are within six feet of pipes that are grounded. All electrical outlets are NOT GFFI protected.
The seller is balking at providing the two GFCIs I believe are either required or a safe idea (when installed properly in the affected two circuits, either at the panel or in-line).
Is he correct that he need not provide GFCIs as a condition of sale to meet NEC and Local Code requirements?

 

> I had always thought that the GFCI requirements for the present, 2007 (not
> when the home was built in 1978), apply.

Unless a local (city, state, county) code overrides, a house only must meet the code of the year it was built or of the last major remodel. Many cities do have codes which require updates of safety items like GFCI receptacles and smoke detectors which add trivial cost at the time of sale.

> required or a safe idea

Yes, a safe idea; but not required based on the age of the home. To meet 2005 code (the latest) regarding GFCI protection, you would need to have GFCI protection for receptacles in the bathrooms, kitchen countertops, unfinished portions of the basement, outdoors and garage.

> Is he correct that he need not provide GFCIs as a condition of sale
> to meet NEC and Local Code requirements?

I don't know your local codes, but he does not legally need to provide them by NEC. It's up to you as the buyer whether to make this a condition of sale. Since this upgrade is probably less than $50 and a couple hours work for the whole house I would recommend just doing it.

 

Ben answered your question. In the absence of local requirements stating otherwise there are no requirements to bring a house up to current electrical code to sell it.

I would, however, install GFCI protection for the kitchen and the bathroom(s) before I moved in or in the process of moving in.

If the seller won't go for it then do it yourself. Something this trivial is not worth arguing over.

 

If you choose to go FHA on the home loan then there is no reason why the seller cannot fix this. The appraiser of the home should be able to look at this and recommend that it should be fixed.

The other thing is there are plenty of other homes on the market and it is a buyers market. You could wait on the purchase till later on in the year.

 

In a pre-purchase inspection, a good home inspection would always note the lack GFCI protection withing 6' of water and in a bathroom.

It has nothing to do with the building code. It is a safety issue that can overide a code. It is informational to the person considering a purchase.

It is very obvious that it is safety problem even if there was no building code.

One other item that frequently comes up is the safety of stair hand rails and deck railings. It is recognized that this is a problem because of the infant deaths and accidents.

Very often sellers have pre-listing inspection made to the same standards as a part of the touch-up, clean-up and repairs made before listing the house. It catches things early, so they do not become a problem or negotiating point at the critical closing time.

Dick