Here are some of the resources available:
1. Home Inspection Video - See a home inspection!
2. Read an actual home inspection report.
3. Read/search Barry Stone's column, Inspector's In the House (below).
4. Send a question using the form to the right. ===>
5. If you are a Seller, get your own inspection before you put your home on the market.

California does not require any license to be a home inspector, so it is important for both home buyers and sellers to make sure that they hire an inspector who is a certified residential inspector and who carries errors and omissions insurance. To help you think through the selection of your home inspector, click here for our 10 Tips.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Click on any of these topics to read questions and answers by syndicated columnist Barry Stone.
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As a buyer, you can be present on the home inspection (and we really recommend it). Being there gives you a chance to ask questions, to see and discuss what Mark has found, and to ask other questions about your new home. Some of the areas inspected include: structure, heating and cooling, roof, electrical system, plumbing and fixtures, attic, basement and/or crawl space, foundation, gutters, insulation, interior and exterior walls, porches and decks, and the water heater and appliances.

A good inspector helps both buyers and sellers become aware of any defects that weren't already known. (If they had been known, they would have been disclosed.) Please note: Sellers have no obligation to repair any defects. Repair requests are just that--requests. However, if an unknown defect is a safety issue, violates the then-current building code, or affects functionality, many sellers will accommodate the request in one way or another. A good inspection helps to put all those issues on the table so that everyone is satisfied with the transaction.

For information about various topics, just click on any of the links to the left or run your own search! One of our 600+ articles is posted below.

THE CODE FOR SMOKE ALARMS
Inspector's in the House by Barry Stone, Certified Building Inspector

Dear Barry,
I'm selling a rental property and the buyer's home inspector reported various missing and inoperative alarms. I'm wondering why the alarms in my building were never connected to the electrical wiring and whether I'm required to upgrade them in this way. Please give me some guidelines regarding smoke alarm requirements for landlords.
Sam

Dear Sam,
The law requires landlords to install smoke alarms in all residential units. Placement should be in accordance with the building code or with specific local ordinances. But the common sense to maintain alarms in operational conditions is largely the responsibility of the occupants. As a concerned property owner, you can encourage your tenants to cooperate in maintaining the batteries, but your ability to effectively police their safety and security is directly proportional their own motivation and interest.

Another side of the issue, however, involves legal culpability. In some cases where renters have been the casualties of fire, and where smoke alarms were absent from the premises, property owners have been subjected to criminal prosecution. To avoid such liability, documenting your efforts to maintain functional alarms would be a wise precaution. This can be done by having tenants sign a smoke alarm agreement and by including a written reminder with each monthly rent receipt, encouraging regular testing of alarms.

The requirement to attach smoke alarms to the electrical power supply pertains only to residential units constructed in 1979 or thereafter. If the alarms in your apartments are battery powered, the building must be of older vintage, in which case, upgrading would not be a legal mandate.

The 1979 code, requiring direct wiring of alarms, was enacted specifically because people were not maintaining batteries. However, in 1993, the code was changed again. The new standard requires direct attachment to the wiring, with battery back-up as well. This change recognizes the fact that many fires are caused by defects in the electrical wiring. When electrical fires occur, failure of the power supply can render smoke alarms inoperative.

Distributed by Access Media Group. To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the web at www.housedetective.com.