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Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters & Home Inspections

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters or GFCI’s are a type of safety device commonly found in most homes during a home inspection. When present, home inspectors are required by their standards of practice to test GFCI’s to ensure they are working correctly at the time of inspection.

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Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters & Home Inspections

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  1. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters & Home Inspections Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters or GFCI’s are a type of safety device commonly found in most homes during a home inspection. When present, home inspectors are required by their standards of practice to test GFCI’s to ensure they are working correctly at the time of inspection. Aside from common outlet issues such as hot and neutral wires reversed, missing grounds and missing exterior weather covers, GFCI’s can also fail over time, be it from exposure to elements, frequent usage or just age. Most home inspectors will have a small GFCI tester that they will use to test or trip the GFCI when conducting the home inspection. If all is well the tester will trip the GFCI which indicates it’s in proper working order. If not, well it’s time to replace the outlet or breaker that serves the outlet. Why are Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters Needed? Where are GFCI’s needed? That’s a good question. In general GFCI’s are required in new builds pretty much anywhere water or moisture contact with an outlet is possible. As building codes started to adopt the installation of GFCI’s, they were initially required on exterior outlets and from there codes have changed to mandate installation in bathrooms, kitchens, garages and laundry rooms or any outlet that may be within one metre (three feet) of a moisture source. Identifying GFCI Issues During Home Inspection Some home inspectors may recommend in their inspection report that older outlets close to these higher risk areas be upgraded to a GFCI outlet for safety reasons. While GFCI outlets are not cheap in comparison to a typical outlet (usually about $15 to $25), they are worth every penny to anyone with common sense.

  2. If your home inspector determines there is a problem with a GFCI during your home inspection, it is always a good idea to hire an electrician to perform any repairs or upgrades. Above Grade Home Inspections Inc. performs home inspections, WETT inspections, thermal imaging inspections and mould inspections in Barrie, Alliston, Orillia, Wasaga Beach, Innisfil and across Simcoe County. http://www.abovegradehomeinspections.ca/

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