Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It didn’t take long for homeowner Maureen Dunlap to figure out something was wrong after
having a new furnace installed.
“It was held together with some duct tape, or furnace tape and a flimsy board. And when
the furnace came on, the walls would suck in. And I knew that wasn’t right.”
So Dunlap called a different contractor for a second opinion who found a number of code
violations.
“As far as the wires passing through the cabinet, what can happen there is the wire
can rub into the metal and short out. That can cause a potential fire, it can cause a
loss of control where there would be electrical component or something like that, even electrical
shock to the homeowner.”
Any new renovation work must meet current code at the time it is performed.
Code violations often involve electrical, plumbing or structural issues that pose some
sort of safety hazard.
“If you ignore code violations in your home you might find that you face financial fines
as well as legal ramifications. It’s really important that you bring things up to code
when you discover them.”
“The most common code violations we normally find is breakers are too large for the appliance
that they are serving. In some cases, the wiring is not sized properly and a breaker
is a point of contact so if something goes wrong that’s supposed to give out first
to protect the home, protect the equipment and everything. If you have a breaker that
is too large what is going to happen is something else is going to give and that could be a
potential fire.”
If something is code when you put it in and then code changes, you don't have to bring
it up to code, though it might still be a good idea to from a safety standpoint. Also,
many homeowners’ insurance policies won’t cover damage or loss to an area that is found
to not be up to the current code, if that area is supposed to be, so read your policy
and talk to your agent.