It's only prohibited in the "initial home inspection report". Doesn't say anything about secondary or follow-up reports.Here's an example of a recent follow-up I had posted in another thread.
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I just had a similar issue. Hope this helps someone.
Stairs without guards! (21385 Bytes)
The client called back saying the builder refused to fix it because it wasn't "required" and the City Building Department had inspected and approved the house.
My reply was:
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Dear xxxxxxxxx,
The following information is provided in response to your question:
(The following caveats applies to this discussion)
The “Building Code is NOT a great and lofty standard. They are merely the minimum legal standards, to do anything less would be illegal.
Are you paying a “minimum standard price” for this house. Let the answer to that question help guide your decisions.
I don’t enforce or quote local building codes. See the original report notes regarding building codes and their local enforcement.
References quoted are from the 2000 International Residential Code as adopted by the State of Kentucky.
A. Guardrail at stairs from garage to house.
I didn’t measure the height of the house floor above the garage floor because my common sense tells me that if your small children are trying to walk down this staircase, there’s a good chance of them losing their grip on the handrail, if they have a grip, and falling sideways over the side of the staircase. If they fall, they’ll be hurting. Common sense and the safety of your children outweighs ANY building code in my mind. This should not be a “minimum standards issue, it is a child safety issue, and you are moving four of them into the house.
Guardrail is “required” by Kentucky State Building Code if the distance is more than 30 inches from the floor of the garage to the floor of the house.
I don’t know whether the xxxxxxxxx Building department will enforce this issue if it doesn’t meet code, but note that even though the code inspector may have passed the overall condition of the house, the outlets at the rear deck and the crawl space were not GFCI protected. Wasn’t there an electrical inspection sticker on the electrical panel. Remember how overworked the building inspectors are? It is very possible they missed this, just like it’s possible I may have missed something. NONE of us are perfect
R316.1: Guards required. Porches, balconies or raised floor surfaces located more than 30 inches (762 mm) above the floor or grade below shall have guards not less than 36 inches (914 mm) in height. Open sides of stairs with a total rise of more than 30 inches above the floor or grade below shall have guards not less than 34 inches (864 mm) in height measured vertically from the nosing of the treads.
R316.2: Guard opening limitations. Required guards on open sides of stairways, raised floor areas, balconies and porches shall have intermediate rails or ornamental closures that do not allow passage of a sphere 4 inches (102 mm) in diameter. Required guards shall not be constructed with horizontal rails or other ornamental pattern that results in a ladder effect.
i. Exception: The triangular opening formed by the riser, tread and bottom rail of a guard at the open side of a stairway are permitted to be of such a size that a sphere 6 inches (152 mm) cannot pass through.
I recommend that you contact the xxxxxxxxx Building Department and ask their opinion on this.
BUT, the bottom line should be this question "What is safe for my family?"
If you have any questions, or need further information, please contact me.
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The original report about building codes had this.
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BUILDING CODES:
Remember that the building code is developed by nationwide experts in particular topic areas. It is then sent to the state where some homebuilders, a few experts, and politicians decide what is going to be enforced in the state. It is then sent to the local level where mostly home builders and politicians decide what’s going to be enforced locally. Is then given to the code enforcement inspectors to interpret according to how they read the code. In addition, the local code often lags several years behind the national codes.
The building code is not a lofty standard. It is the bare minimum legal standard that a home builder, electrician, plumber, etc, must comply with. To do anything less would be illegal.
B4U Close Home Inspections services a large area of Kentucky with many different building code enforcement authorities, each with their own individual interpretations of the national and state building codes based on their local politics and beliefs. I cannot be completely conversant with each and every building code enforcement authority's interpretation of the national building codes; therefore B4U Close Home Inspections does not perform code compliance inspections nor guarantee that all items are in compliance with governing codes, regulations, ordinances, statutes, covenants and manufacturer specifications.
My references and sources for calling out different items as a safety concern or defective or marginal or in need of repair may include the national building codes (International Residential Code / National Electric Code / Uniform Plumbing Code, etc), manufacturer's instructions, the building industry's standards, continuing education, and personal experience.
If the response to an area of concern or a recommendation in our report is, “Well, they didn't have that (or they didn't do that) when the house was built,” I know that. However, during the ensuing years, our knowledge has increased considerably concerning safety in the home. I believe that you should be safe in your home and that taking care of your home should be as easy as possible. So I will recommend things that they didn’t have or do years ago simply to keep you safe or help you take care of your home. Just because I recommend it, doesn’t mean you can expect the seller to pay for it. What’s most important to me is that you and your family are as safe as possible in your home.
Note that the Kentucky Home Builders Association lobbyists managed to have the Kentucky State Legislature include the following in the Kentucky Home Inspector Licensing Law:
Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) Chapter 198B.738
”Home inspectors are prohibited from indicating in writing in the initial home inspection report that any condition is not in compliance with any building code enforced under KRS Chapter 198B.”
Therefore, if you think an issue might be a code violation, you need to consult your local building code enforcement department for a determination.
If you have any questions, please call me.
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When I did a reinspection of some other issues, this one had been fixed and a guardrail properly installed.
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Erby Crofutt
B4U Close Home Inspections & Kentucky Radon Testing
Georgetown, Kentucky
www.b4uclose.com
[This message has been edited by Erby Crofutt (edited December 21, 2005).]
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