Private residential inspection - When to notify building official of unsafe structure

[Forensic74]

In single family residential construction, if you (PE) are retained by the homeowner to inspect the home and find an unsafe condition, you obviously notify the homeowner of the building. However, are you obligated to notify the building official?

 

[hokie66]

New construction or old?

 

[Forensic74]

Existing homes. Homeowner retains PE. There is nothing I see in codes/standards/etc that states that we'd have to notify the building official in addition to the homeowner.

 

[hokie66]

The way I see it, if you have been retained to inspect and report on an existing structure, the owner knows there is something wrong, and presumably intends to rectify it. The rectification will likely require a building permit, and that is when the building official finds out. Now if the owner decides to do nothing about an unsafe condition, then notification of the building official would be in order.

 

[msquared48]

The problem comes though in that the PE may never know if the problem was fixed, let alone fixed properlt, particularly if the problem is nor visible from the outside.

Another consideration is that homes aresold,sometimes.without full disclosure. This presents a dilemma to the PE if the building official was never notified. The PE has to satisfy his due dilligence.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[MotorCity]

An unsafe condition needs to be fixed either voluntarily by the owner or by force of the building department. If the owner intends to fix it, he/she should have no issue with you making the building dept aware of the problem. If they don't intend to fix it then they should be forced to fix it...that's where the power of the building dept comes in. Also, by letting the building dept know, you have left a bigger paper trail that you did your due diligence.

 

[stevenal]

While the PE has an obligation to his client, safety is paramount. Suggest making this fact known to the client up front.

 

[monkeydog]

Assuming there is a licensed realtor in the mix, the report should also go to the listing realtor. The listing realtor and the seller are now obligated to disclose known conditions to the buyer.

 

[JAE]

Here's an NSPE Ethics discussion on this topic:

https://www.nspe.org/sites/default/...rces/EthicsCaseSearch/2007/BER 07-3-FINAL.pdf

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[JAE]

Here's a snippet of the NSPE code of ethics section that applies:

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[Compositepro]

In a private residence the issue of "public safety" is is limited.

 

[stevenal]

I consider the homeowner, his friends, family, tenants, neighbors, buyers, delivery people, etc. to all be members of the public. Maybe not quite like a public school, but I fail to see much limitation.

 

[JAE]

Yes, a house is just as subject to the need for Public safety as any other building.

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[Ron]

You have an obligation to notify the building official in the event the owner does not immediately correct the issue. You have an ethical obligation to notify the owner that you are going to notify the building official. If the owner asks you to not notify the building official and states that he is going to rectify the condition, tell him that you have an obligation to check to see that it is done. Tell him you will give him a reasonable timeframe to correct the issue (30 days?) and tell him that if it is not done in the stated timeframe you have a legal obligation to notify the building official.

Yes...a single family residence has the same "public" status as any building. The owner will likely eventually sell it to someone "in the public realm".

 

[CWB1]

Sounds like a great way to make yourself look foolish in most cases. What do you expect the building department to do, order it repaired or demolished? From the most rural areas to our densest inner cities we are quite literally surrounding by structures with major safety issues. Per the VA, a staircase without a railing is unsafe. Per my relatives, hay loft floors are safe until someone falls through. Sure, if an occupied rental or commercial building is about to collapse and you don't believe the owner is taking the repair seriously then by all means report them. OTOH, if a client wants advice about an unoccupied century-old farmhouse then common sense should prevail.

 

[MotorCity]

CWB1.....if an engineer perceives a condition to be unsafe, they have an ethical duty to report it according to NSPE. So yes, that is exactly the expectation of the building department....order it repaired or demolished. I would much rather look foolish by reporting an issue that turned out to be non-safety related than not reporting the issue and someone being hurt or killed. I don't think we are surrounded by "major safety issues", I think we may be surrounded by non code compliant issues (which may or may not be a safety issue). No engineer wants to be the handrail police, but we all should be vigilant of potential safety issues.

 

[thaidavid40]

It isn't up to you to police private homeowners. If this property ever goes up for sale, then they would have to advertise that there is a known structural safety issue (at least in my state they would have to). If they didn't, then they could be sued for felony fraud. You were hired for a private job - keep it private.
Dave

Thaidavid

 

[dik]

I would discuss this with the homeowner and explain that I have an obligation to report this if it is life threatening and that it has to be repaired. I would impress upon him that this is a dangerous situation and how to immediately provide temporary remediation so it was not 'life threatening'.

I would afford the homeowner the opportunity to undertake the repairs and confirm that this is happening. If not, then I would move forward with this, but, only after I had given him the opportunity to undertake the work himself. This approach may not be 'officially' correct, but, I think this is the proper way forward.

Don't take this as my recommendation... you have to act on your own conscience.

Dik

 

[3DDave]

Like the private company boiler in Saint Louis? Even in medicine, where there is a long history of confidentiality, there are laws requiring the reporting of certain conditions, particularly those which affect others. I'm surprised there aren't state and local laws requiring such reporting to eliminate the ethical vs. professional conflict.

Ref:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_534f53e0-3719-5857-8397-5ecb1beebb95.html

 

[dik]

3DDave:

Agreed... but, cut the owner a little slack, before blowing the whistle. Give the homeowner an opportunity to undertake the remediation in a safe manner.

Dik