What devices your home inspector will routinely check and devices you may want to check if you have small children

Part 1 of 4 part series by Tom Kruger, AAlert Home Inspection, Grayslake, Illinois

   &On January 1, 2007, the Illinois Smoke Detector Act came into effect.  The act requires all Illinois residences to maintain a working carbon monoxide detector, which may be combined with a smoke detector, within fifteen feet of any room used for sleeping.  These smoke and carbon monoxide detectors maybe battery operated or hard wired into the home electrical circuit.  In some areas, newer homes are required to have a separate electrical circuit for the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.  Illinois home inspectors and the home inspection reports they use, are only required to report on the lack of smoke detectors.  The lack of detectors should also be pointed out pointed out by your inspector.  Many inspectors will call out the observance of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as a practical manner even though there is no legal requirement to mention them.

Once observed, the industry is split on whether the detectors should be tested by the home inspector.   As testing is not a legal requirement in Illinois and is not required by the standards of practice of two oldest home inspector trade organizations, most inspectors skip testing.  There are two limitations to testing and neither yields a suitable result.  First—what is tested and works today may not be working in several weeks or more after closing when you finally move to your new house.  Second—a liability issue is created if the detector is tested and malfunctions.  Who is going to stop the detector's alarm from continuing to run?  As the inspector was the last to touch the detector it is generally considered to be his problem.  That is why many home inspectors point out the existence of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and comment that they should be tested once you have moved into the home.  Most home inspectors will test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors if the buyer accepts the liability for a malfunctioning detector.

Battery operated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors need to have their battery replaced once a year.  Near the end of the battery's life, the detector will start to beep.  Beeping is supposed to notify the homeowner to replace the detector's battery.

Hard wired smoke and carbon monoxide detectors will have a green light near the center of the detector when the unit is operating properly.  Hard wired units need to be replaced at end of five or seven years depending on the manufacturer of the detector used.