Systems findings
12 findings covering plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems.
Plumbing, electrical and mechanical. Where structure findings are driven by the ground a house sits on, systems findings are driven almost entirely by the decade it was built in.
That makes them more predictable than most buyers expect. A 1968 house in North Texas has a knowable set of candidates: a panel brand that is now controversial, aluminium branch circuits if it was wired late in the decade, cast iron waste lines below the slab. A 1994 house has a different set — polybutylene supply lines, a first-generation post-tension slab, an air handler in an unconditioned attic. A 2006 house has CPVC and a radiant barrier and very little else.
The subject attracts more folklore than any other part of an inspection, and most of it is repeated confidently by people selling the remedy. Federal Pacific breakers were never recalled — the Consumer Product Safety Commission closed its investigation in 1983 on cost grounds, which is a materially different and rather more troubling fact. Twist-on pigtailing does not fix aluminium wiring, though it is sold as if it does. A camera in a sewer line shows condition, not whether the line needs replacing.
Each page below states what an inspector is permitted to determine under the Standards of Practice, what requires a licensed plumber or electrician, and where a widely repeated claim does not survive contact with the source.
| Finding | Verdict | Era | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milestone inspection findings | Blocks financing | Through a state-mandated report | What the report can say, what it cannot, and what a finding triggers |
| Concrete spalling and rebar corrosion | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | Why the damage you can see is always the smaller number |
| Deferred maintenance | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | Why it accumulates, how it is found, and when it stops a loan |
| Elevators, sprinklers and life safety | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | The systems where someone else sets the schedule |
| Envelope failure and water intrusion | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | Which wall you have decides how it fails, and where to look |
| Facade and balcony safety programmes | Complicates it | Through a state-mandated report | Where they apply, what they classify, and what a finding costs |
| Parking structure condition | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | Looking at it is a weak instrument, and here is why |
| Roof condition as a common element | Complicates it | On a physical inspection | Anyone quoting you a flat number for roof life is guessing |
| Structural Integrity Reserve Study | Complicates it | Through a state-mandated report | What the study covers, and why visual is the word that matters |
| Aging plumbing risers and stacks | Not a financing issue | On a physical inspection | The pipe is the cheap part; getting to it is not |
| Central and common HVAC systems | Not a financing issue | On a physical inspection | The architecture decides who controls what |
| Electrical service capacity in older towers | Not a financing issue | On a physical inspection | Capacity is an empirical question, not an age question |
On a physical inspection
9 findingsWhat someone looking at the building can actually see.
Through a state-mandated report
3 findingsWhat milestone inspections and structural reserve studies surface.