s000113 Clarifying significantly deficient and near the end of service life.

Identifier: s000113

Date: 02/16/2000

Question

Is there a contradiction between Section 2.2.B.1 and Sections 13.2.B.2 & 13.2.B.6?

Response

No. Purpose and Scope section 2.2.B.1 states "The inspector shall report on those systems and components which, in the professional opinion of the inspector, are significantly deficient or are near the end of their service lives." "Significantly deficient" is defined as "unsafe or not functioning" Near the end of service life can be based on either deterioration found regardless of age (for example, deteriorated roofing that is only a few years old) or can be based on general actuarial information, or the inspector's experience, for similar components regardless of apparent condition (for example, a 20 year old water heater that looks and functions perfectly). 

Therefore, section 2.2.B.1 requires the inspector to report items that are (a) unsafe, (b) not functioning, (c) near the end of their service lives based on deterioration found, or (d) near the end of their service lives based on general actuarial information for similar items or the inspector's experience. 

General Limitations and Exclusions section 13.2.B.2 states "inspectors are not required to determine the remaining life of any system or component." In other words, the inspector need not predict when, in the future, functioning will cease as a result of age and wear. General Limitations and Exclusions section 13.2.B.6 states "inspectors are not required to determine future conditions including, but not limited to, failure of systems and components." Similar to 13.2.B.2, the inspector need not predict when, in the future, failure or other adverse condition will occur whether due to age, wear, or other cause.

Exclusions from predicting when a future event will occur is not contrary to any of the requirements under 2.2.B.1 to report that, when inspected, something (a) is unsafe, (b) is not functioning, (c) appears to be NEAR the end of its service life based on its deteriorated status, or (d) is NEAR the end of its service life based on actuarial information or inspector's experience. Note that in both cases (c) and (d) there is no requirement to make any prediction about how long an item will continue to function or any prediction about when it might fail. 

Therefore, sections 13.2.B.2 and 13.2.B.6 do not contradict section 2.2.B.1. For further information on these issues, see also RFI s991109-3.

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