Electrical defects in a home inspection

Electrical defects are worth catching early: a home inspection (bedek bayit) that turns up new electrical construction defects can save you real money. Fixing electrical-system defects is the contractor's responsibility, so an electrical inspection makes sure any faults in a new home get fixed by the contractor who caused them.

Why an electrical inspection matters

Checking that the electrical system is sound is essential, and not only for financial reasons: it matters for safety too, which can make the inspection critical for your life and your property. An electrical-fault inspection determines whether the systems in the house or apartment meet safety standards, and whether they were designed and are being maintained properly. Electrical defects and faults can cause fires, electrocution, damage to appliances, and can shut the whole system down.

An inspection for electrical defects checks the electrical plan against how it was actually built, comparing what the contractor set out before the purchase with what was actually installed, in both new houses and new apartments.

Contractors often fall short of what was agreed with the buyer, so it is worth confirming that you got what you were promised and that the work meets the required standard, down to every component and the quality of its installation. Safety aside, the inspection also covers appearance.

Common electrical construction defects

Construction defects in the electrical field fall into a few recurring types:

1. Conduit installed diagonally in walls and ceilings, contrary to the Electricity Law. Consequence: risk of electrocution when driving a nail into the wall.

2. Plastic boxes meant for outlets, switches and junctions, embedded directly in concrete.

Consequence: broken plaster and cracked concrete edges.

3. Missing grounding, contrary to the Electricity Law. Consequence: risk of electrocution.

4. Conduit penetrating through the roof, contrary to the roofing standard. Consequence: water entering the conduit and the surrounding area.

What an electrical-fault inspection covers

An inspection will pick up defects such as outlets and switches installed at inconsistent heights, which spoil the look of a space and read as unprofessional work. It also, unfortunately, often finds genuine safety hazards caused by non-compliance with the standards.

These same issues turn up frequently during a resale apartment inspection, where a system can prove unsafe or simply not work as it should. Watch for protruding conduit, outlets exposed to dampness, unsafe clearances inside panels, and other faults, old or new, that a trained eye can catch, sometimes before they turn into something worse.

It helps to understand the parts involved: the breaker that protects against electrocution and lets you check the current, and the grounding that protects against electrocution from a short circuit and offers some protection from lightning by diverting current away from a person and into the ground.

A semi-automatic circuit breaker protects the system from an overload, for instance when several appliances run at once. A home inspection means you can use the home without worrying about fuses tripping while cooking or under heavy load.

Make sure the main panel is sound and that its components meet the required standard, to prevent faults and the risk of electrocution. A panel made of wood, or fitted with a fuse wire instead of a residual-current breaker, points to a real risk of electrocution and recurring faults.

Old infrastructure and old wiring often have insulation that has started to peel, which raises the risk of electrocution, as does missing grounding, especially where there is dampness. Swapping the neutral and phase in an outlet can damage appliances.

Conduit installed off-line or run poorly through the roof creates further risk, as does dampness seeping into connections or boxes, or height differences between outlets and switches.