Inspections

Fitting New Condo Safety Issues and defects into the Top 10 list is going to be a little tight, but you can find out about many other bad things from the Chicago condos by checking entire Chicago Condo Inspection Manual. You would think that after such a spectacular real estate meltdown, something would change in … Read more

New Water Heater Installation in a Condominium –  Chicago Inspection Tips
To start your inspection of a new water heater installation in a Chicago condominium you have to determine what type of a water heater you actually have.
The following water heater installation guidelines will most likely apply in any jurisdiction (please double check). The only difference or rather an addition would be water heater strapping and flexible gas connectors that are required in seismic areas.
Below are 4 most common types of water heater installation in Chicago new condos:

Tank type /natural draft water heater with a metal vent pipe (galvanized steel – make sure there is no aluminum […]

This chapter of the Chicago new condo inspection covers most common furnace installation issues (based on my inspections). Furnace air return port must be located at least 10’ from the combustion chamber(s) (where the burners are) of gas burning appliances or in a separate room. The exception from this requirement is when the furnace and other appliances (within that room and 10′) are using combustion air from the outside.

Even if you know very little about Chicago history, I’m sure you have heard of the Great Chicago Fire that started on October 8, 1871 … maybe you didn’t remember the date … This chapter of your Chicago new condo inspection covers firewall separation between the condominium units, and it will tell us if we … Read more

This part will cover Chicago condo inspection combustion air requirements for the gas furnace and water heater installed inside your condo closet / utility room (not in the building common areas) – this is an extremely important section and you may need measuring tape.
All gas burning appliances require oxygen for a proper, complete and safe combustion process / without creating measurable and dangerous amounts of  Carbon Monoxide.
Because Carbon Monoxide has no taste, smell or color you must have a CO detector installed in your condo to alert you about any unsafe levels (check Chicago smoke and Carbon Monoxide detector requirements).
First […]

Chicago new condo laundry room electrical You can start your Chicago new condo laundry room inspection by looking at the electrical panel circuit breakers labels. Laundry room requires a dedicated (no other rooms, outlets, lights on this breaker) 20 amps rated circuit breaker to protect receptacles within that area. Outlet receptacles installed on that circuit … Read more

All bathroom outlets must be 20 amps rated and must include GFCI protection (there might be one GFCI receptacle and other outlets connected to it and protected). Your new condo bathroom receptacles must be installed on #12 AWG wire which you can’t see without removing of the receptacle or at least its cover, but this is beyond our basic / visual inspection.

This section of my Chicago Condo Inspection Manual will help you to ensure that your property developer / electrical contractor followed local electrical code requirements while wiring your brand new condo or a gut-rehabbed property. You’ll find here general Chicago new condo electrical requirements and more details concerning your kitchen, bathroom and the laundry area … Read more