Home Electrical Inspection for Insurance
Sometimes your insurance provider may ask for an ESA home electrical inspection. This sometimes happens because you are switching insurance providers. It can also happen when you have been with the same provider for a number of years, often after a claim from a fire or flood. It can also be because your home is getting older, over 30 years is often the trigger. The insurance company may ask for an electrical inspection from a licensed electrical contractor. Sometimes the insurance company asks for an ESA general electrical inspection to make sure your home is a low insurable risk.
ESA General Inspection
The process to satisfy the insurance company request for an ESA general inspection can be as simple as just getting the ESA to do a general inspection. If everything is perfect you will get a report to that effect. However, the ESA does not do repairs or fix defects. They are an inspection and enforcement body only. You will need an electrical contractor to fix any ESA code defects that they have identified. ESA will give you a timeline for these corrections to be completed.
Two step approach electrical inspection
A less stressful approach for this is to bring in an electrical contractor first to complete an electrical inspection and correct any defects then next have the ESA do their general inspection.
For this, The Shock Doctors do a thorough electrical inspection of your home’s wiring. This includes a written report with pictures of the defects. They will be categorized as Electrical Safety Authority- Code Defects or Electrical Safety Authority- Life Threatening Hazards.
We will not restrict the report to the condition of only the wiring system. We will also report on related systems such as the smoke/CO detection system; the exhaust fan condition in the bathrooms and the kitchen; the location and identification of the furnace safety shut-off switch and the presence of surge protection for the electrical panel, the cable TV, and telephone systems. These are all great things to know for your own peace of mind.
We will take the time to go over the report with you, making sure you completely understand any problems with the system. You should get options to correct the defects with a firm quote for the repairs. You should also get a written guarantee outlining the terms and duration of the guarantees.
Once you select how you would like to proceed, your electrician performs the repairs and takes out a permit for those repairs. The work that was done is inspected and you get a Certificate of Inspection from the Electrical Safety Authority for those repairs. You will also receive a letter from The Shock Doctors for your insurance company outlining the repairs that have been undertaken.
When you arrange to get the ESA general inspection that the insurance company needs, everything should be perfect, and you should have no trouble getting a passing grade.
It may come as a surprise for you to discover that the most common deficiency documented by the ESA is the electric panel not being clearly and accurately labelled in ink.
