GFCI Protection

 to check fo rfunctinality​GFCI protection also known as a  ground fault circuit interrupter is one of the most common and important electrical safety devices found in homes. GFCI protection can be in the form of a receptacle, or a breaker in your electrical panel.  GFCI’s function by sensing differences in current between the hot and neutral conductors of as little as 5 milliamps and cutting off power to the circuit or receptacle. This is very important as studies have shown that cardiac arrest can occur if contact is made for even a few seconds with as little as 30 milliamps of current.
You may have seen these devices in your electrical panel, bathrooms, kitchen, garage, or basement and any other wet or potentially wet locations. Appliances or devices that are used in these locations have the potential to come into contact with water, and if they do, a ground fault can occur and the GFCI device will detect the interruption in current and trip, shutting off the current to that receptacle or circuit in as little as 1/30th of a second.
Prior to the adoption of GFCI use approximately 800 deaths per year occurred due to accidental electrocution in areas where water was present.
As your home inspector, I will operate ground fault circuit interrupters to check for functionality, and if they’re not present I will make a recommendation that they are installed for the safety of the occupants.
I’m not concerned with when they were required to be installed in certain areas of the home as these requirements were staggered over the span of several years. Further complicating matters is the adoption of codes from municipality to municipality or state to state. For example bathrooms were required to have GFCI protection starting in 1978, but the municipality or State may not have required it until 1979 or later. I inspect homes and make recommendations by today’s standards as codes are added, updated, or changed for the safety of the occupants of a home, and that’s why you will always see a recommendation for their installation from me, even if they were not required when the home was constructed.
Your real estate contract may have a clause stating that the seller is not required to bring the home up to modern code standards, and if that’s the case I recommend hiring an electrician to install GFCI protection at all recommended locations, as it is typically a relatively inexpensive upgrade.