Carbon Monoxide Inspections:Help clients breathe easier

Quick Summary: Home inspectors can protect clients, meet demand, and stand out from competitors by offering carbon monoxide home inspection services. After investing in education, equipment, and endorsements, inspectors can limit their liability while performing carbon monoxide inspections by getting contracts signed, maintaining CO detectors, understanding tool limitations, and giving clients next steps.

Dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness, and death: These are some of the side effects of prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide (CO). From gas space heaters to leaking chimneys, seeping furnaces to gas stoves, the sources of carbon monoxide in home environments are numerous.

Understanding what carbon monoxide is and how it affects indoor air quality is critical for homeowners and the professionals who serve them. If you’re considering offering carbon monoxide home inspection services, this article is for you.

What is carbon monoxide?

Section Summary: Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas resulting from fuel burning without enough oxygen.

Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas that forms when fuel burns inefficiently. When wood, coal, propane, natural gas, gasoline, or kerosene burns in environments that don’t have enough oxygen, they make CO instead of carbon dioxide. When you conduct carbon monoxide home inspection services, you’re identifying elevated levels of CO on the property.

What causes carbon monoxide in a house? Or where does carbon monoxide come from in a house? Common sources of carbon monoxide in a home include fuel-burning appliances like furnaces, boilers, gas ranges or stoves, water heaters, and fireplaces. All of these systems and components can create carbon monoxide—especially if they’re improperly vented or maintained. Since most people use their fuel-burning appliances when it’s cold, most CO exposures and poisoning happen during the winter.

What are common early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?

Section Summary: Carbon monoxide poisoning manifests as flu-like symptoms without the fever. Carbon monoxide inspections can confirm CO’s presence.

In high concentrations, it can take less than five minutes to get carbon monoxide poisoning. But can a small gas leak make you feel sick?

Yes. In lower concentrations, it can take an hour or two to experience poisoning. But you still can experience adverse side effects.

Since you spend hours inspecting properties, there’s a small chance you could get exposed to carbon monoxide on the job. To protect yourself and your clients, it’s good to know typical early symptoms.

What are two warning signs of carbon monoxide? The two most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headaches and dizziness. Other initial symptoms can include nausea or vomiting, weakness or fatigue, and shortness of breath.

Many describe carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms as flu-like. So how do you know if you’ve been exposed to CO and don’t just have the flu? The three clues that your symptoms are carbon monoxide-related are:

1. You don’t have a fever.
2. You feel better when you leave the part of the property where you experience symptoms, and your symptoms return when you go back to that area.
3. Multiple people feel sick.

But the sure-fire way to know it’s CO: a carbon monoxide inspection.

Why do home inspectors offer carbon monoxide inspections?

Section Summary: Inspectors offer carbon monoxide inspections to address health concerns, meet demand, and stand out from the competition.

Carbon monoxide doesn’t announce itself—and neither does the business opportunity it presents.

More and more home inspectors are adding carbon monoxide inspections to their services, and for good reason. It comes down to three incentives: keeping clients safe, giving the market what it’s asking for, and setting your business apart.

1. To address health concerns.

Prolonged exposure to CO can have dangerous consequences. Breathing air with a high concentration of CO reduces the amount of oxygen transported to critical organs, like the heart and brain. In the United States, carbon monoxide causes hundreds of poisoning deaths and over 100,000 hospital visits every year. People with heart disease and children may be especially vulnerable.

But when is it time to worry about carbon monoxide in house situations? Is carbon monoxide harmful in any amount?

The EPA measures carbon monoxide levels in parts per million (ppm). According to the EPA, levels above 9 ppm (averaged over 8 hours) are a potential concern. At 70 ppm, headaches and fatigue can begin. At higher concentrations, symptoms escalate rapidly.

How long can a small gas leak go unnoticed? In some cases, weeks or even months—especially if the carbon monoxide source is in an infrequently visited area like an attic, crawlspace, or utility room.

One Inspector’s Experience

Rick Bunzel of Pacific Crest Inspections in Washington only recommended CO alarms when he felt there was a high risk of potential poisoning. That was until one of his clients had a health scare.

“In my third year of business, I got a call on a home I had inspected months earlier. … The REALTOR® … told me that we were going to get sued due to a bad furnace that I didn’t call out. The whole family almost died from CO poisoning, and kids may have brain damage,” Bunzel wrote.

Thankfully, Bunzel had identified issues with the furnace and recommended further evaluation during his inspection. His client simply hadn’t followed those recommendations. While his clients dismissed their allegations, their complaint still changed Bunzel’s inspection approach. He now recommends CO alarms in all homes.

These health risks are precisely why home inspectors perform carbon monoxide home inspection services: to protect their clients from elevated CO concentrations. By providing professional carbon monoxide testing, inspectors enlighten clients about property conditions and their associated risks.

2. To meet demand.

Some home inspectors began offering carbon monoxide inspections simply to meet demand. They received requests from clients or agents and responded. If people regularly ask about carbon monoxide home inspection services in your area, chances are there’s enough interest to benefit from offering it.

3. To stand out from the competition.

Many home inspectors wonder how they can differentiate their business. One way to set yourself apart is by offering add-ons like carbon monoxide home inspection services that competitors don’t provide. By offering unique and desirable services, you create a tangible benefit for potential customers.

Investments Inspectors Make to Perform Carbon Monoxide Inspections

Section Summary: To perform carbon monoxide inspections, home inspectors invest in licensure, training, equipment, and endorsements.

Ready to add CO inspections to your business?

Not so fast. Before your first carbon monoxide inspection, there are four boxes to check—and skipping any one of them could leave you exposed. We’re talking licensure, training, equipment, and endorsements. Get these right, and you’ll be set up for success. Skip them, and you may find yourself on the wrong end of a claim.

Licensure

Most states have statutes mandating that people have carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in their homes. Yet, few require a carbon monoxide inspector to hold a specific license. Be sure to check your state and local laws to see if your area requires licensure and how to obtain it before conducting carbon monoxide inspections.

Training

Even if training is not required in your state, taking courses to increase your knowledge of carbon monoxide sources and detection techniques is wise. By learning how to detect carbon monoxide professionally, you qualify yourself to perform better carbon monoxide inspections, generate more credibility in the field, and mitigate potential claims.

Equipment

To perform professional carbon monoxide testing, you need the right tools, like a CO detector.

What is a CO detector? A CO detector is a safety device home builders and owners install to monitor the air for dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. Should carbon monoxide reach dangerous levels, an alarm will sound, alerting residents.

A carbon monoxide detector for a home inspection should provide nearly instantaneous readings to determine if excess CO is present. Professional-grade carbon monoxide detectors and monitors typically cost between $150 and $400. These instruments display peak level carbon monoxide readings so you can document the highest concentration encountered during the inspection.

Some inspectors also invest in a carbon monoxide monitor for homes that tracks readings over time, which is helpful for identifying intermittent sources. A carbon monoxide sensor built into professional equipment should be calibrated regularly per the manufacturer’s specifications—more on that below.

Can a phone app detect carbon monoxide? The short answer is no. Smartphone apps cannot detect CO because phones lack electrochemical sensors required for accurate detection. Only dedicated carbon monoxide (CO) detectors with appropriate sensors can reliably measure CO concentrations during carbon monoxide inspections.

Endorsements

An endorsement is a form that modifies or adds coverage to your insurance policy. Most home inspection insurance policies exclude additional services like carbon monoxide home inspections. Without an endorsement, the insurance company will not cover claims arising from those additional services.

If you perform carbon monoxide inspections and want defense and indemnity for related claims, you need to modify your existing policy with an endorsement. Typically, insurers charge a flat annual fee of around $50 for a carbon monoxide endorsement.

This is a small price to pay for the protection it affords. Before offering carbon monoxide inspection services, make sure your insurance policy is up to date with the appropriate endorsements.

Learn more about how insurance endorsements work here.

Prep, Inspect, Protect: How to Limit Liability During Carbon Monoxide Inspections

Section Summary: To safeguard your business while performing carbon monoxide home inspection services, get your contract signed beforehand, maintain and understand your equipment, and recommend next steps.

Offering carbon monoxide inspections is the easy part. Doing them in a way that protects both your clients and your business? That takes discipline.

Before, during, and after every inspection, there are four habits that separate the inspectors who thrive from the ones who find themselves in hot water:

1. Locking down your pre-inspection agreement.
2. Maintaining your equipment.
3. Knowing exactly how your tools work.
4. Steering clients in the right direction when CO levels raise a red flag.

1. Get your pre-inspection agreement signed ahead of time.

For most inspectors, getting your contract signed is second nature. But are you getting it signed prior to the inspection 100 percent of the time?

If not, you’re in jeopardy of losing insurance coverage and gaining a potential lawsuit. Make the “pre” in “pre-inspection agreement” a priority before every carbon monoxide home inspectionyou conduct.

Learn more about the importance of getting your contract signed ahead of time here.

2. Maintain your equipment.

Are you the type of person who files away user manuals and never looks at them? If you are, you may want to change your habits.

If you fail to monitor, adjust, or maintain your equipment, you bear liability for claims caused by tool failure. That’s why it’s so important to take care of your equipment in between your carbon monoxide and other home inspection services.

Most manufacturers specify when and how often to change parts, clean components, and get calibrated. A carbon monoxide sensor that hasn’t been calibrated may give false readings, and those false readings can end up in an inspection report.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure our tools are maintained and calibrated,” said Curtis Larson of Marigold Home Inspections in Minnesota. “You’ve got to refer back to the manufacturer’s specifications. How long should this device last? What kind of maintenance does it need?”

Take your professional carbon monoxide testing equipment’s maintenance instructions seriously and you’re less likely to run into failures.

Learn more about protecting yourself from liability when your tools fail here.

3. Understand how your equipment works—and doesn’t.

To recognize when inspection tools fail, you need to understand how your equipment behaves. Knowing how your carbon monoxide detector works—and what happens when it doesn’t work—helps you avoid false readings in your carbon monoxide inspection reports.

“People should really understand how their tools work and make sure they really know how to use them. That will keep them out of trouble,” said Mike Leggett of The BrickKicker of Georgia.

Jameson Malgeri of Another Level Inspection in Massachusetts also recommends helping clients understand your inspection tools.

“There’s always some level of inaccuracy. I don’t think anything is a perfect tool,” Malgeri said. “Explain each tool to the client so they have a real understanding of the margin for error.”

4. Recommend next steps.

If a carbon monoxide inspection yields a high reading, recommend immediate service by a qualified technician. High CO can be dangerous—even deadly. Explain the urgency to your client and any current occupants.

If levels appear safe, prepare clients for the future. Explain that a safe result today doesn’t guarantee safety tomorrow. Encourage them to install CO detectors per local regulations.

Ready to make your competition hold their breath?

Section Summary: Inspectors offering carbon monoxide inspections should carry the CO insurance endorsement.

Want to address potential health risks to your clients? Is there demand for carbon monoxide home inspection services in your area? Are you looking for another way to stand out from your competition?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it may be time to offer carbon monoxide inspection services.

Don’t forget to protect your business with the right insurance endorsement. An endorsement for ancillary services like carbon monoxide inspections costs as little as $50 per year and ensures you have coverage for claims arising from your expanded service offerings. 

Don’t wait for a claim to wish you had coverage. Talk to your broker today about adding carbon monoxide testing to your policy.

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A version of this article was published in the ASHI Reporter in December 2021. See how this story appeared in print below.