While making an unrelated repair you discover an existing condition that appears to be unsafe. What is the correct course of action?
- Report the condition to the owner and to the code official, who has authority to order it corrected
- BRepair the condition immediately under the existing permit and note it on the invoice
Work outside the permitted scope is not covered by the existing permit, and an unsafe condition may require its own permit and inspection.
- CTake no action, because the condition existed before the current permit was issued
The age of a condition does not make it safe. An unsafe system is subject to the code official's authority regardless of when it was installed.
- DClose the work back up and document the condition in your own job file only
Documenting privately and concealing the condition leaves a hazard in service and exposes both the occupants and the plumber who last had access.
Why A is correct
Reporting puts the condition in front of both the party who can authorize repairs and the authority who can compel them. It also protects the plumber, because a documented notification transfers the decision to the owner and the jurisdiction instead of leaving a known hazard attributable to the last tradesperson on site.
What this question is testing
This tests whether you know that discovery of an unsafe condition creates a reporting duty and that the authority to condemn or order correction rests with the code official.
On the job
Crawl spaces and old mechanical rooms are where this comes up. Practically, take photographs, put the observation in writing to the owner the same day, and keep a copy. If the hazard is immediate, such as active gas leakage or a live sewage discharge under an occupied dwelling, you call the utility or the jurisdiction right then, because the code contemplates disconnecting utilities in an emergency. Verbal mentions to a tenant or a handyman do not count as notification and will not help you later.
Memory technique
See it, say it, in writing, to the owner and the inspector.
Exam tip
For unsafe conditions the answer is always notify, never conceal and never quietly expand your own scope.
Where to look it up
Unsafe plumbing and the authority to condemn are in IPC Chapter 1, under violations. UPC jurisdictions have a parallel unsafe conditions provision in their administrative chapter under different numbering.