The Fire Underwriter; Or, Why the Building Inspector might be your best friend?

Some years ago, I was a casualty underwriter for a major insurance company. Most of the work I did was in auto underwriting, but every once in a while, I would have the task of reviewing the losses...fire losses for the past year. The purpose was to see if in any way I had missed something in the underwriting process that I could learn from in the future.

One partuicular loss I still do remember. It was a rambler fire. The owner had done a lot of the construction work himself. He had done some additions to the garage and had done some rewiring and had done this himself. He also had added the garage after the initial construction of the home. He had NOT gotten any required permits or inspections.

To make a long story short---- I was looking at the stark black and white photo of a burnt out rambler. The fire had started in the faulty electric "billy bob" that he had done in the garage. Because he had not bothered to do the barrier up to "code" between the garage and home, it had spread like wildfire and killed all three of his children.

Ever since---BEFORE, I do anything, I have called our local building inspector and talked the project over with him first. There are only a couple of us in town that do this. It has always SAVED me at least $200 per telephone call or visit.

There is a reason for building codes. They are for YOUR protection. I hope you never have to see pictures like I had to see with your family in a burnt out home. Just think. The building inspector might just be your best friend. What a surprise.