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Using a plumbing inspection checklist is a great way to standardize the completion of audits of plumbing systems. When acquiring new commercial, industrial, or residential properties, plumbing inspections are necessary. Although I firmly believe in hiring a professional, I also believe in ensuring that the professionals I hire give me a fair and comprehensive report. Furthermore, the only way you will know if the hired ‘professional’ inspector does their due diligence is to educate yourself about the state of the plumbing and what you can expect to find out from a professional inspection.
A plumbing inspection checklist offers a standardized solution to ensuring all relevant points are checked during a plumbing systems audit.
Few things are as essential as good plumbing in a facility or home. Neglecting to inspect plumbing can cost you dearly if problems present themselves after the fact. The risk is far too significant, especially if it means slowing down or impeding your operation. So, let’s get into how you can set up your own plumbing inspections to keep your team, partners, and facility up to code.
The Importance of Plumbing Inspections
There are a number of good reasons to do in-house plumbing inspections. Let’s take a look at what and why.
Safety
A plumbing system that operates as intended provides team members with potable drinking water, water to wash up, and water to enable washroom facilities. Take any of these points away, and you risk a forced shutdown from local authorities.
If you want to ensure you’re following best practices, you must provide your team with potable drinking water in the workplace. OSHA oversees this requirement in the US, and employers who don’t follow the rules soon find themselves neck-deep in fines (or worse, a shutdown).
Cost Savings & Major Downtime Prevention
Water is incredibly important to all life on Earth, but it wreaks havoc when left to its own devices in a place of business. That cost is the reason why it’s essential to inspect your plumbing systems regularly. Furthermore, water lines or sewage line brakes can cost your company more than just money – they can destroy reputations and cause entire workplace shutdowns. So, in an effort to avoid major downtime, it’s essential to have your maintenance teams inspect the water and plumbing systems regularly.
Maintaining Facility Value
Ask any disaster repair professional, and you’ll soon learn that a few things can destroy a facility – fire, extreme wind (tornado, hurricane, cyclone), and water. Surely you’ve heard the term ‘water damage.’ Well, if you don’t maintain your plumbing systems, you’ll learn the true nature of the term.
Consider facility resale value; if you intend to sell a property, if there’s water damage, you will have a challenge on your hands. Furthermore, although the law is different from state to state or province, selling a property with water damage without disclosing the damage can land you in court and possibly even a criminal charge.
When to Conduct Plumbing Inspections
You would be best to conduct a plumbing inspection according to a few things:
- When you acquire a new facility (rental, lease, or purchase)
- When you move into or out of a facility
- When a tenant of yours moves into or out of your property
- Annually or quarterly, depending on the amount of system use.
- Before and after any repairs, installations, or renovations to a system
- When a problem or damage is found with the system
There may be other situations where a plumbing inspection becomes necessary, but these six situations should cover the most applicable occurrences and needs.
Types of Plumbing Inspections
Residential plumbing systems are fairly straightforward but are generally less involved than their commercial counterparts. Commercial plumbing inspections typically have three main inspection types:
- External visual inspection: A thorough visual inspection of all plumbing fixtures and accessible lines. Typically this inspection includes a basic systems test.
- Internal piping inspection: This type of inspection usually involves cameras to inspect the interior of pipes. This inspection type is common for sewage and drains lines to find blockages, broken pipes, or other issues.
- Systems testing: Although you may not think of this scenario as an inspection, performing pressure tests and system tests to ensure water quality, consistency, and appropriate temperature are all important aspects of testing a facility’s plumbing systems.
DIY Plumbing Inspection vs. Hiring a Professional
Comparing a DIY inspection to a professional inspection is usually like comparing a compact car to a dump truck, sure they are both moving vehicles, but they are very different. However, it doesn’t mean you should think one is better than the other; they are both equally essential. Here’s why you should consider both options:
- A DIY plumbing inspection can teach you a lot about what you need to look for during the audit. In other words, it helps familiarize you with your plumbing systems, which is as educational as it is useful knowledge should something go awry.
- It provides you with something to compare a professional appraisal. You might wonder why you would want to do this, and the answer is that education is empowering. Furthermore, educating yourself will help you assess the hired professional’s validity, professionalism, and skill.
Is a professional worth it if you do the inspection yourself? Yes, having a third-party professional complete and document an inspection is absolutely worth it.
Comprehensive Plumbing Inspection Checklist
Our template Plumbing Inspection Checklist is based on standard municipal code plumbing inspections. Naturally, you’ll want to confirm it against your particular municipality in case of variance. However, our template is rather thorough, but on the off-chance, it isn’t; you can always customize the digital version in our mobile app, 1st Reporting (more on that later).
Included in the Plumbing Inspection Checklist
In the plumbing inspection template, you’ll find the following sections:
Administrative information – Found at the top of the checklist, this information helps you organize your inspection checklists and provides a quick snapshot of location, stakeholders, date of, and reason for inspection, and possible permit number (if applicable).
The next sections involve specifics for plumbing installation in designated spaces, and they include:
- Kitchens and cooking areas
- Washrooms
Furthermore, there are also sections to cover specific related equipment. These items include:
- Heat recovery ventilator
- Hot water tank
- Heating equipment
Lastly, we’ve included a section for flood protection and a few blank lines to include your own custom inquiries.
What to Do After a Plumbing Inspection
The intent behind our plumbing inspection checklist is to provide you/your organization with a template to follow for performing in-house plumbing inspections. These inspections are useful to prepare for a government inspection, to adhere to strict codes and standards, and to improve facilities.
Following a plumbing inspection, analyzing the findings, and acting on any severe or critical deficiencies is best. Most of the time, this should involve trained and certified professionals.
How To Make A Custom Plumbing Inspection Template With 1st Reporting
We mentioned earlier how the template is easily customizable within the 1st Reporting mobile app. Let me take a moment to tell you about it because it’s helping a lot of businesses and organizations make their inspections and other form-filling actions a lot easier.
1st Reporting is a mobile application with a built-in form builder that you and your team can use to create, complete, and review reports, forms, checklists, and more.
Furthermore, our application works on iPhones, Android devices, laptops, desktops, and tablets too. It works on most major devices and even works with the Microsoft Teams® environment.
Coupled with the powerful GPS and map view dashboard, you have a powerful in-house reporting solution for all your inspections, audits, incidents, and more. And with our newest feature of public reporting, you can even use the app to gather survey data and other information from your clients. It’s a powerful solution for every reporting need.
Making a custom plumbing template in the app is easy. You can start with one of our many templates that are built-in standard to the app, or start from scratch and build your own. Then you can deploy your template to your team for easy and instant access.
1st Reporting also has customizable notifications, so you can send a message to the right person when your team submits a specific form. Automating report communications and collaboration has never been easier. Find out for yourself and see what a difference 1st makes.
Additional Resources
OSHA:
- Plumbing and Heating Equipment and Supplies (Hydronics)
- Restroom and Sanitation Requirements Overview
CCOHS:
