We are selling our house and the buyers inspector says that our drip pan for the water heater has to have a drain line to an outside wall.
I have heard rumors that this is a fairly new code and that it may not apply in this case.
Our home was built in 1999 and has the same water heater that came with the house. I am told that in 1999 the codes didn't require a drain. It was installed with a drip pan but the pan has no drain line. I have been told that our water heater and drip pan are part of a grandfather clause that says if the water heater and drip pan were installed before the code change that we are not required to have the drain line installed until such time as we replace the water heater.
My buyers inspector says that it installed incorrectly ( without a drain line) and now the buyer wants us to have a drain line installed.

My questions is this. Do the new plumbing codes require this or can I say no and have a leg to stand on?

I think you should be "grandfathered" on the code change. You should call cityhall and get ahold of a code inspector.

I noticed you said, "Buyers inspector." He's paid to look out for his clients best interest, not yours.

It's up to you if you want to comply with this buyers assertion, but how much will it cost you and do you want to reflect this cost to the buyer, adjust your asking price, etc.

And you may want to ask if that's their only concern, do we have a deal?


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If the heater's near a floor drain just run a drain line over to it. This should satisfy the inspector and could be removed once the deal goes through. Good luck, Tom