Issue 37 March 3, 2001

Garage Door Opener Auto-Reversing

This past week I had a call from one of you who thought I had inspected one of your listings and wrote up the garage door opener as not automatically reversing. As it turned out, I did not inspect the home, but another very competent home inspector did and correctly called attention to the issue. The issue raised by the agent was this: "If an automatically reversing garage door opener was not installed by the builder, or was not required when the home was built, why should my seller be responsible to correct this issue?" This is a legitimate questions which I will attempt to address.

Our clients look to us as home inspectors to point out issues with their homes, which might be unsafe for their family and visitors. As home inspectors, not only must we be concerned with our clients family and visitors safety, but with our clients, yours, and our own liability. Suppose I don't write up that overhead door opener which does not auto reverse because it may have not been required when it was installed. Suppose that you advise your client that it was not required at the time it was installed, therefore is not an issue in the purchase negotiations. After the closing, the neighbors five year old is visiting, becomes trapped under the door and is killed. As if it's not bad enough that an innocent child has died, who do you think the neighbors litigious attorney is going to come after? First they are going to sue the homeowner for failing to maintain a safe garage door opener. If I failed to write up the issue in my report, the neighbor, buyer or both, will sue me for failing to advise them of an unsafe condition, after all, is that not what they paid me to do. Suppose that I did write it up and it was not addressed by the new homeowner, guess who is going to loose. Suppose that the homeowner tells his attorney that it was written up in their home inspection report, but the Realtor advised that it was not installed by the builder or was not required when installed therefore they didn't need to be concerned with its repair as part of their negotiations for purchase. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, and you better have good insurance for your negligence, because when you sit before that jury made up of homeowners, guess whose side they are going to be on, it ain't going to be yours or mine.

For everyone's safety and piece of mind, not to mention for the sake of your wallets and mine. Here is what my report will say: 

"Repair, Safety Issue: The garage door opener did not automatically reverse under resistance to closing. There is a serious risk of injury, particularly to children, under this condition. Improvement may be as simple as adjusting the sensitivity control on the opener. This should be dealt with immediately. Information on garage door openers is available from the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-2772."

How you, the buyer and seller handle the situation after my inspection and report is out of my control. But for your piece of mind and protection from litigation my recommendation is that you encourage, irrelevant of who takes responsibility for the repair, that the opener be repaired immediately. 

I am constantly receiving complaints from some about the length of these articles and accolades from others about how much you enjoy them, read every word, copy and file them. Like Don Martin (Forsyth County School Superintendent) I will never be able to please all of you. There may however be a compromise position. As you will notice this week, the first portion of this article has the meat and the point and then below I follow it up with more detailed backup information. If you don't read all, you should get the point, but you may not get enough to properly understand and use the information. The choice is yours.

This is not a new issue. Here is what the government agency responsible for policing product safety had to say about this issue over ten years ago:

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 16, 1990
Release # 90-051

43 Children Die: Parents Urged To Replace Unsafe Garage Door Openers

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging parents and grandparents to disconnect and replace garage door openers that do not reverse and could entrap young children. 

According to CPSC, 43 children have been trapped and killed under automatic garage doors between 1982 and June, 1989. Many others suffered brain damage or other serious injuries. Children between the ages of 2 and 14 were trying to exit the garage as the door closed. Parents need to be aware of this entrapment hazard and how to protect their children. 

CPSC urges homeowners with young children to disconnect all openers that have not been certified as meeting the requirements of the ANSI/UL 325-1982 (or later) voluntary standard. The standard calls for a number of safety features not found on earlier openers, and also subjects these models to more stringent safety tests. While no product can be totally safe, openers meeting the standard offer good protection for children when both the opener and garage door are properly maintained. 

Door openers that satisfactorily open and close the garage door could still be unsafe. Some old openers are equipped with a device that only stops the closing door and does not reverse when it strikes an object. Other pre-1982 openers include a device intended to cause the closing door to reverse when it strikes an object, but for reasons mostly related to age, installation and maintenance, these may not be safe enough to prevent child deaths. The devices cannot be adjusted or repaired to provide the safety available in garage door openers manufactured in 1982 or later. 

For additional protection, CPSC recommends an optional automatic "electric eye" installed at floor level to reverse a closing door whenever an object crosses the door's path. 

CPSC said homerowners should check the reversing mechanism of all garage door openers monthly according to the instructions in the owner's manual. Lacking a manual, the consumer should contact the dealer or manufacturer to obtain a copy. 

Homeowners can check the garage door's reversing mechanism by placing two-inch wooden block in the door's path. If the door does not promptly reverse on striking the block, critical adjustments or repairs are needed. 

The garage door and its hardware may also be broken or improperly adjusted, which could lead to unsafe adjustment of the opener. Consumers should disconnect the opener from the door as instructed in the owner's manual, then manually open and close the door. 

Lastly, consumers should relocate the wall switch as high as practical above the garage floor, also keeping remote controllers locked in the car and away from children. Parents should also instruct youngsters about the potential hazard. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from the unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number. Consumers can report product hazards to info@cpsc.gov.

You will find information from CPSC on line at "www.cpsc.gov"

Thought for the week

"Successful people do what they don't like to do, well."
Judge Mills Lane

Useful household hints

Flies or bees bothering you? Spray them with hairspray and they will take a quick dive.