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Plumbing Inspection in San Francisco, CA
San Francisco turns over at about the national middle: 18% of its owner households arrived in 2018 or later. Common enough that most people know somebody who has had a report, rare enough that few have read the exclusions in one.
The one-paragraph answer
In San Francisco, 18% of owner-occupied homes have changed hands since 2018. Whichever side of a sale you are on, the exclusions decide what you know: a standard inspection stops at the visible plumbing and leaves the sewer lateral to a camera survey.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038.
When San Francisco moved in
With turnover near the middle, roughly one owner in five or six arrived recently. For everyone else the last time the plumbing was examined by a third party was whenever they bought.
| Owner households in San Francisco | Share of all owners |
|---|---|
| Moved in 2021 or later | 6% |
| Moved in 2018–2020 | 12% |
| Moved in 2010–2017 | 24% |
| Moved in before 2010 | 58% |
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038 (tenure by year householder moved into unit), 2023 release. Universe: 361,770 occupied housing units, of which 139,535 are owner-occupied. This counts when the CURRENT occupant moved in, so it measures recent moves as a share of the housing stock — not a rate of sales per year.
What the inspection will not cover
Lawn irrigation is excluded. It is buried, it is seasonal, and it is connected to the same supply as the house — which makes it the one excluded item that can affect something the inspection did cover.
Source: InterNACHI Home Inspection Standards of Practice; ASHI Standard of Practice.
What it is required to cover
The water heater is covered in more detail than most of the system: InterNACHI takes in the energy source, the venting connections, the temperature and pressure-relief valve, seismic bracing where it applies, and the labeled capacity. What it stops short of is operating any of it.
The full covered list, and why the distinction between the two lists is the whole of reading a report properly.
What to do about it
Two categories are worth chasing before you exchange: water somewhere it should not be, and anything the report could not see the end of. Both are open-ended, and open-ended is what moves a price.
Everything above comes from documents you can read yourself: the exclusions, the requirements, and why a camera down the lateral is never part of it.
Other California towns we route in
- Belvedere Tiburon 16% of owners moved in since 2018
- Claremont 15% of owners moved in since 2018
- San Clemente 18% of owners moved in since 2018
- Mentone 16% of owners moved in since 2018
- Martinez 15% of owners moved in since 2018
Checking a plumber in California
Checking a credential in California
California licenses are issued by the Contractors State License Board, which publishes a public search you can use before work begins. California licenses the C-36 plumbing contractor; there is no state journeyman license.
Inspection report in front of you?Read us the plumbing lines and nothing else — we do not want the document. We will route you to a contractor covering your area who can quote the items on it, and you are never charged by us. Report or no report, San Francisco reaches a contractor through us.
Call (888) 764-3501