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Plumbing Inspection in Santa Monica, CA
In Santa Monica, 18% of owner households moved in during 2018 or later — close to the middle of the towns we cover. Enough movement that inspections are routine, not enough that anybody treats them as routine.
The one-paragraph answer
18% of owners in Santa Monica bought in 2018 or later, an ordinary rate. Ordinary is where the usual mistake happens, which is assuming the inspection covered the plumbing: the buried lateral is excluded by both published standards.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038.
When Santa Monica moved in
At an ordinary rate of turnover, the housing here divides fairly evenly between homes inspected in the last few years and homes that have not been looked at since the previous sale, whenever that was.
| Owner households in Santa Monica | Share of all owners |
|---|---|
| Moved in 2021 or later | 6% |
| Moved in 2018–2020 | 12% |
| Moved in 2010–2017 | 21% |
| Moved in before 2010 | 62% |
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038 (tenure by year householder moved into unit), 2023 release. Universe: 47,540 occupied housing units, of which 14,238 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
Wells, pumps, pressure tanks, storage tanks and filters are excluded by both standards. On a property with its own supply, the equipment feeding the whole house sits outside the inspection carried out on it.
Source: InterNACHI Home Inspection Standards of Practice; ASHI Standard of Practice.
What it is required to cover
ASHI requires the energy source and vent system of the water heating equipment to be covered, and InterNACHI requires the same ground from the other direction. Where the two standards overlap is the part of the report you can rely on whichever association the inspector belongs to.
Worth ten minutes before you read your own report: everything the two standards require, in the order an inspector does it.
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.
The published standards settle most arguments: excluded, covered, and the separate instruction for everything past the building.
Other California towns we route in
- Rialto 13% of owners moved in since 2018
- Inglewood 10% of owners moved in since 2018
- Chino Hills 17% of owners moved in since 2018
- Loleta 16% of owners moved in since 2018
- Fountain Valley 11% 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. We take Santa Monica requests that never appeared on any inspection.
Call (888) 764-3501