Tips for multi insurance inspection? What are they looking for?

Question

I think this is the 1st time an insurance inspector has visited my multifamily in the 23 years I've owned it. I live here and use the basement as storage and workshop, and that my biggest concern. I figure I need to hide any 'accelerants' like oils and solvents, and hide my welding gear.  What about general flammables like a wall of catalogs, or a stack of lumber? I have a lot of major tools like lathe, bandsaw, table saw etc. Is that a red flag?

I think my alarms are in order, the state inspects every 5 years.  I'm not required to have extinguishers in the common areas, but I have them anyway, one on every floor and 2 in the basement.  Occasional I've gotten some moron who says that even though I'm not required to have them, if I do provide them I must pay to have them inspected!

Any tips from your experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.

Steve Morris · Answer

They''re looking for anything that may create a payout:

1) Electrical system and proper wiring.  FedPac breakers

2) Moisture invasion like bad roofs

3) Tenant safety like steps you can step through or floppy railings

May mean no renew or higher rates.  The inspector will tell you the stuff to fix.

Johann Jells · Answer

Well, my biggest fear is a statement "you can't have a workshop down here!" That would devastate me.

Jennie Ballard · Answer

@Johann Jells Maybe? *shrug*

The good news is every insurance, boiler, city code, fire marshall, nuclear board, etc inspection I've dealt with resulting in pass or fail with detailed list of non-conformances. The list of non-conformances included timeline to remedy the situation with process to have re-inspection. We fixed the items and reinspected or raised objection to super stupid issues. None of the inspections have been "fail and we'll never insure/license you to operation without recourse".

Johann Jells · Answer

@Jennie Ballard  I know it's not directly your area of expertise, but do you think an insurance inspector is legally able to start opening cabinets and looking for things out of sight? I have no idea of the scope of their work, hence the OP.

Jennie Ballard · Answer

The official flammable cabinets can be unvented. The big difference are heavier metal and meeting code. You are step up from a lot of people that just have an entire shelf of paint, thinners, etc without any containment.

Not dealt with residential / landlord workshop permitting yet. Just starting my real estate venture so can't help with that. Proper chemical storage and fire extinguishers is a good start.

Johann Jells · Answer

@Jennie Ballard thanks but I'm concerned about code issues that would keep me from having a basement workshop in a mulitfamily no matter what I did.  I'd install sprinklers if I had to, but I'm worried nothing would pass muster. I don't really have much accelerants,  gallon cans each of denatured, paint thinner, stripper, lacquer thinner, couple of lube & way oil, and smaller cans of xylol, acetone etc. They're stored in an unvented steel cabinet. I assume you are referring to the type with a duct to outside?

I also have a homemade spray booth with the motor outside the airpath, but it's not technically a non-ferrous explosion proof. I rarely spray volatiles, it's used mostly for resin and metalwork.

Jennie Ballard · Answer

Please buy the correct storage cabinet and save yourself potential fire and liability issues. A proper flammable cabinet that meets NFPA standards is $370 - $2000 brand new from Grainger depending on the size. You can get one secondhand for much cheaper. Have a logbook near top of steps with list of chemicals in cabinet and you should be good. Also consider an oily rag rated trash can depending on what you do.

Note: Written as engineer in petrochemical field that has to respond to shop fires and help coworker that had garage shop burn their house down.