What do you look for on water heaters?

We check the water heater’s operation, venting, temperature and pressure relief valve setup, connections, and installation details such as drain pans and gas connections. Tankless units are included. Inspectors are not required to operate the relief valve itself. In recent reports we have found a brand-new water heater actively leaking, relief valve discharge pipes that ended where they could scald someone, uninsulated water lines on garage units, and missing gas sediment traps. We also measure the hot water temperature at a fixture and read the unit’s age from its data plate.