Attached garages should be separated from common walls of the house by a proper firewall and fire door. Their purpose is to prevent migration of smoke from entering the house in the event of a garage fire. The presence of these items will be reported. The presence of both a required fire door between the house and the garage and an automatic door closing device will be reported, if applicable.
Garages and carports are inspected based of accessability and are reported as being attached or detached from the house structure. The exterior components (i.e. roof, walls, eaves, fascias, gutters, etc.) should be reported when defects exist. They should also be reported when they differ from those components previously listed as part of the house structure. Interior components (i.e. walls etc.) should be reported when defects exist and when they differ from those components previously listed as part of the house structure.
Damage to the garage door hardware may represent a potential safety concern. Garage doors are oftentimes heavy and place a great deal of force on related components. Should any of these components fail, the weight of the door could create a dangerous condition. Some garage doors are installed with exposed springs. This type of hardware configuration should include safety features designed to prevent harm should the spring break. Electric garage door openers have been known to trap people, especially children, under the door as it closes. For this reason, all garage door openers should be equipped with a safety device to reverse the direction of the door, if necessary. Non-reversing door openers should be replaced for safety. Operational safety reversing devices should be checked monthly.