New Construction defect that could kill someone

Inspecting new homes is always interesting. First we have to overcome the objections of the builders that insist they build a "perfect house". Then there are the folks that tell the buyer's they are wasting their money, because....1. The builder is a really nice guy, 2. It's going to be inspected by the County anyway, 3. The builder goes to church with my hairdresser neighbor, so I know he is a good guy, and the best one........4. Your going to have a warranty on the house anyway.

I managed to hear all four of these reasons within the first 5 minutes of arriving at the house.

I always start in the kitchen, since it gives me counter space to set up my computer, and where I can go over a little paperwork that I need to deal with. I found a couple little things like the anti tilt bracket wasn't installed at the stove, the disposal was missing a wire clamp. The upper cabinets were not secured to the wall at the bottoms, so I could pull them away from the wall. OH, and the GFCI outlet stayed hot when tripped.

I moved from the kitchen to the living room and got to the fireplace. It was a standard pre-fab unit designed for wood or gas. Gas logs or piping were not installed. I removed the wood grate so I could look up the chimney. OMG!!!!!! 

The flue was disconnected just above the fireplace. I am sure that if they started a fire in there, it would likely have burned the house down. Look closely at the photo and you will see the disconnected flue.

So much for the "perfect house". Oh, and the language the builder was using didn't sound like any I hear in church.