How to Check a House for Earthquake Readiness on a Service Call
Why this matters
In seismic country, most of what decides whether a house catches fire or floods after a strong quake is in the garage and the utility side yard, and the techs who walk past it every week are plumbers, HVAC techs, electricians and handymen on unrelated calls. A five-minute look on a visit you were making anyway catches the unstrapped water heater, the rigid gas line, the meter nobody can shut off and the shelf unit leaning over the gas piping. The check is only worth doing if it is the same five items every time, written on the same card, and handed to the customer as a plain note rather than a sales pitch.
This card is the check itself. The details it checks are owned by siblings: See related: How to Strap a Water Heater for Earthquakes; Seismic Gas Shutoff and Excess Flow Valves.
When to run it
Run it on any residential visit in an area your jurisdiction rates Seismic Design Category D or higher, or anywhere your shop has decided to offer it, after the work you came for is done and before the customer conversation. Ask first: "While I'm here, I do a quick earthquake check on the water heater and the gas, takes five minutes, no charge. All right?" A customer who says no gets a no, and the ticket says declined.
The check is visual and by hand. Nothing gets turned off, turned on, opened or climbed. That rule is what keeps it to five minutes and keeps it off anyone's liability.
The steps
1. Start the card with the house's context. Year built, where the water heater and gas meter are, fuel type. Thirty seconds, from what you already know. An older house is more likely to have a rigid gas line and an unbraced masonry chimney, and the year sets what you expect to see. Skip it and the card has findings with nothing to read them against.
2. Water heater straps. Look for two straps, one in the upper third of the tank and one in the lower third, the lower one at least 4 in above the gas control, each fastened into framing or masonry, with the tank tight to the wall or blocked. Push the tank at shoulder height with an open hand; it should not rock. A single strap at mid-height, plumber's tape wrapped once, or straps screwed into drywall are all findings. If the heater is electric, the straps rule is the same. Skip it and you miss the single detail most associated with post-quake gas fires in houses.
3. Flexible connectors. Trace the gas line from the appliance shutoff valve to the water heater, furnace, range and dryer as far as you can see without moving anything. Each should end in a listed flexible appliance connector, not rigid pipe threaded into the appliance. Check the water heater's water connections the same way. A connector that passes through the appliance jacket or a wall, or one that is old uncoated brass, is a finding by itself. Skip it and you pass a strapped heater that will still break its gas line when it shifts an inch.
4. Gas shutoff location and wrench. Find the meter and its shutoff valve, usually a quarter-turn valve on the inlet riser with a flat tang. Do not turn it. Point to it with the customer present: "This is the shutoff. The flat part in line with the pipe means open; a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe is closed." Then ask where the wrench is. An adjustable wrench or a shutoff tool should be stored at or near the meter, not in a toolbox in the house. If the house has a seismic shutoff valve, note its location and that a trip means every pilot has to be relit. Skip it and a customer who smells gas after a quake stands at the meter with nothing that fits the tang.
5. Tall furniture and storage near the equipment. Look within tipping distance of the water heater, furnace, gas meter and gas piping: tall shelving units, storage racks, cabinets, a refrigerator in the garage, stacked boxes. Anything that could fall onto a gas line, a connector or the vent in strong shaking is a finding unless it is anchored to the wall. Skip it and a correctly strapped heater gets its gas connector sheared by a falling shelf.
6. Chimney, from the ground. Stand back from the house where you can see the whole chimney above the roof and, if the attic is part of your visit anyway, its side where it passes through. Look for cracks at or just above the roofline, missing mortar, a visible lean, a gap where the chimney meets the house wall, and loose bricks at the top. Unreinforced masonry chimneys are among the most common earthquake failures in houses, and they fail at the roofline and fall through the roof or onto the walkway. Do not climb onto the roof for this check. Skip it and nobody tells the family that the walkway under the chimney is where it lands.
7. Write the customer note and hand it over. Plain language, findings only, one line each, with what would fix it and who does that kind of work. Offer to quote the items your shop does, and say clearly that the rest go to someone else. Skip it and the check happened in your head and helps nobody.
The card, filled in on one house
A 1962 two-story with an attached garage. The tech is there to replace a garbage disposal. The customer said yes to the check.
EARTHQUAKE READINESS CHECK 5 min, visual only
House built ...... 1962 fuel: natural gas
Water heater ..... garage, 40 gal gas, on 18 in stand
Gas meter ........ side yard, north wall
1 WATER HEATER STRAPS
found: one strap at mid-height, into drywall
rocks by hand: yes FINDING
2 FLEXIBLE CONNECTORS
water heater gas: rigid black pipe FINDING
furnace gas: flexible, coated ok
range: flexible (seen from side) ok
dryer: not visible behind unit not checked
3 GAS SHUTOFF AND WRENCH
valve: on riser, shown to customer ok
wrench: none at meter FINDING
seismic valve: none
4 TALL FURNITURE NEAR EQUIPMENT
7 ft steel shelf, loaded, 2 ft from
water heater gas line, not anchored FINDING
5 CHIMNEY (from street)
brick, crack at roofline, mortar gaps
near top, no visible lean FINDING
Declined items: none Customer: present for item 3
Five findings across the five items, plus one connector the tech could not see. The tally that matters on the card: two findings are in work this shop does (straps and connector), one is the customer's own (the wrench), one is a quick handyman job (the shelf), and one belongs to a chimney professional.
The dryer connector is marked "not checked" rather than "ok", because the dryer was against the wall and the check does not move appliances. That distinction protects the shop: the card says what was looked at.
The note the customer gets
The note goes on the invoice or as a separate sheet, written so it stands on its own if the customer shows it to someone else.
Earthquake check, done at no charge during today's visit. We looked, we did not test or open anything.
- Water heater has one strap, fastened into drywall, and rocks by hand. It should have two straps into the wall framing, upper and lower third. We can quote this.
- Water heater gas line is rigid pipe. It should be a flexible gas connector so the line does not break if the heater moves. We can quote this, usually done with item 1.
- No wrench at the gas meter. Keep an adjustable wrench tied to the meter or just inside the garage door. Only shut the gas off if you smell gas, hear hissing, or see the meter dial moving with everything off. Once it is off, the gas company turns it back on.
- The tall metal shelf next to the water heater could fall onto its gas line. Anchor it to the wall studs or move it.
- The chimney has a crack at the roofline and loose mortar near the top. Have a chimney professional inspect it, and keep people from standing on the walkway directly below it. We did not see the dryer's gas connection.
No adjectives, no warnings about what will happen, no pressure. Items 3 and 4 the customer can do this weekend. Item 5 does not mention the shop at all.
What changes how you run it
Outside Category D. The same check still applies to gas connections, the wrench and the shelf; the strap finding becomes a recommendation rather than a code note, and in a low-hazard area your shop may decide the check is not worth offering.
A rental. The tenant can do items 3 and 4; items 1, 2 and 5 are the owner's. Give the tenant the note and ask whether they want it sent to the property manager. Do not quote work to someone who cannot authorize it.
A house that already did everything. Write it down anyway. A card that says "all five ok" is a baseline the next visit compares against, and the week someone moves a shelf in front of the heater is the week it becomes a finding.
Something unsafe in the moment. If the check turns up a gas odor, a connector visibly cracked, or a vent connector off the draft hood, it is no longer a readiness check. Gas odor: everyone leaves the house, no switches, no lights, no phone used inside, call the gas utility from outside. A separated vent on a running appliance: shut the appliance off at its control and tell the customer why before you leave.
How to tell the check was done right
- All five items have an entry, and every entry is either "ok", "finding" or "not checked" with a reason.
- Nothing on the card required turning, opening, moving or climbing anything.
- The customer got the note in writing, and the findings your shop can fix became separate quotes, not part of today's invoice.
References
- International Residential Code, M1307.2 (2021 edition), as adopted, and California Health and Safety Code, Section 19211, for water heater strapping
- Your gas utility's published guidance on when to shut off gas after an earthquake and who restores service
- FEMA's homeowner earthquake guidance on securing water heaters, furniture and chimneys
- See related: How to Strap a Water Heater for Earthquakes; Seismic Gas Shutoff and Excess Flow Valves; Anchoring Equipment and Ducts in Seismic Regions; How to Build a Regional Resilience Check Into a Maintenance Visit