A morning behind a housing authority inspector, who barely looked at the paint

I've been trying to figure out where I fit on the service side and somebody suggested I go see what an inspection actually is instead of guessing. A housing authority inspector I got introduced to through a friend let me tag along for a morning, with the owners' okay at each stop. Three units, all before noon.

I expected him to be picky about cosmetics. He wasn't. He walked past a hallway that needed paint like it wasn't there. What he did do, at every single unit, was the same short circuit. Smoke detectors, and he pressed each one. Outlets and cover plates. Water at the taps, hot and cold, and he let it run. Windows that open and close and lock. Handrail on anything with steps. Doors that latch.

At the second unit he found a detector that chirped weak and he told the owner, on the spot, to replace it and text him a photo. That was it. No drama.

At the third unit there was a bedroom window painted shut, which the owner swore had always been that way. It got written up. The owner asked whether it mattered since the tenant never opened it, and the inspector said it isn't about the tenant opening it, it's about getting out.

I drove home thinking the whole thing was more predictable than people make it sound. It's a list, the list mostly stays the same, and the units that fail are the ones nobody walked first.