What Can Spark an Inerest for a Home Inspection?

I receive a lot of questions concerning safety, related to electrical wiring. Theses questions are a concern, since according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, problems in home wiring, are associated with more than 40,000 home fires each year. These fires claim over 350 lives and injure 1,400 victims annually.
The following is a summery of the history of electrical wiring:
Electrical dates of interest
1886–First residential use of AC current (Great Barrington, MA)
1890-First Residential electric lights introduced
1897-National Electrical Code established
1900–early 1930’s–Knob and Tube wiring used
1930’s-Wide use of armored cable (BX)
1940’s-Increased use of non-metallic cable (two wire romex)
Early 50’s-early 60’s-Introduction of rag romex (still two wire)
Early 60’s NEC codes changed to the use of the three slot outlets
1962-1973- Single strand aluminum wiring used in 15/20 amp circuits
1973-GFCI’s introduced for exterior receptacles
1975- Code mandate for GFCI’s in bathrooms of new construction
1974 or 75-Edison based fuses prohibited for installation unless they were equipped with type S fuses
1978-GFCI’s mandated for garages in new construction
1987-Code revised to include GFCI’s in kitchens and one in a basement
1990-Code revised to require GFCI’s in crawlspaces.

The term “out dated equipment” is often used to describe some of the following electrical issues:

Sixty amp Service Panels
Not adequate for today's household electrical demands
More and more Insurance providers are denying homeowners insurance on houses with less than one hundred amp service

Open ground wiring (Two wire wiring)
More likely to be a shock hazard
With two wire systems it is even more important for GFCI’s to be installed in the suggested places

Knob and Tube Wiring
Problems

The newest (original) Knob and tube wiring is around 70 years old
It is a greater fire hazard
It is a greater electrocution hazard
It is obsolete to modern use standards
More and more Insurance providers are denying homeowner’s insurance on houses with knob and tube wiring
It is an open air wire, and not designed to be covered with insulation
In most cases the insulation is brittle and damaged (from age)
More likely to have improper splicing