If you fail an inspection

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dnem

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
and you don't agree with or understand the inspectors writeup
What option would you choose ?
a) Make the corrections on the inspectors writeup
b) Call the inspector and talk to him about what you don't agree with or don't understand
c) Don't make any changes and call for a reinspection without talking to the inspector
d) Only make some of the changes and then call for a reinspection without talking to the inspector

Before I became an inspector, I would have never guessed in a million years how often people choose d).
I know that not every municipality charges reinspection fees but ours does, and yet every week contractors call for reinspections for an incomplete correction list.

What do you think causes contractors to make such decisions ?

David
 

bphgravity

Senior Member
Location
Florida
I too am shocked at the conduct of some contractors on how they handle inspector issues. At the same time, inspectors can be just as bad or worse.

Communication is the key to just about any relationship in life - like it or not.
 
When the corrections are nothing to debate and understandable we make them and call for reinspection. If there is any doubt, as to what is in violation, I always talk first hand with the inspector making the remarks.
There is no excuse for failing a reinspection, except when another inspector makes the reinspection and finds another violation. :x
 

tshea

Senior Member
Location
Wisconsin
Electrical Inspector passed rough in but Bldg Inspector did not! Called the BI and asked him why (politely). Went to house to fix it. Called him back to tell him work was finished, and he said I'll be out for a re-inspection fee.
I told him the EI passed the job, go collect the fee from him. If that is a problem, as soon as I hang up I'll be calling your boss.
He said he would release the job for drywall.

What did he find to get me wriled up? One piece of romex ran across a cold air duct and it needed caulking on the romex where the wire went through the stud. I grabbed some insulation and packed it in the hole. 2 minute fix! (Plus nitro pill for my heart :lol: )

Can't answer for others but
What do you think causes contractors to make such decisions ?
My answer is dealing with crazy people!

Before you shoot me, I know now there was a problem. Sorry I missed it or my people did.
The inspector gave no time to be there. He said he would inspect on Thursday. Today is Tuesday!
No one met him there. He even set off the alarm to house, which called the owner, who called the law!

Crazy people! And these people vote!
 

bdarnell

Senior Member
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Occupation
Retired Engineer
Re: If you fail an inspection

dnem said:
What do you think causes contractors to make such decisions ?

David - I know that you are probably the exception rather than the rule, simply by the way you posed the question, so I feel comfortable in replying with this opinion.

I have had my share of "correction notices" in the past 30 some odd years, and I can say that, by and large, one of the following is true when attempting to contact an inspector regarding said notice:

A) The inspector won't or can't take your call

B) The inspector won't or can't return your call

C) If you do get the opportunity to talk to him / her, the response is " It's not my job to tell you how to do it right"

D) You contact the inspector, he / she is cordial and professional in helping you to understand the correction needed.

In my experience "D" rarely occurs. "A" and "B" are probably due to inspectors being primarily field people with limited phone and voice mail access. "C" happens when you just get an "ornry" one.

This isn't intended to excuse half done corrections, especially when it's obvious what needs to be done. It's just an explanation why the lines of communication between those that enforce the Code and those that strive to understand it need to be improved.

[/soapbox]
 

finnegan

Member
I agree wholeheartedly with bdarnell. Around here in NJ, inspectors tend to work in many different towns for just a few hours a week each. They use the excuse that they do not have time to return calls, so that it makes it very difficult to receive clarification prior to an installation or after an inspection. Many times the only way to speak with an inspector is to call for an inspection.
 

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
I always play inspector first and am harder on myself than most will be.If they find a ligit reason to fail me then fine.Very few problems with them.Show some respect and they return it.Let them know your word is worth something and small things get a simple" fix it" and they sign off anyways.
 

inspector23

Senior Member
Location
Temecula, CA
Interesting....

The post insinuating inspectors take bribes is not considered offensive, derogatory, or insulting by the moderators so it stays - intact.

My guess is none of the moderators are inspectors, or else if they are they take no offense with the post - yet when a post was assumed to be construed as possibly offending a contractor, it is removed - and none of the moderators will step up and admit removing it, or explain their reason(s) for the removal......... :(

Seems the inspectors are held to a different standard - with no explanations.... which is exactly what the contractors complain about when they get a correction without an explanation.

I know this forum is used constructively by many, but I have also read many posts berating inspectors. Seems like the contractors can dish it out, but seem to have trouble taking it. :lol:

I am off my soapbox now. I am returning to my normal life......
 

George Stolz

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
Occupation
Service Manager
I feel partly responsible for the sentiment of Inspector 23 and David. I have had my fair share of rants, more lately than in the past. If that's rubbed some the wrong way, that wasn't my intention.

If I fail for something legitimate, I'm not going to start a thread about that, obviously. Nothing to debate or vent about if you messed up yourself, you see it, and have learned from it.

For every time I've had a bad experience, I've had 20 good ones that never make the news.

I do learn from inspectors (especially here) every day. The ones that have earned the job are rarely the problem. (That doesn't necessarily mean time in the field in electrical.) The ones that act on impulse, trust their gut, tune out other ideas, and give up on learning are the problem, IMO.

Getting ahold of them by phone is also a problem. I somehow manage to earn a living answering the phone on my hip continuously, I don't see why some inspectors can't just leave their number on the ticket in case there's a question. They aren't rock stars. :D

I once left a note on a tagged jetted tub (with the 'correction' completed), and left a code reference and my cell on it. The guy didn't call me back until he could call back from a blocked office phone, and it was days later. :lol:
 

dnem

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
georgestolz said:
Getting ahold of them by phone is also a problem. I somehow manage to earn a living answering the phone on my hip continuously, I don't see why some inspectors can't just leave their number on the ticket in case there's a question. They aren't rock stars. :D

I once left a note on a tagged jetted tub (with the 'correction' completed), and left a code reference and my cell on it. The guy didn't call me back until he could call back from a blocked office phone, and it was days later. :lol:

All of the inspectors in my department are issued cel phones but we are prohibited from giving the number out. The only way someone can call one of us during the day is to leave a message on that inspectors office machine.

If there's a message on the inspection schedule ticket to call the contractor, we call them from our cel. We don't schedule times for inspections but if the ticket asks for a call a half hour or an hour before the inspection, we call. If it asks for a call if they fail, we call. Plus we return all phone calls left on the machine before going home that same day. We also have next business day inspections for all inspections called in by 3pm of that business day.

Some building departments are set up so poorly that if they weren't a bureaucratic monopoly, and had to act like the businesses that they inspect, they would be out of business in less than a week.

David
 

allenwayne

Senior Member
I guess we are blessed almost all inspectors have nextels and the jurisdictions that don`t issue cell phones.We usually have no problem contacting an inspector.They usually get pretty peeved at an EC when they inspect and it gets recalled with corrections not done.One area has raised its red tag fees to $50/$100/$500/Go before the board.That got the attention of many here.If you know your inspectors and they know you most will go out of the way to contact you when they find problems.Many even leave pieces of red tags where they find something that they have written up.After all they don`t want to keep inspecting the same job over and over.
 

inspector23

Senior Member
Location
Temecula, CA
OK, maybe I missed my point. I did not take offense with the bribe comment. I took it for a joke, part of the job kinda of thing. If my skin was that thin to take it seriously I would not last a day in the field as an inspector.

My point was -
I replied to a "I've been doing this for 20 years and never had a problem" post. In my reply, I used the phrase " I used to crap in my diaper". My point there was to say that just because we have done something for a long time in the past does mean there is not a better way now to do the job.

That post got deleted, and I tried - several times through several sources - to find the moderator who deleted it and why it was deleted. I PM'd several moderators, always getting the same reply - they knew nothing about it, never saw the original post, could not help me. There was not a single cuss word in the post. No way it could have been seen as a "personal" attack. I was commenting about the "doing it this way all my life" attitude - not the individual.


"Walk a mile in the other person's shoes. Then, if they get mad, they are a mile away - and barefoot." :D
 
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