Ask...if you think it's wrong...from an inspector

[kwired]

I'll seriously consider moving to Oregon. Some of my friends have.

There are some inspectors around here that I don't start conversations with anymore because they'll use it as an opportunity to push a more restrictive policy than what's in the NEC. Seriously, I've brought up issues where I didn't think they were interpreting the code correctly, or I mentioned that future versions of the NEC will explicitly allow something (because CA is 3 years behind) and the response has been 'Not only do we not agree with you, but we're going to pass a local amendment to the code when the next cycle comes around so that you still can't do that.' I feel I've been very respectful and reasonable when making my case.

Problem in CA is they are already regulated to death in about every way possible, that the average resident doesn't know what is law and what isn't, and are so used to be told you can't do that they just assume there is one more thing they can't do.

Some of the ridiculous laws pop up now and then elsewhere though. "Junk ordinances" are a pet peeve of mine. I understand some of the intent, but some peoples "art" is still junk to others and it is hard to be fair with such rules.

 

[ggunn]

Some of the ridiculous laws pop up now and then elsewhere though. "Junk ordinances" are a pet peeve of mine. I understand some of the intent, but some peoples "art" is still junk to others and it is hard to be fair with such rules.

I hope I am not straying too far toward the political by saying this, but many folks in legislative positions seem to think that if they are not passing laws then they are not doing their jobs. Sometimes the better course would be just to leave well enough alone. I remember a Jeopardy! answer that was something like "The country which has the most laws on the books which prescribe time in jail for violations thereof." The correct response was, "What is the USA?"

 

[jaggedben]

kwired, I disagree. I don't think it has anything much to do with the general level of regulation at the level of state law. It just depends on the bureaucratic culture of the particular jurisdiction. If it's a small town where the building department is five people, it just depends on the personality of the person in charge. If it's a large city or county, then one inspector might be great, another might be horrible, and whoever is in charge has little idea what's going on in the field. To go back on topic, as it were... There are several jurisdictions I work in where I can have good productive conversations with the AHJ. They just certainly aren't all like that.