Building departments keep getting better

[PrimaryElectric]

I just wish I could keep up. The city of Pembroke Pines has fined me for a partial rough inspection yesterday as if it were a re-inspection fee. It has been determined by the plans review process that the project in question warrants only one rough and one final for the low low price of $1,550 in permit fees. The project is small coming in at 5000 sq ft retail. However it is an open remodel with partitioned areas of construction. A trip to the building department with a well articulated explanation has sent me packing with $300 less in my wallet. All I can say is "It gets better every day". All I need to feel better is that wonderful response post that everyone has to deal with the same issues so its fair.

 

[inspector 102]

I certainly question how some departments can charge for inspections over the expected or calculated amount approved by the department. I have made trips to jobsites daily to work with contractors who need to keep a job moving. Understand that I have a small community and sometimes we are just happy to have growth and improvements. Our community understands that the building department is not self funding and becasue of that, fines are normally not given out. In return, the contractors are more will ing to work with me, especially on weekend projects. Every jurisdiction is different.

 

[cowboyjwc]

First I will start out by saying we will only hit you with reinspection fees if you call for the same thing more than twice and are not ready.

That said let me see if I can "maybe" explain the inspectors positon. We have caught flack for doing what were referred to as nonrequired inspections. So on our job cards are the following electrical inspections, Ufer ground, underground conduit (if necessary), rough electrical walls, rough electrical above t-bar, final. 5 inspections.

Now as 102 is probably referring to, that is on a simple job. Sometimes we have sheer walls, or prelim we have to do and various other things, on large sometimes we will phase the work.

The one we will hit you on is the, "can you just do these two walls so that the drywaller can get started?"

This is very hard to track and just becasue I was your inspector today doesn't mean I may not be sick tomorrow and someone else would have to try to figure out what is going on. Or what usually happens is the drywaller doesn't stop at the two walls I approved and we start having issues.

Right now things are slow and I could sit in the job trailer with some of the ECs for a couple of hours if needed, but when we get really busy sometimes it's hard to find the time to simply answer questions.

I had one job that had so many particials that I did the last rough the same day I signed final. I had four pages of inspections and then my boss got on me because I hadn't signed the rough on the permit. I tried to argue that I never did an actual "rough" inspection.