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[Strife]

In Florida the local AHJ can not add anything to NEC, the Florida Building Code prohibits them. Now the Florida Building code can add certain things like you mention, but the local AHJ can not any longer.
Thank God for that.
Until a few years back (or maybe 7-8) we had the same mess as you mention with LA, and not sure how many AHJ's are there in every county, but in Broward county we have about 20 or 30 of them, Miami-Dade another 20-30, and each inspector had its own idea of what to add to the code to make it "better".
Even today I remember the conversation I had with an inspector about 20 years ago:
We did a gas station and I had to install a switch for the lights above the dispenser. ON THE CANOPY COLUMN. So using the code I put the switch at 18" above the dispenser and after killing a unibit and couple hrs of work to drill into the column the inspectors tells me it has to be at 24". I show him the NEC where the horizontal distance is 24" but the vertical is 18". His answer was:
"I'd still like to have it at 24"
I'm referring to the distance from a dispenser considered a hazardous location..
So thank God I don't have to run into this anymore.

Actually that's not correct. They can add to the code, but that may depend on state law. Here we can make then code more restrictive, but not less restrictive for the parts that we adopt. The only reasons that can be used to amend the code are climatic, geographic and topigraphic. Now when I say the parts we adopt, I'm talking about things like elevators, the state has elevator inspectors so we don't adopt article 620, we also don't adopt articles 551 or 552 and many others. Because of soil conditons in our area we require that you install a #4 bare copper in the footing on all new construction and don't allow any other method.

There was a time here when you not only needed the NEC, but you needed a copy of the City of Los Angeles Electrical Code. They used to have over 400 amendments to the NEC.

Also jurisdictions are only required to adopt a model code of some sort, they are not required to adopt the newest code. I know of jurisdictions that are still on the 1999 NEC, so they wouldn't require AFCI's. There are other Jurisdictions that adopted the NFPA 5000 codes and don't even use the NEC or the uniform codes.

 

[cowboyjwc]

\
I was going to make this comment myself, then I read his post more closely, and I beleive he was stating that the AHJ in his area can not modify the code, as opposed to the generic AHJ as defined by the code book. He is probably right. Here is Florida, local jurisdictions can interpret code, but they can not change it.

And that's why I mentioned "state law" I can only speak for CA.

In Florida the local AHJ can not add anything to NEC, the Florida Building Code prohibits them. Now the Florida Building code can add certain things like you mention, but the local AHJ can not any longer.
Thank God for that.
Until a few years back (or maybe 7-8) we had the same mess as you mention with LA, and not sure how many AHJ's are there in every county, but in Broward county we have about 20 or 30 of them, Miami-Dade another 20-30, and each inspector had its own idea of what to add to the code to make it "better".
Even today I remember the conversation I had with an inspector about 20 years ago:
We did a gas station and I had to install a switch for the lights above the dispenser. ON THE CANOPY COLUMN. So using the code I put the switch at 18" above the dispenser and after killing a unibit and couple hrs of work to drill into the column the inspectors tells me it has to be at 24". I show him the NEC where the horizontal distance is 24" but the vertical is 18". His answer was:
"I'd still like to have it at 24"
I'm referring to the distance from a dispenser considered a hazardous location..
So thank God I don't have to run into this anymore.

Oh, and I understand your frustration, even as an inspector. I had a little different conversation with a guy one time who was complaining that the interpretations changed from city to city, and I laughed and said, it's more likely that they change from desk to desk. Then he asked me why we didn't all call it the same and I said for the same reason you don't all build it the same.

Inspectors are just people too, and a lot like cops. Some cops don't care if you're speeding, some cops don't care if you have tinted windows, some cops don't even care if you have a gun in your car, but then you'll meet that one cop who's partner was shot by a guy with tinted windows who he pulled over for speeding.