Do Inspectors have 2 modes?

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480sparky said:
There's just one who feel the burning desire to find something.... anything... no matter what. Why? As I said before... to justify his work.
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I would never, ever purposely leave a violation to make an inspector feel important. It's too much fun frustrating them. Besides, my ego is too big for that. :cool:

I have a reputation for passing every inspection on the first call (if I'm the one who did the work.) I don't want one for missing something simple on every job.
 
I have had some that never got out of the truck. But they were do nothing type jobs and they asked a few questions and knowed me.

As to 2 modes , sure they do and so do most of us. What one they are in might depend on how you treat them.
 
nascar03 said:
I find it interesting that anyone has the TIME to make violations or makeup violations. ...............
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Sorry.... it doesn't take any TIME to leave a 4s cover off.:cool: And it takes the same amount of TIME to put it on during the inspection as it does before.
 
LarryFine said:
I would never, ever purposely leave a violation to make an inspector feel important. It's too much fun frustrating them. Besides, my ego is too big for that. :cool:

I have a reputation for passing every inspection on the first call (if I'm the one who did the work.) I don't want one for missing something simple on every job.
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Larry, invite me down..........Wait, you are not use to paying the NY kind of fees :D
 
LarryFine said:
I would never, ever purposely leave a violation to make an inspector feel important. It's too much fun frustrating them. Besides, my ego is too big for that. :cool:

I have a reputation for passing every inspection on the first call (if I'm the one who did the work.) I don't want one for missing something simple on every job.
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Do you always pass? Or do you never have corrections? Two different things;)

Told a guy yesterday that he had to label his panels per 210.5(C), and yes like any good inspector should do I'm going to make you look it up, and he told me that I was the first one who had ever called him on that. I said well then your other inspectors aren't doing their jobs because it's a pretty simple one.:roll:

Like some others have eluded to, I don't need to find a violation to justify my job, not finding a violation, especially on a Fine job, will justify it too.:D
 
cowboyjwc said:
Do you always pass? Or do you never have corrections? Two different things;)
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I didn't say I've never had a failure, just that I have a reputation for it. :cool: Of course, I have had a minor thing or two fail or get mentioned, which usually gets fixed on the spot and I pass, or soon if I wasn't there during the inspection. I can't attend all of them.

I once ran three NM's per 1/2" plastic pop-in (Halex), and the inspector said it was so neat, he hated to tell me the limit was two per. He passed it, knowing he'd see it at final.

For grins and giggles (not that it takes a lot :grin:), I checked with Halex, and they said one cable per, so I happily changed it to two like the inspector said. Hey, he's the boss! ;)

There have been two or three times where I actually challenged a failure, and always ended up getting it passed with maybe a minor adjustment, or even without changing anything. I make sure I'm right before I challenge, but even then, it has never gotten antagonistic.

At the 7800sq.ft. house in Williamsburg that the owner designed and acted as his own GC, we were the only contractor that passed any inspection on the first call, and we passed every one. This was one where he supplied materials, and it worked out beautifully.

We once wired a home-office for receptacles, using EMT and 4" sq's on block walls. We were told we failed for lack of jumpers between the receptacles and the boxes. I said they weren't necessary, but the customer paid us to do it in the name of expedience.

The next day, we were told, the inspector called the customer and informed him that we were right, and apolgized. That was satisfying.
 
LarryFine said:
I didn't say I've never had a failure, just that I have a reputation for it. :cool: Of course, I have had a minor thing or two fail or get mentioned, which usually gets fixed on the spot and I pass, or soon if I wasn't there during the inspection. I can't attend all of them.

I once ran three NM's per 1/2" plastic pop-in (Halex), and the inspector said it was so neat, he hated to tell me the limit was two per. He passed it, knowing he'd see it at final.

For grins and giggles (not that it takes a lot :grin:), I checked with Halex, and they said one cable per, so I happily changed it to two like the inspector said. Hey, he's the boss! ;)

There have been two or three times where I actually challenged a failure, and always ended up getting it passed with maybe a minor adjustment, or even without changing anything. I make sure I'm right before I challenge, but even then, it has never gotten antagonistic.

At the 7800sq.ft. house in Williamsburg that the owner designed and acted as his own GC, we were the only contractor that passed any inspection on the first call, and we passed every one. This was one where he supplied materials, and it worked out beautifully.

We once wired a home-office for receptacles, using EMT and 4" sq's on block walls. We were told we failed for lack of jumpers between the receptacles and the boxes. I said they weren't necessary, but the customer paid us to do it in the name of expedience.

The next day, we were told, the inspector called the customer and informed him that we were right, and apolgized. That was satisfying.
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I was pretty good at passing inspections, but the one I remember best was a silly little thing, don't even remember exactly what it was, but I told the inspector that it wasn't necessary an he could look it up if he wanted. He simply opened the book to one of the first pages, that's when they used to list the CMP's, and pointed to the article we were in and to his name and said, that's me. OH:roll:

So yes, it's nice to know if you're right or not, before you argue.:D
 
SEO said:
Jim on the flip side all contractors start off with getting my respect.
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SEO,

Years back, I re-wired a 1912 house, in a little community, with a permit,
and no 'local amendments' in writing.

At the point of being a day away from finishing the 'rough-in',
there were some questions, about this being a 'renovation' or 're-code'.

I called in for an "early inspection", knowing that there were possibly violations. The idea was to have the inspector provide a 'list' of violations for me, while I was still on the job with all my tools and material.

I thanked him for his 'list' and fixed everything and then called in for the "normal inspection".

The first time I met the inspector, in his office,
I told him that we worked on two sides of the same street.
When I get hot/sweaty I might forget something,
and when he comes around fresh/clean
he will be helping me get everything right.

I was trying to setup an atmosphere of mutual respect.
( Of course, he still charged me for the extra 'inspection' :). )
 
LarryFine said:
We once wired a home-office for receptacles, using EMT and 4" sq's on block walls. We were told we failed for lack of jumpers between the receptacles and the boxes. I said they weren't necessary, but the customer paid us to do it in the name of expedience.
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I'm from pipe country. Just out of curiosity when is a jumper required between box and receptacles? Is this a romex requirement?
 
Inspector's modes.

Inspector's modes.

Can't we all just get along...
As a former electrician, electrical designer and now an inspector... You can't go wrong by being a friendly person... It goes a long way..
I use to joke around by telling the electricians that if I can't find anything, that I'll take something apart just to write something down...
Be nice... it goes a long way...
 
bdktoys said:
Can't we all just get along...
As a former electrician, electrical designer and now an inspector... You can't go wrong by being a friendly person... It goes a long way..
I use to joke around by telling the electricians that if I can't find anything, that I'll take something apart just to write something down...
Be nice... it goes a long way...
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I used to go through at final and tell the electrician to pick ten plates and remove them and then I would pic a few to remove. When they asked if I was gonna sign the card I would tell them I would, but they have a bunch of plates that aren't on.:D
 
ActionDave said:
480 is right. There are inspectors around that need to find something. Then there are also the inspectors that don't even inspect, just show up, shoot the breeze and sign off. I don't like that either.
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I hear that! Did a fire alarm retrofit, voice evac, eight stories plus basement and sub-basement and over 450 initiating devices, partial residential occupancy (YMCA). The fire inspector came in, we smoked ONE detector, he said goodbye. I don't have a large enough ego to think I get it right first time, every time. I like to think the inspector is going to be a fair but thorough "second look" at my installation, that he has my back and more importantly, the customer's.
 
Inspectors have a measure of authority due to their job. We should respect that authority, if not the individual. You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Follow the codes, do quality work, keep the site clean, and you'll almost always "pass", even if you have to make a few minor modifications.

I've had my share of difficult inspectors, but overall most are reasonable.
 
I came close to seriously injuring a young punk helper a few years ago. Had plenty of talent, but always taking short cuts, thought it was funny, etc. We had a rough inspection, inspector found 4 loose connectors in 1 small room. I could have crawled in a hole. He said "I reckon you boys need to go through this again and call me back". The punk was standing right there and saw this. Well, we fixed things and called him back. This time, he barely looked around and signed off. Next phase of project, same helper going along, only tightening fittings hand tight, sometimes not even that. I checked a few behind him and stayed on him about it. He started smarting off. I threatened to kick his ladder out from under him. HE saw us flunk an inspection for same stuff and it didn't bother him at all.
 
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