Essay on Electrical Inspectors

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How are we supposed to help you edit if you've already submitted it? :D ;)

Fred, interesting read. I find it very persuasive, but I have a question: what was the main objective of the piece?
 
georgestolz said:
How are we supposed to help you edit if you've already submitted it? :D ;)

Fred, interesting read. I find it very persuasive, but I have a question: what was the main objective of the piece?
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To initiate an industry-wide conversation with regard to licensing of electrical inspectors...........with the eventual hope of developing regulations to that effect. :)
 
Good Luck with all that ...
My questions are:
1. Who inspects the city or County structures ?
2. Who inspects the State structures ?
3. Whats the insurance Rates of the Building inspectors ?
 
cadpoint said:
Good Luck with all that ...
My questions are:
1. Who inspects the city or County structures ?
2. Who inspects the State structures ?
3. Whats the insurance Rates of the Building inspectors ?
Click to expand...

  1. Private 3rd-party inspectors for the most part. They then turn their reports in to the particular person in charge of administering the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention & Building Code within their governmental entity, i.e., typically the Building Inspector who relies on the 3rd-party report as a precondition of the issuance of the mandated certificate of occupancy
  2. Usually the private inspectors, but often times the inspection is overlooked by long established habit, or it's done by the state agency itself. This is all governed by Title 19 NYCRR Part 1203.
  3. Building Inspectors are insured through the governmental entity's insurance policies and premiums are reduced somewhat depending on the community's efforts toward good code enforcement program(s). ISO keeps a watchful eye....:wink:
:) :)
 
Bravo!

You could submit that identical article in PA, and it would also apply. We have a system nearly identical to NYS. Inspector shopping is aggravating, especially when you're trying to bid. The low bidders bid with a certain inspector in mind, because they know where they'll be able to cut corners to save money, and still pass "inspection".
 
In the State of Idaho you must be a journeyman electrician for a least 2 years in order to be an electrical inspector. Some cities have their own building departments and their own electrical inspectors. All other areas are inspected by the State inspectors. We must also be certified by a recognzied organization. I have certifications with ICC and am in the process of being certified as a Master and Residential electrical inspector through IAEI. Both certifications require a proficiency test and the IAEI certification requires a practicum of supervised inspections as well.

I am a firm believer that electrical inspectors must be trained and qualified and receive continuing education to maintain proficiency. This is the only way to make sure that installations are safe and code compliant.
 
Regulation doesn't necessarily guarantee competent and qualified inspectors. While the state is likely to be the best entity to certify and license professionals, the local authority is what controls the level of professionalism and quality of their departments. But the problems are many.

1. MONEY - inspectors that work for municipalities and counties don't make all that much money. Highly qualified professionals make much more as contractors than they would as inspectors. This reduces the pool of good candidates.

2. AVALIBILITY - to get an inspectors job usually requires the retirement / death of person in the current position and/or you happen to be a golf buddy with the building official. Even when a position gets open, it can take months to actually get the person working. Governments work SLOW.

3. TOLERATION - for whatever reason, bad inspectors are tolerated by both building officials and contractors alike. Every jurisdiction seems to have the one or two bad eggs. These are the inspectors that make up their own rules, perform drive-by inspections, have chips on their shoulders, are just waiting to retire, accept bribes, the list is endless. But why are these guys around? 1. BO's seem to be afraid to fire people, 2. Contractors are afraid to complain about them.

I don't know how it is in other states, but construction has come to a dead stop here in Florida. For the first time in probably over 20 years, building departments are looking at budget cuts and layoffs. We lost 9 in our department, the county to the north of us lost over 20. Every corner of the state is doing the same.

With all due respect to everyone in our industry, this is probably a good thing. We were so busy a year ago that we hired the first people to walk through the door just to reduce the number of inspections one would have to do in a day. Work was so plentiful, everyone had jobs and applications for open positions were few. Now that things have tightened up a bit, BO's are taking a closer look a things and making cuts where they think it will leave the department in the best position in the future. The third party inspection agencies have all but disappeared.

It will be interesting to see where things are in 6 months or so. If things get worse, building departments will continue to shrink leaving behind the best of the group. If things start picking back up, hopefully BO's will have learned there lesson from the last boom and selectively rebuild there inspections departments.
 
jshaw said:
In the State of Idaho you must be a journeyman electrician for a least 2 years in order to be an electrical inspector. Some cities have their own building departments and their own electrical inspectors. All other areas are inspected by the State inspectors. We must also be certified by a recognzied organization. I have certifications with ICC and am in the process of being certified as a Master and Residential electrical inspector through IAEI. Both certifications require a proficiency test and the IAEI certification requires a practicum of supervised inspections as well.

I am a firm believer that electrical inspectors must be trained and qualified and receive continuing education to maintain proficiency. This is the only way to make sure that installations are safe and code compliant.
Click to expand...

Sure wished New York would climb on board with Idaho....:)
 
mdshunk said:
Bravo!

You could submit that identical article in PA, and it would also apply. We have a system nearly identical to NYS. Inspector shopping is aggravating, especially when you're trying to bid. The low bidders bid with a certain inspector in mind, because they know where they'll be able to cut corners to save money, and still pass "inspection".
Click to expand...

There are actually at least three Pennsylvania-based electrical inspection agencies working in New York. Years ago I had the pleasure of quitting two of them due to their unscrupulous methods. Wouldn't work for the third. Maybe things have changed, but I kinda doubt it. You'd be hard pressed to find many of the the individual inspectors that are certified. Only in the big towns and cities for the most part. Rural NY, anything goes with these guys. Shame. If help is on the way, it must be shorted out..:roll:
 
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