How did you become an inspector?

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Pierre, your post #14 is spot on (except the remark about Marc. I don't know him:)). But the rest of your post was a very real treatise on what is involved. Kudos. :)
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
Fred
I am presenting for the Local IAEI Chapter up by you in March....maybe I will see you there.
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Perhaps you could post the details here on this forum. There are a number of New Yorkers online that would probably be interested. If you're not comfortable with that, please PM me. In any event, I'll make every effort to attend.
 
Electricians get hammered on this very forum day after day, suddenly when someone says what their experience with some inspectors has been people get upset.

Inspectors are people, some are good some are bad, in my area I run into both.
 
ike5547 said:
I'm pretty sure the inspectors around here earn a better wage than most electricians and with excellent benefits.

Not so much a case of can't do as don't want to do.
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A good EC will make much more than an electrical inspector. There are also different levels of inspectors from residential only to res and commercial to plan review and those that do it all.

Unless you are a self employed inspector and have a bunch of municipalities that you service, you will not make near what a good EC does or can.

I make more after a fully day of EC work than i do after a full day of code enforcement. I can tell you that for sure.
 
ivsenroute said:
A good EC will make much more than an electrical inspector. There are also different levels of inspectors from residential only to res and commercial to plan review and those that do it all.

Unless you are a self employed inspector and have a bunch of municipalities that you service, you will not make near what a good EC does or can.

I make more after a fully day of EC work than i do after a full day of code enforcement. I can tell you that for sure.
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I'm pretty sure 'most electricians' are not ECs.
 
Electricians get hammered on this very forum day after day
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I'd say the same thing about inspectors. I think the only reason why we are here is to become better at what we do and that says a lot about anyone who spend time on the forum. Besides I am not upset, I just don't see the need for the unnecessary negative comments here.
 
EBFD6 said:
Don't get me wrong, being an electrician is OK and it pays the bills, but if I could do something else that I actually enjoy and not have to take a pay cut in the process, I would. My point was, I don't LOVE doing this like I hear other guys saying. Some guys talk about how much they love doing this and it's all they ever wanted, they could never imagine doing anything else and want to do electrical work night and day until they die. That's just not me!

As far as finding another line of work, as I said before, it's all about the money. I'm too deep into this to stop and start another career. I have a mortgage to pay and a family to feed and taking a pay cut to start over doing something else just isn't feasible.

This, however, is not the point of my post.

The issue I'm having is, where do I want to be when I'm 50. This job is physically demanding (no secret to anyone here), and at 29 I can handle that just fine. The problem is, in 20 years, do I want to be doing the same things that I have to do now on a daily basis? The answer is no!

The way I see things there are a few options I'll have to advance within the trade and not have to work in the field.

1. Own my own company and hire other people to do the installs.
This will never happen, I have no interest in being a businessman and all the headaches that go with that.

2. become a project manager, service manager, or estimator for an electrical contractor.
I am not a babysitter, and have no interest in dealing with the politics and whining that goes along with supervising field personal and inter office relations

3. Trade school instructor
I enjoy teaching, but only to people interested in learning, which is a real problem in high school level trade schools around here.

4. Become an Inspector
hence the reason for my thread

This is not something I am thinking about doing tomorrow, just pondering what might be my options in 20-25 years
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5.Work at home depot in the electrical dept.
 
EBFD6 said:
I'm too deep into this to stop and start another career. I have a mortgage to pay and a family to feed and taking a pay cut to start over doing something else just isn't feasible.

This, however, is not the point of my post.

The issue I'm having is, where do I want to be when I'm 50. This job is physically demanding (no secret to anyone here), and at 29 I can handle that just fine. The problem is, in 20 years, do I want to be doing the same things that I have to do now on a daily basis? The answer is no!

The way I see things there are a few options I'll have to advance within the trade and not have to work in the field.

1. Own my own company and hire other people to do the installs.
This will never happen, I have no interest in being a businessman and all the headaches that go with that.

2. become a project manager, service manager, or estimator for an electrical contractor.
I am not a babysitter, and have no interest in dealing with the politics and whining that goes along with supervising field personal and inter office relations

3. Trade school instructor
I enjoy teaching, but only to people interested in learning, which is a real problem in high school level trade schools around here.

4. Become an Inspector
hence the reason for my thread

This is not something I am thinking about doing tomorrow, just pondering what might be my options in 20-25 years
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I feel your pain - and would not mind doing the same...
 
iwire said:
But the OP is from MA and here, unfortunately, many cities and towns pay very low wages for inspectors. Many are actually part timers and are paid per inspection.
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Very true as is Marc's observation. In my experience dealing with inspectors it certainly is not a case of being the most qualified for the job as most are not.

I would not plan my future around becoming an inspector in this area.

Also to the guy who said " If you don't love your job..get a new one." What fantasy land do you live in? :rolleyes:
 
I also live in a small town where inspection were treated more as a position rather than a job. I worked in the construction trade for 11 years prior to the job opening up and the current inspector approached me about taking the job. During the inteview I stressed the fact that education was essential if I were to take the position. The city indicated that education could be provided. I have been in this job for 17 years now and conduct all the inspections for framing, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and everything else you could think of including building maintenance. In this economy, I choose to make myself as important as I can so I do not get a lay off slip. I have 6 national certifications in the code enforcement fields and 2 in the fire service. I am also the assistant fire chief. I would encourage anyone to persue the "code enforcement" field with one caveat that no one knows everything. Be willing to admit your are wrong and learn from those you deal with in the field. I think you get more respect if you are willing to say "I don't know, but I will find out" once in a while. Good luck.
 
After many years as an electrician, I conducted building and electrical system inspections for 23 years becoming quite familiar with just about every aspect from rank-and-file to department director to co-owner to rank-and-file. If I had one piece of advice to offer an electrical inspector just starting out it would be the importance of the fault current path. Having a well grounded (pun intended :smile:) knowledge of this path and verifying that the electrical installers also have a knowledge of its' importance will go a long ways towards getting you to the finish line without any electrical fires or deaths in your work history which makes for a more pleasant after-career life.:)
 
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