I asked.

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ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
Looking at a project to replace 1:1, MH fixtures to LED. No wiring changes other than taking one fixture down & hanging a new. Most are at 30'. Some higher.
City wants it permitted. There is nothing to look at unless he wants to rent his own dang scissor lift cause I ain't letting him use mine!! I know, I know. Just venting. $1000 just to have him walk in at ground level and say "Looks good from here."
 
Yeah, they probably want to see if the safety cable is attached at the new fixture. I had one municipality that wanted a permit to inspect the entire fire sprinkler system just because we put the fire pump on generator. I think it was something like $4-5 thousand for that permit. Went down to pay for it, city had a bright and shiny new municipal building. It made sense then! LOL!
 
Don't know for sure but if a commercial space he may want to ensure the original lumens are maintained or exceeded and that should and can be done from the ground level with a light meter. $1000.00 seems excessive for an inspection or is that the permit fee? There are some municipalities that I've dealt with that base the permit fee from cost of renovation. If that's the case, your only option to pay less is to charge less. I don't worry about the permit fees as they are just passed to the customer.
 
ptonsparky said:
Looking at a project to replace 1:1, MH fixtures to LED. No wiring changes other than taking one fixture down & hanging a new. Most are at 30'. Some higher.
City wants it permitted. There is nothing to look at unless he wants to rent his own dang scissor lift cause I ain't letting him use mine!! I know, I know. Just venting. $1000 just to have him walk in at ground level and say "Looks good from here."
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Even if he used my lift I would be like, "until you look at every one of them, I'm not paying the entire fee".

If it were all new construction and there were many other things to look at and these lights never were individually looked at - I typically let that go. But when they want to have a fee for limited work and there is little to nothing they will end up looking at - I am going to fight back unless they actually inspect it.

Had similar thing something like 8-9 months ago with two lights that got replaced on a pole with LED lights.

Need a permit on that.

Ok I understand to some extent but what you going to inspect?

Need to know if it is grounded properly.

How you going to do that unless you climb up there yourself, I'm not taking pictures for you on something you can inspect from your office desk and paying the full fee I would be paying if you actually looked at it personally. (yes this one is a relatively small fee, but it is a principle thing)

Maybe not exact words but sort of how the conversation went. Also if he wanted me to provide method of accessing - was going to be same ladder I stood on to access it, not a mechanical lift.

So far have never heard a word back on that same install and never filed any permit.
 
Is this a flat rate or job cost rate? If cost rate it is what it is base on what you are charging. But if flat rate, please don't tell my local jurisdiction. One of our local jurisdictions if simple parts exchange repair (like for like) doesn't require a permit, but any new, upgrades, renovations require an electrical permit but cost a very, very, minimal flat rate, but there is a third party electrical inspection requirement not part of fee.
Rant Warning:
Compliance is very low around here though, and electrical safety seems to be a low priority, in reality for most part self regulating and code compliance optional based on what I've seen from number of hack installations by handiman and even some unknowlegible GCs.
(Got a pickup truck? Got layed off from your warehouse job? Get a ladder rack and a ladder and you are now a GC and allowed to do electrical work.)
 
I have limited exposure to inspection fees based on value of project, and ones I have done so far have been less than inspection fee would have been with state AHJ that has more of a flat fee based mostly on number of circuits involved.

But have always wondered if you could have a ridiculously high fee in some cases where expensive equipment were involved yet difficulty of inspection and time spent inspecting were both very minimal.
 
kwired said:
I have limited exposure to inspection fees based on value of project, and ones I have done so far have been less than inspection fee would have been with state AHJ that has more of a flat fee based mostly on number of circuits involved.

But have always wondered if you could have a ridiculously high fee in some cases where expensive equipment were involved yet difficulty of inspection and time spent inspecting were both very minimal.
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Permit fee is 3% of electrical cost. Only labor? 3%. Materials & labor? 3%
It would almost be better to sell the fixtures on one invoice (no permit fee), then bill labor on another.
 
ptonsparky said:
Permit fee is 3% of electrical cost. Only labor? 3%. Materials & labor? 3%
It would almost be better to sell the fixtures on one invoice (no permit fee), then bill labor on another.
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Do they want to see your invoice? If so is it even any their business? A cost that seems reasonable is likely acceptable.

For one thing they are not inspecting the luminaires, they should already be listed as is.

Only thing you did that is subject to code rules is disconnect one unit and connect another. So maybe twisting three wire nuts on each one is the least you may have done in some instances. I guess base the fee on your labor and/or the cost of the three wire nuts per unit?
 
kwired said:
Do they want to see your invoice? If so is it even any their business? A cost that seems reasonable is likely acceptable.

For one thing they are not inspecting the luminaires, they should already be listed as is.

Only thing you did that is subject to code rules is disconnect one unit and connect another. So maybe twisting three wire nuts on each one is the least you may have done in some instances. I guess base the fee on your labor and/or the cost of the three wire nuts per unit?
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Dang, I will be installing three new Lever Locks per fixture. I guess they will need to look.
 
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