"I dont know many codes..." - Inspector of nameless city

Status
Not open for further replies.
e57

e57

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco, CA
Today I was dumbfounded to hear these words:

I dont know many codes, but is here on my check-list.
Click to expand...

This was from an Inspector of a nameless urban area across the bay from where I live.

So heres how it started, I get the call from the inspector that my inspection window will be from 9:30 to 11:30 today at 8:30. So I hop in the truck and make the hour and fifteen minute drive over there. I get there, open my panels for my Scope of Work that are on my permit. "Service Upgrade to Existing circuits" Then I wait for an hour and a half.

The Inspector shows up, compliments me on my work, and that I already have it open, as for some reason most other people dont do that for this person...

We go all through the inspection and he says, "Oh you have the panel marked..." :rolleyes: "Oh... you have a dishwahser, and a garbage disposal??" Yep- I do... "Oh those need to be on a handle-tie, do you have right breaker for that - if not I will have to come back for reinspection." :mad: First I'll say that this is for two SINGLE OUTLETS under a sink.

Before you ask... there are no ammendments to thier code for 210.4(B)... And no I did not have a breaker for it... So I brought up that I have a code book in my truck.... Thats when I got the quote above.... So I say, well I think I know the code you are thinking of or whoever wrote the list, and it doesn't apply... So I showed it to him. "Whats a Yoke?" - a strap - "Whats a Strap?" :rolleyes:

So he's gonna ask his Senior Inspector about it.... And maybe I'll get my green-tag, or maybe I'll spend the several hours nessesary to swap a breaker and reinspect....
 
e57 said:
...or maybe I'll spend the several hours nessesary to swap a breaker and reinspect....
Click to expand...
If it were my company, I'd spend that several hours on the phone and save gas money. That person has no business inspecting, I'm sure there's a legion of qualified electricians waiting for that job opening. :mad:
 
georgestolz said:
If it were my company, I'd spend that several hours on the phone and save gas money. That person has no business inspecting, I'm sure there's a legion of qualified electricians waiting for that job opening. :mad:
Click to expand...

Ya know, I have always wanted to be an Inspector - but not sure I would want to do it in that City.... I would rather do it in my own - but there are certain political requirements here that I don't have... Wont get into that here for the sake of any children present.
 
I feel for you. I hate inspectors who don't know what they are doing. It's even worse that yours can't read code and interpret it for himself. At least the one's I've dealt with can make their own decisions, albeit sometimes incorrectly.

I may make a mistake on a decision, but will always look it up and offer discussion. And of course I always have you guys to fall back on.;)
 
Boy I'll tell ya, Never had to deal much with this inspector stuff myself but now I do , what a night and day difference.
 
E, just hand him a duplex receptacle and explain that using this device is the only thing that would require the 2-p breaker.
 
LarryFine said:
E, just hand him a duplex receptacle and explain that using this device is the only thing that would require the 2-p breaker.
Click to expand...
How reserved ....yeah that's good.
 
Well the picture and diagrams in the Handbook didn't help, and neither were the two that he asked me to draw... Not kidding....

He swears by the checklist - Dishwasher and Garbage disposal on handle-tie. Nothing in thier code, no reasoning - just reinspection... I even asked if a coffemaker and microwave plugged into the two required kitchen circuits would be the same if in the same box with two seperate outlets - and he looked as if it might be a viable thing to question.

He also used some sort of parroted describtion of someone needing to work in the box on one outlet and not knowing which breaker to turn off. A: They are both marked in the panel - that is how this came up in the first place. As well as the outlet being the means of disconnect for the appliances as I thought he might be headed for - and also went through all kinds of other scenarios where two circuits would be in the same box - even same box different panel.

And NO I was being my usual "charming glad-handing keep the inspector moving on his way mode self" until he asked for more edjucation on the topic... Really - should I be teaching an Inspector codes? Enlightening on one maybe - but in fifteen minutes we went through four... Now in all fairness to the guy - I have heard this crap before. There must be some "Inspector Course" that they are all attending that has a wacko bunko spouting off his own design agenda. But usually I can point out that there is no code requirement and it is over with. But this guy with a book in front of him cant make a call because the check-list... On an item he has little understanding of. It really makes me wonder with professionals like this that they could recongnize a "real" violation if it reached out to grab them.
 
Last edited:
In defense of inspectors ( did I say that :) ) There are good ones and bad ones , same as electricians.I have in the past had arguments with inspectors in which i knew I was right and they were wrong, but insisted that this is the way they wanted it.I stand my ground on that one.

I even had an inspector 2 years after we went toe to toe and it got heated.One day say to me I owe you an apolligy.I asked what for ??? His response was I tagged things on you that were wrong.You were right and I was wrong.I dropped the whole issue and said no problem.
 
Mark, the following may help.

receptacle_yoke.jpg


or throw him for a loop and use this one.

groundingrecepcorrect.jpg


Roger
 
Greg, it's a "no shock safety receptacle"? and covers everthing on the "which way should the ground go" topic. :grin:

Roger
 
Roger, I had drawn that on his inspection record for him to show his boss.... I also had to draw a 2 gang box with two single receptical.... "Two seperate YOKES"

And I will up-date this to say I got a call from him this morning that he checked with his boss and will go slap my green tag on the panel himself....
 
At least he had the humility to check into it. Still an effort you shouldn't have had to endure.
 
I'm not sure how your inspectors work but here in Ontario our inspectors can't site an infraction unless they can quote a code number from the code book to support the defect. I find overall that the inspectors have a good background in the business. Now there attitude is another thing. That usually takes a few years to tone down. There is a quote you usually find at the wholesalers.

Arguing with an inspector is like wrestling with a pig. After a while it seems that they enjoy it!
 
In MA, we are required to notify in writing what article a contractor is in violation of.
 
i apologize for not perhaps missing this as i read this thread...

were the 2 circuits for the disposal and dishwasher in the same 2 gang?
 
billydsf said:
i apologize for not perhaps missing this as i read this thread...

were the 2 circuits for the disposal and dishwasher in the same 2 gang?
Click to expand...


Does it matter?
 
infinity said:
Does it matter?
Click to expand...

I'd say "Yes".

What, you're going to disconnect one but not the other?!?

The dishwasher circuit, as you'll recall, is typically unswitched, whereas the garbage disposal is switched.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top