Inspection Intensity

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jeff43222

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Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
I had an inspection for a service upgrade of a duplex today, and I was a little surprised at how fast it went. He looked inside the meter socket briefly and glanced at the panels (he counted the number of circuits), asked if I drilled drainage holes on the exterior LBs, and that was it. We spent more time talking about contracting in general than we talked about the job at hand, and he was on site for under 10 minutes. I could have theoretically done all sorts of things wrong that would never have been caught.

I'm curious if this is what others experience during these kinds of inspections. I'm not normally around for inspections, but since it was at my neighbor's place and since I was doing paperwork today anyway, I volunteered to be available to let him in.
 
Re: Inspection Intensity

I'm surprised that it took that long. Five minutes would be more normal.

[ November 03, 2005, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: mdshunk ]
 
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I have witnessed green tags handed out of car windows.....We have cold winters up here and it was an underground job..Can you blame him :roll:
 
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Hit wrong button, Sorry

[ November 03, 2005, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: jes25 ]
 
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I have experianced the same thing at times, and sometimes the Ispector will do a complete walk thru, but it is up to us as ECs to make sure everything is up to par Inspectors are human and can and will miss things, just as we do the same, that is why we get red tagged at times.
 
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Originally posted by jes25:
I have witnessed green tags handed out of car windows.....We have cold winters up here and it was an underground job..Can you blame him :roll:
Click to expand...
Maybe a few inspectors have even given out a few blank ones for when they are too busy to stop by?
 
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I always approach jobs as though the inspector will be in a bad mood and will check every last box with a fine-tooth comb, but I wonder what the point of an inspection is if very little of the work is even looked at.

A few months ago I ran into an inspector at the state office, and she was telling a story about how she did go over a big job with a fine-tooth comb and was impressed at how the EC didn't miss anything at all. On today's job, I could have done tons of stuff wrong that wouldn't have been discovered.

I figured he would at least open one of the panelboards and maybe one of the j-boxes I installed. Sure, they don't have time to check every last box, but wouldn't they at least check one?
 
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I had an inspector once that when he came on the job, would say , not in a bad way, "Oh, it's you." sign the tag and go. I never tried to get away with anything, he never caught me trying anything, houses aren't rocket science, so it was never a matter of code.

I didn't appreciate it that much at the time.
 
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In this case, I have almost no history with this inspector. He did tell me that he's heard of me, which I assume isn't a bad thing. I suppose if it was a bad thing, he'd have looked harder at my work.
 
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Around here a lot of residential stuff is done by unlicensed electricians or the homeowner who can legally sign for the permits. Their work usually get a closer look than when a licensed contractor pulls the permit. Generally an inspection lasts about 5 minutes.
 
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I've had one inspector give me "clear to cover" wall rough-in inspections over the phone. Another that rolled up to the job site and never got out of his car - just wanted to chat about bygone times - then handed me the "final" and left. :roll:
 
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It's all about trust.Once you earn that never forget how and why.My inspections usually go fine.But i am sure if i told him i wanted a tough inspection he would do so. :D
 
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jeff:

suggestion! tell him you want a more thorough inspection :D i can almost promise you will receive one
 
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Perhaps you have a reputation for quality workmanship that precedes you. 'Tain't nothin' wrong with that!

Bob
 
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He is probably a busy guy and has to prioritize his inspections.

maybe he spends less time inspecting jobs where he is comfortable with the EC and more on HO jobs or those Ecs he does not feel comfortable with.

I would think most inspectors almost have to take this approach or they would never get anything done.
 
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I'm certainly not complaining about my work being green-tagged, nor do I feel compelled to demand a thorough inspection. And if I have a reputation for quality work that precedes me, I'm not upset about that.

The reason I got to wondering is that the permit fees depend on the extent of the work. In this case, I had to pay quite a bit more for the permit than I would have for a much smaller job, but the time spent on the inspection was the same. What's the point of having to pay a per-circuit fee if none of the circuits even gets looked at? Since it was a duplex, I had to pay double because there were two services. But if the inspection only includes counting the number of breakers in the panel and not even cracking the cover to do at least a cursory check inside, I think it would be more appropriate to just have a flat fee.

All I'm saying is that if the inspection is minimal, then maybe the permit fee should be as well. True, I pass the cost along to whomever pays the bill, but it does seem wasteful. In one city where I occasionally work, the fees on anything panel-related are very steep. I've done a couple of simple fuses-to-breakers changeouts there (keeping the same size service), and the permits cost hundreds of dollars because they charge $10/circuit whether the circuit is old, new, changed, extended, etc. It just seems wrong to pay $200-$300 for a permit when the inspection is only going to take less than five minutes and very little gets inspected.
 
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There is a huge difference in inspecting for performance verses inspecting for life safety / structural safety compliance.

Even so, all things being equal a typical residential rough inspection is 15 minutes max, the final may take 5 - 10 minutes more. This is for your mass production type homes. Customs are a different story.

Commercial jobs can also be a day long event if the contractor neglects to call for partial or courtesy inspections during construction. Most of the time is spent reviewing plans and comparing to the as built.

Then there are the ones that suprise you. I had what should have been a simple lift station ispection the other day that ended up being a 3 hour discussion (argument) the first day, and then another 2 hours the next.

:eek:
 
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Jeff43222,

Your concern is a credit to your workmanship already and I believe your concerns have some merit. Did you get what you paid for? Well, you got a green tagged inspection. If that's all you paid for then the answer is yes. However, if you believe you paid to have someone double-check your work for compliance and safety then by your description of the work that was actually performed, you did not get what you paid for. Now the question that comes up is, "Who is liable for the project after you leave, you or the inspector?" Previous posts have discussed this and it seems that the general consensus is that you will be held responsible in the event of a disaster. So you need to ask yourself, "What is my goal? Do I just want to do a job, get someone to put their okey-dokey on it, and move on or do I want to be certain that it is done right and safe?"

The comfort level has to be yours. Too often it seems that we look at inpsections as a final exam that if we can get away with cheating and get a good grade, its all well and good. In reality we should be looking forward to inspectios. Inspections aren't intended as a means for "Big Brother" to watch us, it's a safety net. We all like to take the easy road including inspectors but is it always the right thing to do?
 
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