Inspection question

[Gaffen99]

I had an inspector tell me today that he would give me a partial on the rough electric for a house and come back after it was sided to finalize the rough. Has anyone had this problem before? My first time. He is afraid of nails penetrating the boxes.

 

[bphgravity]

During my time as a Building Official, I would allow my inspectors reasonable discretion on the timing and frequency of inspections conducted on any particular project. That being said, we also had a fairly detailed inspection SOP that was published and available to the public. I recognized the importance of consistency among the various inspectors and various inspections.

So, what's my point? This can't be something the inspector made up on the spot. He is either following the protocol established by his department's SOP or the very specific circumstances of the work in question is such that he feels he needs the additional inspection later in the construction timeline.

My advice would be to discuss the situation with him directly to find out if this is a policy issue or something that may come in the future on a case-by-case basis. This way, you are not caught off guard and ready for the possibility of this happening next time.

 

[jbelectric777]

Inspection question

I'm an inspector [ NJ/PA] I'm not practicing right now because I'm involved with a generator company down Florida. The no holds barred answer is he may be new or trying to really really give a crap, which nobody does....... That said, remember what you have probably heard a million times - and that is, he's the authority having jurisdiction so basically it's what he says goes until you get peed enough to take him on in appeals court. Sometimes you win sometimes you don't that he will remember you. So choose your battles wisely. lol all my best. The other issue could be that they are slow and he's creating more work for himself until it picks up, there's no money in code enforcement, that's why I'm waiting to go back, just partial work 20 hrs. a week, that's all they can afford!

Attention moderators: I didn't break any rules ? If so sorry and wont do it again

 

[jbelectric777]

Bryan - Thanks a ton!!!!!!! I contacted that link! Easy peezy japaneezy....... sorry to infringe on the post, I just wanted Bryan to know and thank him. Jim

 

[jbelectric777]

Remember also this when it comes to inspections of any trade, the insurance which is called errors and omissions insurance is different than general liability insurance. And it doesn't matter if you work directly for a municipality or if it's a third party agency under contractual agreement. That insurance I know well because I own a third party agency called Statewide Electrical Inspection. I got out of having my own agency for that reason INSURANCE, my premiums almost doubled and it wasn't plumbing or building , it was just me, just electrical. I read my policy with a fine tuned comb and its noted very clear that the said inspection is visible only, meaning 1) The man (you) ran the correct size cable. 2) You installed kick plates where and if needed 3) Bored holes were as close as possible to exact center of the stud and 4) You strapped the cable properly and your workmanship was excellent. Now with that there is no reason in the world to not just pass it, if a nail hits it its going on both you and the siding company anyway, before energizing the circuits you can check them with a continuity tester. And lastly which I just thought of is a lot of these guys that were building inspectors ware a few different hats and pass the residential / light commercial electrical inspectors exam from study material (I don't agree with this at all) its cheaper for the agency , municipal or private to send one guy out for everything, building, plumbing electrical fire etc the only thing in NJ is they cant be a sub code officer (that's the guy in charge of the electrical inspectors) so you may have one of them. Where was this? And do you know if it was a third party or municipal???

 

[Gaffen99]

Thanks for the comments. It's not really a big deal to me, I'm done, the builders schedule might get screwed up though. It just goes back to the fact that there is no consistency in the inspection process from town to town. Every one town seems to all have the one thing that they want, it's a little frustrating. I had an inspector fail me for ground splices not being 6" out of the box even though they had a tail that was probably 12" long. Only in that town did that happen, and I believe there is an exception for that if it is not being connected to a device. The good thing is I don't have to return for the re inspection because the wiring is good. But maybe we are looking to far into the future with this, how do you stop a homeowner from hanging something on the house and piercing something, or a house that is re-sided?

 

[John120/240]

But maybe we are looking to far into the future with this, how do you stop a homeowner from hanging something on the house and piercing something, or a house that is re-sided?

You can't control what might happen down the road. All that you can do is assure that all of your Romex cables are in the center of the stud, install nail plates where necessary. Fix problems as they occur & charge accordingly.

 

[jbelectric777]

exactly - you cant, there are so many things that "could" happen. Don't lose sleep over it....... It sounds to me you have a guy like we had in Atlantic City, they actually call those extendo rings (the ones for around a device too far in the sheetrock) they actually call them Keiner Rings, I kid you not, because he was a failure as a wireman so he decided to make daddy proud and get into inspection, but small things like that some guys check and its just so darn un warranted ya know. Lifes hard enough without a-holes bustin a guy just tryin to make a living. They wouldn't want me - heck no, im in and out, pass .... lol I mean I look for the obvious, like outlet placement, sizes are color coded now for us (romex) stuff like that, kickplates, holes too close, bonding/the new interconnected bonding and grounding terminal bar, just easy stuff. You sound like you give a *** and after a while that inspector wont even bother with ya, he'll know. Good luck to ya - Jim