Inspector climbing a ladder

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brian john said:
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It was not my intent to bash anyone, I was just surprised that an inspector would refuse to climb a ladder.

My main question is/was is this an employer mandate that their inspectors do not climb ladders? Or is it a personal issue possible health related? Or just a personal thing?

When I built my house the upstairs was roughed and drywalled before the stairs showed up. Had the inspector had this approach (not climbing a ladder), I would have been months extra of a construction loan, which cost money. I am sure my case is not all that unusual.
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Inspectors are not anything special yet they all seem to act that way and think they are god. Not even close. But they sure try, I'll give em that.
 
Back to original question. As for lay-in ceilings, I'll climb a safe ladder and "poke my head thru the hole", but I normally can't see all I need to see unless it's small area. I will NOT remove tiles. 95% of the jobs I check have no tiles or just have borders installed.
As far as other access, I'll climb or crawl as long as it's safe. I'm an old fart now, so extension ladders better be tied off and I don't walk "planks".
It's pretty much been a golden rule with me. We can work together or we can not. I'll glady share my knowledge and experience with you and work with you if you just work with me. Work against me, and I tend to only show my abilities to find violations.
 
chevyx92 said:
Inspectors are not anything special yet they all seem to act that way and think they are god. Not even close. But they sure try, I'll give em that.
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Not in my opinion Like Iwire stated there are good and bad (he kinda of sorta said this) they are just people like YOU and me, some good some bad.

And as my mother use to say you'll get more with sugar than with vinegar, if you happen to have less than a stellar inspector making a friend of him will get you further than making an enemy of him, in most cases.
 
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brian john said:
Not in my opinion Like Iwire stated there are good and bad (he kinda of sorta said this) they are just people like YOU and me, some good some bad.
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You sure understood what I was trying to say, there are good and bad people in every profession.
 
chevyx92 said:
Inspectors are not anything special yet they all seem to act that way and think they are god. Not even close. But they sure try, I'll give em that.
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Yeah...probably as much as some electricians think that as well. However, we can many times prove differently. I again would not lump all inspectors in your "ALL MIGHTY" category. I can only assume you have had issues with inspectors in the past.....

Inspectors are educators even if they like it or not...I would NEVER fail a person unless I could explain to them completly the reason and the code section or article I was using...its not a GOD COMPLEX...its caring about giving the right information and the right way.
 
I do think inspectors and electricians alike would all do themselves a service by belonging to this forum.

Many times I have electricians I have told about this forum ask me to post a question, rather than joining themselves. Generally I just look it up for them, that book works fairly well when the covered is opened.
 
radiopet said:
Yeah...probably as much as some electricians think that as well. However, we can many times prove differently. I again would not lump all inspectors in your "ALL MIGHTY" category. I can only assume you have had issues with inspectors in the past.....

Inspectors are educators even if they like it or not...I would NEVER fail a person unless I could explain to them completly the reason and the code section or article I was using...its not a GOD COMPLEX...its caring about giving the right information and the right way.
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Who hasn't had issues with inspectors in the past?

I don't feel that inspectors are or should be "educators"

It is fine and well that you consider yourself a good inspector. From my dealings your kind are more the exception than the rule unfortunately.
 
Always love the look on and EC's face when I tell him to go get a ladder so I can climb up in the attic and take a look at his work. I'll climb whatever ladder you'll climb, but according to my bosses as soon as I don't feel safe, I don't have to.

Had a "BIG" contractor pour six light standards on a job, because he had to get it done and couldn't wait for me to look at them (his words). I told him that wasn't a problem because I could look at them next week after he tore them out and redid them. My boss was nicer than me and only made him pull out three of them. Don't really think he saved a lot of time.

Our "job cards" state what work must be inspected before you can proceed. Get X and Y and Z signed off then you can move on.

And as somebody else eluded to and I believe that it is also in our state contractors license law, it is the responsibility of the contractor to provide access to the job and the work being done in order for us to make our inspections.
 
When I was inspecting the contractors would always ask if I will climb a ladder. I would always answer, "of course, why wouldn't I". It was a little shocking to hear that many inspectors either were not allowed or refused to climb. IMO, if the insp office can't send out an inspector to climb, then somebody needs to find another line of work.
We(society) have become such wimps!
 
As far as ceiling inspections, the tiles/drywall must not be installed prior to ceiling inspection. An inspector cannott properly inspect by poking his head thru a removed lay-in tile and expect to see the entire installation. Occassionally I would allow the elec contractor to close a ceiling prior to completion as long as he would leave some tiles out and have a ladder ready on the next inspection. This was an exception, not a rule and worked very well with most. It was not an open exception, but a individual case by case exception. If anyone would try to take advantage, then all the tiles would have to be removed, including the borders.
 
Some of the electrical inspections are months after the time I have finished. I will gladly provide a ladder or whatever up until I leave the job after that the inspectors are on their own. I haven't had any fails lately, but I also don't know how they get to the anything above floor level.
 
mdshunk said:
I defy anyone to find me any rule that has the force of law that would require all the tile to be removed for inspection if you can otherwise climb a ladder and look up there. Do they require the second floor deck to be removed to inspect the 2nd floor wiring from the ground floor? Certainly not.
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I think it might be called not signing off on the CO.
 
Here the t-bar doesn't get signed off until the electrical, plumbing and mechanical are signed off. So if the tiles were set they were set without an inspection.
 
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