Inventive ways to catch unpermitted work

Status
Not open for further replies.

nakulak

Senior Member
I think it's great that they give the trashmen an incentive to report illegal work; those poor guys don't get paid nearly enough for the service they provide. I think it would be an even better service, though, if they had inspectors going around picking up trash when they weren't busy inspecting.
 

satcom

Senior Member
I think it's great that they give the trashmen an incentive to report illegal work; those poor guys don't get paid nearly enough for the service they provide. I think it would be an even better service, though, if they had inspectors going around picking up trash when they weren't busy inspecting.

Our trash collectors earn from 65 to 90K plus overtime and great bennies, the inspectors around here, are always busy and usually have more work then they can take care of.
 

One-eyed Jack

Senior Member
All the constitution and freedom talk sounds fine, but it may be you don't understand why we have inspections, and it has nothing to do with the rights or freedom, it is your insurance underwriters and risk loss prevention, the reason we have inspections and codes. I have no idea why people think the gov are the ones requiring inspections.

You have hit the nail on the head. Kinda hard to get that thru some heads though.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Our trash collectors earn from 65 to 90K plus overtime and great bennies, the inspectors around here, are always busy and usually have more work then they can take care of.

I wish I had known that before I became an inspector.:mad:

Ours out here don't make that kind of money because they are private.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Wow this has been a very humerous thread:D.. However, In california you dont even need to have a contractors license when doing work totalling $500 or less let alone a permit.. So, ofcourse all of us licensed contractors have done work without permits when not necessary, But when required we should definitely be pulling permits and having our work inspected...which by the way doesnt mean very much anyways when you get the inspector that doesnt know what hes looking for..

It is our jobs as professional electricians to do the work correctly. An inspection is simply that. So, regardless of inspection or not, \ YOUR work should always be done as if it were being inspected..:cool:

I am guessing there are a lot or $500.00 jobs being done out there. Maybe even multiple $500.00 jobs at the same places that take place only a few days apart.

A $10,000.00 job can be broken down into 20 - $500.00 jobs and not require a permit or a license. Or get 20 hackers to each do $500.00 worth of work on the $10,000.00 job.

If one accidently does a job for $500.01 with no permit and they find out about it do they fine you real hard?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I am guessing there are a lot or $500.00 jobs being done out there. Maybe even multiple $500.00 jobs at the same places that take place only a few days apart.

A $10,000.00 job can be broken down into 20 - $500.00 jobs and not require a permit or a license. Or get 20 hackers to each do $500.00 worth of work on the $10,000.00 job.
Don't get caught trying that one around here.
 

norcal

Senior Member
In CA it's not allowed to break a job down into groups of $500 jobs to avoid needing a contractors lic., but thats not to say some people don't do it anyway.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Don't get caught trying that one around here.

In CA it's not allowed to break a job down into groups of $500 jobs to avoid needing a contractors lic., but thats not to say some people don't do it anyway.


Around here electrical inspection fees are not based on value of what is installed but on service size if a new service is installed, or a minimum fee, plus a set fee per branch circuit.

I feel that is more fair than basing it on value. Value of the same items can be different from one contractor to another depending on where or how they buy them, The inspection agency would need to see some of your billing documents that are really none of their business otherwise.

You can have a job worth a million dollars that only takes half an hour to inspect because there is not that much electrical to look at that was field installed, and you can have a job only worth ten thousand that takes three hours to inspect because there are a lot of things to look at.

You are paying for the inspection departments service not for what you installed. If there is more to inspect and it will take more time then you should pay more.
 

satcom

Senior Member
Around here electrical inspection fees are not based on value of what is installed but on service size if a new service is installed, or a minimum fee, plus a set fee per branch circuit.

I feel that is more fair than basing it on value. Value of the same items can be different from one contractor to another depending on where or how they buy them, The inspection agency would need to see some of your billing documents that are really none of their business otherwise.

You can have a job worth a million dollars that only takes half an hour to inspect because there is not that much electrical to look at that was field installed, and you can have a job only worth ten thousand that takes three hours to inspect because there are a lot of things to look at.

You are paying for the inspection departments service not for what you installed. If there is more to inspect and it will take more time then you should pay more.


Here is a typical fee schedule for New Jersey http://www.chathamtownship.org/subcode_fees.html
 

nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
Here is a typical fee schedule for New Jersey http://www.chathamtownship.org/subcode_fees.html

D Fire protection fees: Ordinance 97-009

12. Supervisory and signaling devices: $10.00 each Ordinance 2002-002

8. For smoke detectors or heat detectors, the fee shall be based upon the number of devises being installed.

1 - 20 smoke detectors $30.00
21 - 50 $60.00
51 - over $150.00



So 100 horn/strobes would be $1000.00 But 100 smokes would be $150?

I think I just fainted.

What about Signaling Line Circuits?

Tell me I read that wrong.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Don't know if this link will get you to the site I want, but I get them as an email and it's to large to post (I tried)

CSLB has been running sting operations here as of late. They post all of your information for the world to see.

WWW.CSLB.CA.GOV
 

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
D Fire protection fees: Ordinance 97-009

12. Supervisory and signaling devices: $10.00 each Ordinance 2002-002

8. For smoke detectors or heat detectors, the fee shall be based upon the number of devises being installed.

1 - 20 smoke detectors $30.00
21 - 50 $60.00
51 - over $150.00



So 100 horn/strobes would be $1000.00 But 100 smokes would be $150?

I think I just fainted.

What about Signaling Line Circuits?

Tell me I read that wrong.

I was installing a generator on a big box store in Ohio, and since we were also backing up the fire pump, the city required us to permit the entire sprinkler system because we was "touching the fire pump" $7000 change order!
 

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
I was on a job adding two can lights, not enough to have to permit, but the homeowner was having a lot of carpentry work that did need a permit, the inspector happend to drive by and seen the saw horses and lumber out in the yard. Red tagged the job and said he would come back in an hour, and if anybody was still there, they were going to jail!
 

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
Contractor mug shots, I am surprised that is legal.

Well the site stated that warrants had been issued for the arrest of those people. No different than the wanted posters in the post office for the FBI or other law enforcement agency.
 

satcom

Senior Member
I was on a job adding two can lights, not enough to have to permit, but the homeowner was having a lot of carpentry work that did need a permit, the inspector happend to drive by and seen the saw horses and lumber out in the yard. Red tagged the job and said he would come back in an hour, and if anybody was still there, they were going to jail!

I my area the requirement for a permit is not based on the job size or cost, never heard of not enough to have to permit, that sounds like some something one of the slick want to be GC would say, they all think permits are for others, and without a permit and inspection, they can continue to do their hack work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top