Lights on rooftop A/C Units?

[cowboyjwc]

You have to look at it this way. If an engineer speced 4/0 wire for a 200 amp panel it's not my job to question it (I also do the plan checking). Now if the contractor wants to question it prior to installing it that's fine, but if the engineer says that's what he wants then that's what's going to get installed.
When we were looking at the lights for the mall people we were simply doing customer service, the electricians signed an agreement with the mall and they were going to put in the lights or not get paid.

If it's on the plans when the contractor gets them there is no reason not to put it in your bid.

Now on another note if the inspector is asking for it simply because he wants it, I agree with most of the other posts.

 

[iwire]

That's a thin line. If my design is in excess of the NEC minimums, the local inspector is required to enforce my design, he's not allowed to let the electrician redesign it.

I will honestly tell you I don't know what the law is on this subject. I can tell you from experience that the inspectors do not ask me to see specs or prints, they walk around and look for NEC violations. I think that they are as aware as I am that others will be looking for the design issues.

Here your firm would have people stopping by visiting, asking question and taking pictures. I really can not redesign much without being called to task on it.

 

[cowboyjwc]

I missed jtesters reply before I answered last time and that is what I was trying to say. The law here in California is the same, the only one that can change the plans is the person who signed or stamped them.

 

[infinity]

I missed jtesters reply before I answered last time and that is what I was trying to say. The law here in California is the same, the only one that can change the plans is the person who signed or stamped them.

Does that mean that the inspector has a full set of drawings that he lugs around for his inspection? From start to finish a new high rise building may have 20 + revisions and the electrical drawings if stacked together could be 6" high. I'd love to see someone carry those around.

 

[jtester]

Does that mean that the inspector has a full set of drawings that he lugs around for his inspection? From start to finish a new high rise building may have 20 + revisions and the electrical drawings if stacked together could be 6" high. I'd love to see someone carry those around.

I live in a small enough town, that our highrises are 2 stories. When a contractor applies for a permit, he submits a set of plans. When the plan reviewers approve the plans, they stamp them, and those plans are required to be at the jobsite. Each time an inspector does an inspection, he uses the plans with the red stamps on them. If there is a difference, he usually asks why.

I recently wrote an addendum because a contractor moved a receptacle about 3' to avoid a glass block wall. The inspector wanted me to OK the change.

I don't mind, I've learned a lot about field problems that most PE's never encounter, I also occasionally find an inspector requiring something that isn't required.

Jim T

 

[cowboyjwc]

jtester and I have a lot in common. The biggest building in our town is 4 stories.

And yes the plans do get carried around, but not by me. : ) I also have an approved set in the office that I can review before going out on the job site so that I already have an idea of what I'm looking at when I get there.

Now as a rule I am only looking for code violations too, but since I plan checked the plans and am also doing the inspections, I am usually pretty familiar with them by the time I get to the job. Many contractors bid jobs off a bid set long before all of the corrections have been made and then they complain that they didn't bid something.

 

[raider1]

Utah has similar requirments to what Jtester and cowboyjwc are refering to.

If we have a job that has been engineered then we must inspect to the engineers plans. This can be very confusing to the electrician, when I have to require that they install a 3/0 bare copper to the re-bar in the footing and then cad-weld the connection, I seem to get alot of "Where is that required in the NEC?" It's not in the NEC but in the engineers plans.

This is really no different then if I go to inspect the framing of a building that was engineered. I have to inspect to the engineers requirments not to the code minimum.

Chris

 

[paul]

I have had inspectors check to see if things were installed per plan, but that was on jobs that went through plan review. They also get picky out here on school jobs to see that things are done per drawing. This is because a couple schools in the early 90's had some serious shortcuts taken and heads rolled from the top in state government all the way down to the contractors.