One Inspection Company Inspecting another

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Pierre C Belarge

Pierre C Belarge

Senior Member
Location
Westchester County, New York
I received an interesting call this afternoon.

The owner of one inspection company called me asking me questions related to the NEC, as he received notice from the town that his inspector made an incorrect inspection. How did the town know this, because the notice came from another inspection company.
I helped straighten out the issues, which the other inspection company was way off mark with.

The reason for this post is simple.
When times get tough, just like contractors or journeyman/apprentices, people will do what it takes to take another down to increase their own work load, even if it is dubious to start with.
In NYS, the inspection companies are private, and do not require any certifications/training. It is funny, but the one inspector who made the allegations, he has failed 'One & Two Family' certification 2 times and still has not passed it...go figure.
 
Yeah you cannot imagine how much my competition has increased everyone wants to be in the testing maintenance end.
 
competition on bids is really tough these day instead of 6-7 contractors bidding on a big job u got 15-20 these days
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
I received an interesting call this afternoon.

The owner of one inspection company called me asking me questions related to the NEC, as he received notice from the town that his inspector made an incorrect inspection. How did the town know this, because the notice came from another inspection company.
I helped straighten out the issues, which the other inspection company was way off mark with.

The reason for this post is simple.
When times get tough, just like contractors or journeyman/apprentices, people will do what it takes to take another down to increase their own work load, even if it is dubious to start with.
In NYS, the inspection companies are private, and do not require any certifications/training. It is funny, but the one inspector who made the allegations, he has failed 'One & Two Family' certification 2 times and still has not passed it...go figure.
Click to expand...

So then what value is the inspection ? Get a name for passing anything and you have all the buisness you want . Was tried here years ago. This should never been allowed. Do you hire a fox to guard a hen house ?
 
It's really not that uncommmon to have more than one inspection agency looking at the same project. I am frequently following or being followed by a third party inspection service hired by the contractor and/or owner of the project.

In many cases, the building department serves as the "required" provider of inspections and the third party as the "quality control."
 
Bryan
I would consider what you are saying as completely different. You are/or represent the AHJ. The 3rd party is privately hired and is more "quality control" or another set of eyes. On some larger projects, that has been occuring since before my time.

The situation I explained is another inspector was inspecting behind an inspector. He made false allegations and incorrect citations trying to discredit one company and get his company installed as the inspection company.
I wrote a letter of rebuttal which the town/jurisdiction will receive today. It should be interesting, as I wrote a 'strong' letter in response.
 
I often inspect projects after completion or as they near completion, not to question the inspectors but for quality control. It amazes how many ECs install distribution systems improperly then use the argument, while it passed inspection.

It is NEAR IMPOSSIBLE for an inspection that may spend from 15-60 minutes on a job to catch a lot of the violations. I get to spend hours sometimes days.
 
Pierre,

I knew it would be only a matter of time before it came down to this. It was probably not the first time this was tried, and probably not the last. I am just glad you had the opportunity to defend your inspection.

Joe
 
One thing I have always tried to do in my letters to customers regarding another's work.

1. Be truthful but kind ( I try not to trash anyone) I am a vegetarian therefore CROW is not on my diet.
2. Know what I am saying, if there is the least doubt in my mind I triple check it.
3. Never put anything in writing I might later regret.
4. Remember one day that guy I have been inspecting may be looking at something I or my

I write my reports and proof read them several times (as most of you know from reading my post, spelling, grammar, missing words). Then I let it sit a while and re-read it.
 
It's the age-old "Heroes and Victims" routine. A 3rd party inspector shows up where another 3rd party inspector has been and makes a list of all the "violations" the first one supposedly missed. I've even seen inspectors from the same company do it to each other....with the owner made a part of it all.
The "irony" of this particular story is in the knowledge that the "holier-than-thou inspector" couldn't even pass a test as simple as the 1&2 Family Dwelling exam, which by the way, is an open book test!
This kind of egotistical malarkey goes on all the time in NY state. That's quite a "hero" that can't pass a simple test but attempts to discredit someone else.
Good luck, Pierre. Keep up the excellent work. :)
 
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