TAKE A BREATH AND LOOK AT THE OTHER SIDE.
I worked as an inspector for over 25 years. Yes, we got 8 holidays a year and yes we got 2+ weeks of paid vacation, and were pretty much assured of continuous employment after the first five years. But we got yelled at, threatened, spat on, had guns pointed at us, called at home at 2:00 AM, had garbage dumped on our doorstep, and generally got pretty low pay.
I knew my job. I knew the code better than masters with 30 years experience. I inspected 15 to 20 jobs every day and was expected to be on time and not miss anything, and if I did, was pulled into court fights between owners and contractors. I got pulled into court fights between contractor and other contractors, and between contractors and their employees.
EVERY jurisdiction in the country is facing an attitude of smaller government, lower fees and taxes, and “anything government is evil” mostly thanks to talk radio and cable TV, without the smallest bit of actual knowledge of what really goes on in the field. Electrical inspectors, zoning officials and city planners all get lumped together into one group that nobody likes and wants to eliminate. That is, until someone wants to open a gravel pit next to your subdivision, or someone wants to open an auto paint spraying business next to your business, or your house burns down due to an unlicensed contractor who worked on it a week ago. Then the inspector who was at a jobsite a block away gets dragged into court because he should have seen the work when he drove by.
Yes, people are leaving those jobs at an amazing rate. Some take early retirement (like me), some find less stressful work in the private sector, some just can’t stand it anymore. And the office staff have it just as bad. They get the brunt of the phone calls, some of the threats, even lower wages and are still expected to answer all the code questions and get the permits out within a couple hours. I know some jurisdictions that used to have five people in the office and now have two. And those could be be because those two can’t find work elsewhere. It is no wonder that your permit takes four weeks to issue and two weeks to get an inspection. No one wants these jobs anymore, and it is going to get worse.
I have been retired for 6 years and just had an older contractor call me because he saw a job posting for an inspector position. He thought it might be a good job to take until he can retire, since he finds it too hard on his body to do the field work anymore. He wanted to know what I thought. He would have made a great inspector. He has the knowledge, he knows the code, and has the “real world” experience. I told him to run the other way. I told him that he would be more valued and might make more money working at Home Depot in the electrical isle.
Listen up everyone. This is what you wanted when you voted for smaller fees, lower taxes and less government, and this is what you get. You can’t have it both ways. You wanted a third world country and now you've you got it. But it will be very, very hard to put it back together again like it used to be.
