Wow. That was a fast inspection, she said.

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frizbeedog

frizbeedog

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Oregon
I was working at a dentist office a couple of days ago, and called the day before to schedule an inspection. I had installed some new receptacles in the reception area and some can lights in the office in back and needed a rough in/cover inspection so they could get crackin on the sheetrock. I'm doing some troubleshooting on a sign circuit when the inspector calls asks how to find the place. He sounds in a hurry.

I meet with him and the first thing he says is "oh, your company does really good work", so immediately I'm pleased. Things are going well for me today:smile: So I show him where the work was done and before 10 seconds is up he's signing his report and handing it to me and making tracks for the door.

So the customers (a receptionist and the dentist's wife, plus one of the dentist's clients) say, "that's it"? The inspector then insured the cutomer "Thats it, these guys do good work. " So I am again pleased. Frizbeedog's tail begins to wag cause now I can get back to work, call the drywall guy, a.k.a. "the owner of the building", that things went off without a hitch. And now he too is pleased.

Then it stuck me how the customer was so surprised by this, like thinking, what just happend?

And I'm thinking now yea, what just happened?

So was this inspector being professional?
Should he have looked at the work? I mean, really, he had his head to his clipboard the whole time.

I then had mixed emotions, feeling good for me and kinda bad for the customer cause they just got ripped off for a signature, and no inspection.

I've seen them both ways, the way I've just described and those where you have to make your case and answer a lot of questions.

You want answers?

I wan't the truth.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
 
I think it would be good at least to keep up appearances, but this seems pretty common. I've had inspection cards slid out of a cracked open car window in the winter time because it was cold and snowing. That's on them, not me. If they want to give their blessing to an installation they've hardly laid eyes on, that's not my problem. Does sorta make your customer question the value of an inspection. This becomes semi-troublesome for me when the customer notes that the electrical is signed off on when the work is still in progress. :cool: After all, all of us miss something from time to time. I appreciate the extra set of eyes, if nothing else.
 
You would rather have an inspector make you jump through hoops like a dog? Taking things apart to look at them, peering in every nook and crannies for something to bust you on? Taking more time to inspect it than it did to do the work?

IMO things should look like they were going to be on the surface even though they get rocked in. It not only looks better - it means the inspector can walk in - look at the work and easily spot something out of the ordinary if there was anything out of the ordinary... Then get out of my hair - I have to wait around for these guys - when they get there I want them moving along. Walk 'em through the job and walk 'em right back out the door.

In a rough - there only a few things to look at - then they can leave and go to the next job. (They're busy too.)
  • Support of boxes, raceways and cables.
  • Ground screws if applicable (Metal boxes)
  • Fill of boxes... (Just count the cables...)
  • Bundling if applicable
  • Opening counts
Then rock it... (OK to cover) Hit panels and devices at final, and cross check the opening counts.

IMO if they know you well enough to trust you - it can't be bad...
 
e57 said:
In a rough - there only a few things to look at - then they can leave and go to the next job. (They're busy too.)
  • Ground screws if applicable (Metal boxes)
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Who says ground screws have to be in at the rough? ;)
 
georgestolz said:
Who says ground screws have to be in at the rough? ;)
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Oh, I have been called on that in the past.... one time I was in Lakewood or Arvada (cant quite remember) working and dug a ground screw out of my bags and the green had worn off a fair bit...he tagged me on it. I asked him why... 'not a ground screw' he said. I asked him what defines a ground screw... the color green or head and thread... I quickly yanked it out and replaced with new one and gave him old one. He looked at me and threw it on the ground. :mad: Can't please them all I guess.
 
We had "drive-by" inspections too. An inspector that I've known for a long time says that "a good inspection is one that begins with a song on the radio when I out of the car and the same song is still on when I get back into the car after the inspection".


Given a choice I would choose this over a guy measuring the distance of a staple from the box. Draw your own conclusions as to whether or not this is a good or bad inspection.
 
In Wilmington, NC, you will get an inspection, no matter who you are. The AHJ (electrical anyway) tries to do a good job. I thought for a while they were picking on me, but talking to other ECs, nope, it's what they do.
 
If I was in a hurry and had an appointment for a Service change or somthing, I would do that for an electrican that I Personally know. I would not do it for "The company". I have called some and told them to go ahead with their work I'll check it in a few days. Some eletricans need no inspections, ever! Some need inspections every time.
 
georgestolz said:
Who says ground screws have to be in at the rough? ;)
Click to expand...

During what other inspection could the inspector check bonding in individual junction or device boxes ? . If you want to have your bonding checked during the final, then you need to have covers off and then follow directly behind the inspector to reinstall covers so that you can pass the final.

Isn't it much much easier to install your bonding in the boxes before you call for a rough ?

David
 
I have had inspectors say they are too swamped with work to inspect a service so he just called the poco and released the job.
 
mdshunk said:
I think it would be good at least to keep up appearances, but this seems pretty common. I've had inspection cards slid out of a cracked open car window in the winter time because it was cold and snowing.
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That's incompetance ! . That's also embarrassing for that inspectors whole department.

mdshunk said:
That's on them, not me. If they want to give their blessing to an installation they've hardly laid eyes on, that's not my problem.
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You're right. . It's no reflection on you or your job but that inspector should be disciplined.

mdshunk said:
Does sorta make your customer question the value of an inspection. This becomes semi-troublesome for me when the customer notes that the electrical is signed off on when the work is still in progress. :cool: After all, all of us miss something from time to time. I appreciate the extra set of eyes, if nothing else.
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He's undermining his value and the value of his department in the eyes of the public. . So where does that leave him ? . If he doesn't have the confidence of the public how can he be an effective public servant ? . How is he serving the public good and providing a reasonable level of safety ?

All that he has is a pay check and no respect.

David
 
Cavie said:
If I was in a hurry and had an appointment for a Service change or somthing, I would do that for an electrican that I Personally know. I would not do it for "The company". I have called some and told them to go ahead with their work I'll check it in a few days. Some eletricans need no inspections, ever! Some need inspections every time.
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I think inspectors learn whos work needs to be looked at realy carefully and whos work doesn't. :smile:
 
frizbeedog said:
So was this inspector being professional?
Should he have looked at the work? I mean, really, he had his head to his clipboard the whole time.
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NO, he was definitely not being professional.
An inspector can vary the speed of his inspection based on the contractor but the entire inspection must still be performed.

I have my clipboard at my side during an inspection, not in front of me, and when I need to make notes I stop and write. . Then the clipboard goes back down and I start moving again. . It's a full inspection. . If I know from experience that you're a good conscientious contractor, I'll move at a pretty fast pace but an inspection is an inspection.

If the work load is large, then I guess there might be overtime. . No inspector should accept jamming in more inspections into 8 hours than can be properly done just to please a boss that doesn't want to pay overtime. . We're public servants, quality matters and we should act like it matters.

David
 
infinity said:
We had "drive-by" inspections too. An inspector that I've known for a long time says that "a good inspection is one that begins with a song on the radio when I out of the car and the same song is still on when I get back into the car after the inspection".
Click to expand...

That's a good joke to tell to the contractor but if he's serious, he's incompetent and should find a different job, a job where someone is checking his work.

David
 
dnem said:
NO, he was definitely not being professional.
An inspector can vary the speed of his inspection based on the contractor but the entire inspection must still be performed.

I have my clipboard at my side during an inspection, not in front of me, and when I need to make notes I stop and write. . Then the clipboard goes back down and I start moving again. . It's a full inspection. . If I know from experience that you're a good conscientious contractor, I'll move at a pretty fast pace but an inspection is an inspection.

If the work load is large, then I guess there might be overtime. . No inspector should accept jamming in more inspections into 8 hours than can be properly done just to please a boss that doesn't want to pay overtime. . We're public servants, quality matters and we should act like it matters.

David
Click to expand...

Very well put. :smile:
 
I put a 1200' addition on my house in 1999. The job was done on a homeowner's permit and I was the GC, foundation crew, framer, plumber, hvac guy, sparky, drywaller, painter, etc, etc,. When the local inspector showed up to do my final inspection I was laying ceramic tile in the entry. I directed him to the garage door so he could come in and look around. He said "It's no big deal Jim, just go grab your card" and signed off the final on my front porch. While it was nice to know that he trusted me professionally and didn't feel the need to check my work, I still felt sort of ripped off since I paid a boat-load of cash for the permit on this project.
 
I understand the difference between a ?drive by inspection? and a dedicated effort to verify full compliance. In a very real sense, I deal with the same type of thing every day, in the engineering design world. The ?inspection? in my case would be a second check or QC review of a design document, and the inspection effort can range from ?Well I trust you because you have always done good work? to ?I plan on checking every ?i" and every ?t? to verify the dots and crosses are in place.

But I do not understand the issue or question on this specific example. This is not a residence, so the requirements for number and spacing of receptacles do not apply. This is not one of the non-dwelling unit applications that would require GFCI, so there is no need for the inspector to verify that the GFCI actually does trip. This is not a hospital, so there are no requirements for separation of life safety and equipment branches. Indeed, I can think of very few opportunities for a code violation to have taken place. I can believe it would take no more than a quick glance at the work, a glance up from the clipboard, a glance that you might not have seen happen, for an inspector to satisfy himself or herself that no violations exist.
 
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