Inspectors

[steelslaver]

Part of my current job is dealing with inspectors.

How does an inspector change a light bulb?

He simply holds it up in the air and waits for the world to turn around him.

One of them came to me yesterday and told me he wanted me to turn all of the 16-20' long, 5 to 30,000 lb heat exchanger bundles, I have laying on cribbing, over. I kindly explained that if I did so I would have to do it again. Why?? Because they can't stuff them in their shells upside down, now can they? No. He still wanted it done. NO. He goes up his food chain and I go up mine. I know he is gonna win the first round because he is embedded and my side is not. He wins. Then when the next one that is complete on washer is ready to come off I call and text him (record) him and tell him the washer is shut down and it and everyone it is waiting for him on hydraulic rollers and he can see the whole 360 before I take it off and I WILL NOT take it off until he looks on the power rollers as lifting them with a crane and turning the bundles over and sitting back down on cribbing twice is a huge safety issue. The washer is a bottle neck on the job and I am tracking its down time. I also tell the tube ID inspectors they have to leave the area while I flip the bundles over, I shut down the whole thing for over an hour. He never shows up, but word comes down that he does not need to view the bottoms of the exchangers.

Hmmm. Wander how well he is connected and what kind of "problems" are gonna hit me now. But, hey my car is full of gas, I only pay the motel bill by the week, I know my way home and at 72 I don't worry much about burning bridges.

Weeeeeeeee

 

[StrawHat]

I had to deal with more than a few Inspectors when I did commercial construction. Some, like that guy, could be a real pain. Many were memorable, on both sides of the line.

Kevin

 

[kozmic]

I often deal with town building inspectors and fire marshals. We submit drawings and specs for approval and code compliance prior to proceeding with our work. Yet way down the line when everyone is doing project close out and punch lists, they manage to find something new. They fail to realize that their minor changes create major issues for us and often cause us to replace installed work.
Conversely, as Kevin stated above, there are inspectors who are a joy to work with and have their "stuff" together.

 

[tops]

I discovered years ago that that knowledge and attitude can solve many problems. Larry

 

[Bald1]

When building my house in 03 I decided to put up a small pole barn while waiting on permits ,fill, culvert pipe etc…… Town inspector was pretty laid back, nice guy. Well I got all my poles set and a different inspector shows up. He asked why I didn’t call him to inspect the holes. He needed to know depth and diameter. I said those are 12’&16’ poles. Measure the height and subtract. There’s your hole depth. He rolled his eyes and said what about diameter? I aid can’t you tell by looking at it? Measure it. He huffed off and I didn’t hear back. Couple months later he comes by to say you can’t build a secondary building before your primary building. By this time it was done and two quarter horses were residing in it. I asked if he’d like me to knock it down. Again he huffed off. Last I heard from him.

 

[RobertK3026]

The worst inspector I had was a young girl who put on my punch list that when installing switch and receptacle covers that the slots in the screws must be vertical so the slots doesn't hold water!!!!
She also said some of my three-way switches were upside down!!!!!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In 1974 (8 days after I graduated High Schoo)l half a building under construction burnt to the ground. From the firewall East was a 4-foot-deep pile of charcoal. At 0900 Columbus' chief building inspector was there and inspecting the other half of the building to tell us how much needs ripped out versus just sealing to scorch marks. While the chief is in the rafters, the Plumbing inspector shows up and is laughing and being a general pain! I have my crew of laborers pulling the cast iron bathtubs from the heap to be sold. We are charcoal black from head to toe! The Plumbing inspector starts calling (The N word) and making fun of us! I ask if there was a reason for him to be on my job or was he getting sexual gratification from our misery? Of course, he exploded at me and was screaming at the top up his lungs! The Head inspector had his head out the second story window. He waits until the temper tantrum is over, clears his throat and says, "The kids right! Return to the office now!" They started the paperwork to fire him that day! The plumbers all thanked me, but I caught it from my brother and dad: Don't ever cross an inspector again. It will come back to bite us in the rear. Six years later different job? different inspector had me jacking up buildings and replacing leveling shims on carrier beams! We check with or Engineer to see if there was a real reason for this and there wasn't! Payback is a small yappy female dog!

Ivan

PS: To be a building inspector in Ohio, one of the requirements was to be in business for yourself for a minimum of two years. (since removed) and most of the residential inspectors were failed trades contractors. They can be overridden by any certified engineer or architect, if you dare!

 

[soFlaNative]

They have to find something, anything to justify the posting.
Despite the ongoing deferred maintenance issues that contributed to my sudden decision to retire the 52MGD wastewater plant I worked managed to sail thru the biannual FDEP walk through. The issues mentioned on one report were to coil up a garden hose atop an elevated tank and number the floor slots for the one tonne chlorine containers 1 - 32.

 

[GypsmJim]

I used to have an inspector travel with me to verify that all the specs were in compliance. The first time I went my boss told me to take him to the ***** Bar in the evening. He had been to that town before. When we arrived the first evening the girls came over and said "nice to see you again". He was embarrassed. Never had a problem with him.

The boss was right.

 

[Skeet 028]

Working in the Fire Dept we were supposed to have access to all rooms with fire alarms...meaning a key for the lock. Airport FD. Delta Airlines had one room with a smoke fire detector. They fired up a diesel generator right at the door to power up Aircraft. Sure enough...the alarms would go off. The head guy at the Delta HQ there wouldn't give us a key...They were responsible for any damages in their area. 1st 2 doors we took off to get in were wood.. The 3rd that my crew removed was steel set in concrete. He had told a friend on the ground crew he fixed us after the 2 wooden doors..The 4th time my crew responded there...he came running out the door hollering I have the key...I have the key...he gave it to me...I kept it Only thing I could figure is he kept stuff hidden in the room. Those baggage handlers were always messing with something. They turned a monkey loose down there one day. Hadda have a guy from the zoo come in and put it to sleep with a dart gun. It wanted to kill somebody

 

[arjay]

My first experience with an inspector happened in my teens on a log cabin/house we were building in the mountains. He walked/weaved down the driveway,didn’t look at anything before asking me where the card was,signed off on whatever and went weaving away again lol.
It wasn’t very impressive but it was the easiest inspection I ever had!

 

[LVSteve]

The inspection of my new water heater involved the guy standing 15' away from it and saying, "Nice new heater." He didn't step in for a closer look on any of the pipes or gently pull on them like I expected.

Better inspection (or any) might have resulted in the attic of this house actually having insulation in most of it. I had an insulation company come in and their tech brought down pictures showing acres of bare ceiling board. The only insulation up there was around the hatch area where it could be seen if somebody just poked their head up. Typical shyster 90s Vegas builder.

 

[mtgianni]

I have seen both sides. I was in charge of a gas line reroute on a major highway. The inspector had a sign on his door " Arguing with an inspector is like wrestling a pig in the mud. Pretty soon you find out the pig enjoys it a lot more than you do.

As the representative of the authority having jurisdiction, I made a housing complex re-vent 16 furnaces. They had the architect's specs and wanted to go above me. The dealer was up in arms until I showed him the manufacturers' instructions prohibiting that type install for these model furnaces.

 

[ggibson511960]

I worked in the energy industry (nuclear, oil & gas, alternative) as an engineere for 40 years and dealt with quality control/quality assurance folks a lot. Most of my QA/QC contact reinforced my low opinion of the activity, summarized by "Those who can, do. Those who can't, inspect." The catch phrase is not universally true, but is painfully close. A tour through most big city permitting departments will lead you to believe they are make-work full employment programs. Sad. Even more distressing is the charade going on in today's aerospace industry with Boeing in the news. Quality level is determined by price point and performance expectations, and is driven by core management principles and leadership. QA/QC can on expect to intercept a fraction of deviations, most QA/QC folks not well versed in underlying technology, but rather paperwork.

 

[LVSteve]

I have seen both sides. I was in charge of a gas line reroute on a major highway. The inspector had a sign on his door " Arguing with an inspector is like wrestling a pig in the mud. Pretty soon you find out the pig enjoys it a lot more than you do.

As the representative of the authority having jurisdiction, I made a housing complex re-vent 16 furnaces. They had the architect's specs and wanted to go above me. The dealer was up in arms until I showed him the manufacturers' instructions prohibiting that type install for these model furnaces.

A little bit of RTFM can save a lot of grief later.

 

[oink]

I was building my house in 92 while living in a little guest house I built first. The building inspector was not very fondly known as Red Tag Rex. He'd already got me a couple times on little stuff. I came home one day and found red tags all over the place. I was not at all happy and wondered what I'd done to tick him off. I found out later that one of my coworkers that worked the zone where my house was had gone by while the inspector was there and talked him into giving me a surprise. And I was surprised.

 

[Bald1]

In the previous town I lived in I built a 10x14 shed out back. I come home one day and code enforcement/inspectors card was in my door. I call him and he says you don’t have a permit for that shed. I said it’s on 6 acres surrounded by farmland. I didn’t think I needed one. He says then why did you build it 140sq Ft? I said because that’s the kit 84 Lumber sold. He said there’s no charge for permit. There’s no inspection and we don’t assess you on anything under 144sq Ft. I asked then why do I need a permit? He says they keep track of how many outbuildings are allowed on property……… fast forward 2 yrs I go to building Dept for a pool permit. Same guy says inground or above? I say 18’ above with a deck. He said you don’t need a permit. I say even for electric running to filter? His response was, you’re smart enough to put it on a GFI right? Sometimes you can’t win

 

[Walkin Horse]

An industrial inspector is different than a building inspector. They take it personal. The only thing worse is the safety man.

 

[Greyman50]

Good friend just had his house built with iron piping changed to PVC. Plumbing Co. was outstanding. When finished they called to get the inspection. Well, they had to get this app for their phones, text the inspectors office to request inspection.. This “ guy” shows up with just his cell phone. The guy proceeds to turn on his phones camera and go over all the piping. Plumbing guy asks whats going on. Guy with phone says he’s “ showing the work to the inspector”!!!!!! The sorry %*- inspector sits at his desk in the office and watches the “ phone guy” “ show him the work”!!! Inspector says the piping under all the clamps has to be insulated and rejects the work. Thats another day then stupidity starts all over again. Friend said the plumbing Co. says they will NEVER do another job here in Clay county…..

 

[lihpster]

Guy with phone says he’s “ showing the work to the inspector”!!!!!! The sorry %*- inspector sits at his desk in the office and watches the “ phone guy” “ show him the work”!!!

"Phone Guy" sounds like it might be a good job. All you have to know is how to run a phone. Wonder what it pays?