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An average day

Some items like the address posting you can just "educated" the occupant as to the importance of posting the address and you are done. The photo of the stairs and not putting the owner on written notice and following up to make sure it gets corrected depending on the state you live could cost you and your jurisdiction a lot of money if someone got hurt.
 
Pcinspector1 said:
Let's say you got to this location to do a PV inspection and there was no premise address, could you right that up or would that be considered a piggy back violation? Just curious on how far an inspector can go?
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Civic numbering is typically under a municipal by-law or provincial act here. The key is that the number must be visible from the public right of way. There is no expectation of privacy of things visible from the public right of way.
 
mtlogcabin said:
Some items like the address posting you can just "educated" the occupant as to the importance of posting the address and you are done. The photo of the stairs and not putting the owner on written notice and following up to make sure it gets corrected depending on the state you live could cost you and your jurisdiction a lot of money if someone got hurt.
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Provided the owner doesn't later claim you violated their constitutional rights by searching a portion of their home you had no authorization to perform a search on.
 
tmurray said:
Provided the owner doesn't later claim you violated their constitutional rights by searching a portion of their home you had no authorization to perform a search on.
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But once you are invited in, I do not believe that is an illegal search.

As an example, police will regularly ask for permission to search a car/house/backpack/etc.. If one says no, then a warrant is required; if one grants permission and something is found, it would be admissible and would not be constituted as an illegal search.
 
Ty J. said:
But once you are invited in, I do not believe that is an illegal search.

As an example, police will regularly ask for permission to search a car/house/backpack/etc.. If one says no, then a warrant is required; if one grants permission and something is found, it would be admissible and would not be constituted as an illegal search.
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Only if the owner gives you explicit permission to search the entire building.
The courts will ask if it is reasonable to assume that you have the owner's permission to search their entire house without their expressed permission. When a building permit is completed, an administrative search is naturally required to verify compliance with all the various codes and legislation. That person is essentially giving us prior authorization to search that portion of the building that is impacted by the construction and that portion only.
 
Exactly I am there check smoke/CO detector installation and function and I have to use those stairs to get to the upper level. No "searching" required they are in plain view

Now if I was doing an exterior siding inspection and observed the missing guards through the window then I would verbally tell the owner they need too install the guard when the finish the flooring and note it on the inspection.
FYI we would not require a permit for installing laminate of wood flooring
 
Here’s the rest of the story: I talked to the owner today. Six months ago the carpet was removed from the staircase and second floor. Handrail and guardrail was removed and the owner is slow to replace the handrail and guardrail. I gave him a notice to obtain a building permit to install handrail and guardrail.

The legality of what I did takes a back seat to common sense. I suppose a judge could rule against me. I’d rather have a judge get excited about that as opposed to me being held accountable if someone fell to their death. I would find that to be quite unsettling.
 
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rather have a judge get excited about that as opposed to me being held accountable if someone fell to their death. I would find that to be quite unsettling.
Good for you. Much better attitude than that of the BI at the casino in MD where the girl got electrocuted at the handrail
 
The job is a PV system with the array on a roof. This compression splice was the reason that I had to get on the roof. The problem is that the crimp is listed for a maximum #8 wire and this has 1 #6 solid. The junction box and conduit were not labeled.

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There was a service upgrade as well as the PV and that resulted in around ten inspections. They had 32 current carrying conductors in a conduit and had no clue about de-rating. The service was moved ten feet and ARC fault protection really tripped them up.

I was there last week and the person that met me drove a Prius. There was no ladder and he was surprised to learn that I had to get to the roof. Today there was another person who drove a RAM....there was a ladder.

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I have met at least five of the company employees. They have trucks and uniforms, tools and attitudes. It's like they have never done this before.

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An overhang was removed to accommodate the ledger for the patio cover. Every other lag bolt is screwed into the end grain of a rafter tail.
 
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Pcinspector1 said:
I believe we are talking about the "Plain View Doctrine" at least here in the states. Not sure about Canadian law.
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We have it here, but it has been reserved for when receiving a warrant would place an unreasonable hardship on the officer. Such as when the contraband can be easily destroyed, or removed from the officer's jurisdiction (vehicles). The only other situation I've heard of it being used in is if the crimes are "abhorrent" (child porn) and the officer was operating in good faith.
 
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If that is a seismic strap at the bottom of the post is it not installed on the wrong side to resists lateral loads?
 
ICE said:
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An overhang was removed to accommodate the ledger for the patio cover. Every other lag bolt is screwed into the end grain of a rafter tail.
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I've never seen that before, lagging into the rafter tails, almost always a 2x fascia. If every other one is lagged, whats the other lag going into?
mtlogcabin said:
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If that is a seismic strap at the bottom of the post is it not installed on the wrong side to resists lateral loads?
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mtnlog,
I'm not in a seismic area, not sure why the application isn't compliant. Could have an issue screwing into the post end grain with some lumber?
 
ICE said:
the owner is slow to replace the handrail and guardrail. I gave him a notice to obtain a building permit to install handrail and guardrail..
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Can you explain that please. Why do they need a building permit to replace the handrail? Theoretically they are reinstalling the same handrail that was code compliant when thehouse was built. Or when they removed it to change thecarpet, did that trigger the requirement to meet current codes?
 
e hilton said:
Can you explain that please. Why do they need a building permit to replace the handrail? Theoretically they are reinstalling the same handrail that was code compliant when the house was built. Or when they removed it to change the carpet, did that trigger the requirement to meet current codes?
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The trigger is the fact that the handrail/guardrail has been missing for six months. The owner needs a kick in the pants to git-er-done. When I saw the stairs I was surprised....when I reached the second floor I knew what I must do.

There might be a code that applies....there might not. Until I am told to lay off by somebody with clout, the correction stands. The steps and floor have a slippery faux wood tile and it is dumb luck that there hasn't been a awful accident. I have already admitted that I may have overstepped my bounds .... certainly not the first time....probably not the last.

Consider that the owner could ignore me. It happens often. I am not likely to get a court order. Now if his stupidity gets someone hurt, they won't be pointing a finger at me. Had I just made a suggestion that there should be a handrail/guardrail I would have no defense.
 
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I probably would not require a permit but would provide an Inspection report with date of Re-inspection. It gives the owner a check list and my ETA to do the re-inspection, works pretty good here.
 
I don't understand why any inspection would be done for free anywhere. Most areas near me use 3rd party inspection companies but even if they don't I don't think the tax payers should pay for someones inspection.
 
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