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An average day

Three mini-splits have been wired with cord in raceway, outdoors.

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There is an ADU. The house and ADU now have a sub-panel. The old service has been converted to a j-box. You have to remove the hinges to gain access to the j-box.


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At least the cover on the LB won’t fall off.
I didn’t notice that….The set screw EMT had my attention. This is why I relish posting pictures. The job was a final inspection for an ADU. I wrote twenty corrections and the changes coming to the electrical might be worth the return trip.....but my time in thst city is short so I'll never see it.
 
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This picture was taken at around 10:00 am. By noon it might be at 100%. Trees were removed to accommodate the array.

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I see diagonal bracing let into the studs, is this in addition to plywood sheathing because of seismic?
I think that the plywood is two things: 1. It will help provide a smooth, straight base for the Hardi-Plank. 2. The result of an ambitious salesman. Oops, salesman is not a word. Salesperson implies human form and that isn't much better. So allow me to change the wording to "entity that sells".

The plywood will stiffen the structure immensely.....but depending on the anchorage to the foundation as well as the robustness of the foundation, that might be a mistake. You can make a strong box that will break loose of the foundation. Once the building is a few feet away from the foundation you can't flush the toilet so it's time to move elsewhere.
 
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This is a universal issue. There is a swimming pool excavation:

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And nothing to keep the neighborhood away from the excavation:

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The water main at the front of the dwelling is metal pipe coming out of the ground. This is a connection from the gtround bus to a hose bib at the side of the house. Note that the pipe has been painted and the paint was not removed inder the clamp.

That presents two violations. The GEC shall be connected within five feet of where the water main enters the building and the paint shall be removed. I have heard the argument that since the water main is buried I can't assume that it is metal pipe and therefor I can't write the correction. That has come from both contractors and inspectors.

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Just how critical is the code on this? I can't say for sure but I can relate an experience that I had:
An owner called me to ask why he was getting a shock when he is in the shower. The cause turned out to be a deteriorated neutral connection in a neighboring service panel. The current from the neighbor's service was searching for a better, or any, path back to the transformer. The owners water main was one path and since electricity will take every path that is available, he was in a path. Thankfully the resistance of that circuit was high enough to limit the number of electrons that were set to vibration mode.
The owner that called had the same setup as pictured. Would there have been no shocking shower experience had the GEC gone to the water main within five feet? I am not smart enough to know the answer to that.
 
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I can’t speak for most of California but here in southern Ca. The vapor retarder faces the conditioned space.
Climate Zone 3? It doesn't matter where you put the vapor retarder, probably better to not include it in the assembly at all. But if I were to add it, it would be most useful on the exterior IMO.
 
I see only 1ground rod, do you have the results verifying that there is 25 Ohms of resistance or less? If not they need another rod to be driven.
 
The black tape was a nice touch on those NM cables, that works to fix a nic in the sheathing when the conductors are undamaged, but since the sheathing needs to extend 1/4" past the connector they need to come up with a fix. based on the underground feed, my guess the Siemens replaced a Zinsco because the panel was on top & that would explain the condition of the cables & that they could not raise the panel to accommodate the sheathing being shy. Cutler-Hammer used to build a underground semi-flush & a surface mount meter main that would have been a almost direct replacement, going from the worst panel made, to what used to be the best quality residential panel, after 1994 Eaton has been pushing the Zinsco II (BR) panels.

I can only see a few possible fixes, 1) J-box in the attic if accessible, but would likely trigger AFCI requirements, if more then 6' of cable was required to add the box. 2) Slip a piece of intact NM cable over each cable & use heat shrink to make sure it stays in place, there looks that originally there were enough 1/2" KO's to accommodate 2-12/2 NM cables per connector, but there is still the 1 NM & 2 SER cables to enter the box.
 
The job is replace fifty-five windows and eight doors. I have not been there before yesterday. I called the contractor for a security gate code. He explained that the windows have been inspected and approved but there was an issue with a water leak. The leak turned out to be a roofing defect. He said that a letter and emails have been sent to the Building Official and I was there simply to sign the job card.

So I'm thinking, "Why didn't you bring the job card to the office for a signature." When I get there the tenant leads me to the kitchen where the job card sits on the counter. That is when I saw the window. The sill is nine inches above the floor and the drop to the pool deck is from a third floor.

I called the contractor to inquire about safety glazing because I couldn't find the info etched on the glass. I then mentioned the need for fall protection. The contractor didn't know that fall protection is required. The tenant said that he puts a chair in front of the window when it is open. The tenant should be the window contractor.

I'm pretty sure that the City Building Department will not ask me to return any time soon.

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This is a service entrance raceway. CEC Section 250.92 disallows this type of fitting unless there is a bonding method employed.

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