An average day

Licensed contractor leaves the panel apart and open with energized metal parts that can kill.



The previous service enclosure has been turned into a J-box. He didn't bother to remove the stuff that an animal left in the cabinet.

 

Each column is topped off with a container of water. The containers are secured with wire.



The containers are there because the chickens were hopping up and out. There's a lot of chickens.

 

An unlimited number of chickens is allowed. Atrocious fences too.

 

The first inspection was for the service upgrade. It went from something to 225 amp. The first trip resulted in about six corrections, one of which was to remove the lath. That correction included "install ST62 strap across the ......"



I didn't pay much attention to the solar part of the project other than to say that the LB can't displace all of the plaster.



Apparently they are familiar with my inspections, not just because of the loop but also because they call the office and complain....a lot.






There's the ST62. The code calls for eight #10 1.5" long on each side of the gash. I ask for ten and seal the fireblock. The top plate is a fireblock and the code states that the integrity of fireblocks be maintained. I wish I had a stamp for that correction. A gap this wide should have a substantial repair and an ST62 is not that. While it may perform in tension it will bend easily in compression.

I didn't write a correction for the weak strap. That would play too heavily in their complaint that I am the first to write such corrections. Everybody from contractors, homeowners and my department are convinced that I write too many corrections. They're not willing to pick the ones that I shouldn't have written. Perhaps I should always give them a break such as, "OK you got too many. Pick any correction and toss it out".

This company got hammered and once the lath is removed there's bound to be more. It is typical of many of their jobs. The owner was not there at either inspection so I haven't been able to see the water heater or smoke and CO alarms.

Once I see the alarms and point out that they are missing or installed wrong the owners become agitated and the solar guy says, "I have some on the truck. Give me a minute to install them". The upset owner wants me to hang around while the alarms are corrected. If I have the time and it's likely to not be more that ten minutes I'll do that. Now if it's a scatter brained bunch I'm gone. None of the contractors for any project deals with alarms before I show up. Apparently there is no legal path that would put the responsibility for alarms on the contractor.

 

The job is an owner builder permit. A scad of mistakes it was. When I see these results I want to stop and tell them to hire a licensed electrician. I can't do that. I am supposed to explain the mistakes and provide a correct way to do the work. That could pan out if I were standing next to them as the work is performed.








The root cause for this is a lack of respect for the electrical trade. With few exceptions I find the service panel wide open with the deadfront removed and the worker out front in a vehicle. From Home Depot crews to legitimate, longtime electrical contractors, there is no respect. I used to fight this with a resolve to stop it. The practice then became codified as acceptable. Such lack of respect for electricity is dangerous. Knowing that it legal is akin to finding out that Disney has alligators in the wading pond. The possibilities are endless..

 

For some reason, the valley collects debris and holds it until it decomposes. The tree isn’t directly over the house. It must be air currents.

 

Four bedrooms and there is a receptacle behind every door. They did this because of a correction that stated: "No wall space 2" or greater in width shall be more than 6' away from a receptacle". I write that correction at the beginning of any job where that code would apply. I also include kitchen counter layout if it applies.

I wouldn't expect to find a receptacle behind a door.

But hey now, I had breakfast with a couple of inspectors this morning and they chastised me for being lax. The receptacle is there for a vacuum cleaner. Well that’s what they said and it was two against one so I stand corrected.

 

The first one was found during a re-roof inspection so I sent pictures to Edison. The second job will require Edison to energize the service upgrade so there is no need to alert Edison.

 

Three times this week I encountered too many wires in a raceway. This picture is from the second inspection. Nothing changed because the "Company engineer verified that the conduit is not too small for 32 wires". The breakers aren't arc fault because, "That won't work with shared neutrals."




This contractor did make a change or two. All of the circuits now have arc fault protection.....whether they need it or not.
Originally there was 16 current carrying conductors in a raceway. Now it's 6 and ten in two raceways. The six are all 12awg and the ten are all 14awg. This is after I explained the concept at the first inspection.




This job has an additional element of heat. 22 conductors.





Same day different job. Every time that I write the correction I have to spend time explaining the code. This time the contractor played dumb for the longest time. He kept going back to the size of the conduit. Then five minutes into it he says, "Which temperature column can I use?" So he was playing me like a cheap guitar the entire time.

 

This contractor has been given a correction to seal top plate penetrations on several inspections. They tried to comply with this job as you can see the gray stuff around the raceways. When I asked about the cable I was told that the cable is "existing" and as such, it is not the contractors responsibility to seal that penetration.

 

This one is funny. I pulled up to a Mechanical inspection. The permit stated "split system" so I surmised that it's what you see on the front of the house. I commenced writing corrections....fourteen corrections. I even asked for a licensed electrical contractor to obtain an electrical permit.

Then I knocked on the front door. A woman that does not speak English opened the door and then shut the door. I could hear her speaking in Spanish so I waited for a bit and the door opened again. She held a phone and the Asian lady on the the other end explained that the woman in front of me is the housekeeper. She said that the A/C is in the backyard and the furnace is in the attic. I asked about the mini-splits and was told that they are a year old and just didn't do the job of cooling the house so they had a central system installed.




The wiring method is drop cord in conduit. With a fused neutral.



Apparently they only had three fuses so this one is done differently.

 

The inspection was for under-slab plumbing. There is no head test......but it is filled with air.



A lot of air.

 

This is the first time that I have found a blue room on a re-roof. The roofer hauls it from job to job.

I have to admit that contractors that provide one get just a bit more respect.