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An average day

I see your trash pile and raise you pallet storage over 8'..... :)

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Somebody built this in their backyard without being noticed.

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By the look of the lath, I'm in for some new experience.

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This is in the backyard of the roof I was standing on when I spotted the new counstruction. These look like a $1000 a month....maybe more

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The owner insists that this is nothing more than a storage shed. I said, "OK by me but it's too close to the property lines so move it" The owner says, "I can't move it" I said,"Sure you can, just not in one piece"

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Granted it's only one stud but it is galling to hear the contractor say that he found it that way.

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I asked him to open the spigot so that I would know that the water pipe still part of the plumbing system. The valve is frozen shut so he broke the stem trying. He then declared that it is not live so he will bond the pipe elsewhere. He thinks that he faked me out and I don't know that he broke it.

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The job is a bathroom remodel a block from a park full of kids. The workmen are having lunch at a burger joint. How can they be so dumb?

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It's plugged in.

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This is the contractor's brother. He met me at an inspection for a 200 amp panel. The sum total of his electrical knowledge is that a toaster must be plugged in if you want toast. I think that he arrived by skateboard.

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The conductors are either service entrance or feeder. I don't know because I didn't look for the other end. The end that I can see is where the smaller conductors hit a 200 amp 3 phase panel and then there's a transformer and finally a 200 amp panel.

Both panels are new and the transformer is left over from a bootleg 600 amp system that powered a pot grower's indoor garden.

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Service upgrade

Both conduits are clamped to a floating piece of wood. They are clamped several feet outside of the picture. And yes, it was existing so the contractor didn't do any better. Notice the structural strap that he screwed to the top plates. This electrician is not much of a builder.
 
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A flipper took out a permit for a re-roof. The file has a correction notice that was written in 1998. The notice states "inspector recommends that a new electrical service be installed"...and that's all.

I find this:



I don't "recommend" stuff so I wrote a correction to obtain a permit and install a new electric service.

They did this:







The goose neck is on the far right in the shadows from the tree and the SEC runs through the attic....it's been like that for 64 years.



The wire is as old as the goose and the insulation is shot so they taped it.



Now here's the good part. They are way pi$$ed off and blame me for not telling their licensed electrician:

1. Get Edison to spot the meter.

2. The SEC can't run through the attic.

3. Install a grounding electrode system.

4. Bond the water pipe.

5. And a bunch of other stuff.

So I broke one of my own rules and "recommended" that they find a different licensed electrician.

Update:

The office manager saw this and said that this doesn't qualify as a service upgrade because the meter section has not been replaced. As a result, Edison doesn't need to be involved and the only thing that I am inspecting is the new panel. Anything above the off-set above the panel can remain.

Well you could've fooled me.
 
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ICE said:
A flipper took out a permit for a re-roof. The file has a correction notice that was written in 1998. The notice states "inspector recommends that a new electrical service be installed"...and that's all. Now here's the good part. They are way pi$$ed off and blame me for not telling their licensed electrician:

1. Get Edison to spot the meter.

2. The SEC can't run through the attic.

3. Install a grounding electrode system.

4. Bond the water pipe.

5. And a bunch of other stuff.

So I broke one of my own rules and "recommended" that they find a different licensed electrician.

Update:

The office manager saw this and said that this doesn't qualify as a service upgrade because the meter section has not been replaced. As a result, Edison doesn't need to be involved and the only thing that I am inspecting is the new panel. Anything above the off-set above the panel can remain.

Well you could've fooled me.
Click to expand...
Wow, reminds me of some of the services I have here! I am luckier than you ICE in the fact that the local power company, PP&L, insists that SEC and meter set meet their current specs, not whatever was okay in 1930. Homeowner is required to upgrade everything when installing a new panel.

Sue
 
Well Sue, the customer has no clue and I wrote corrections which included getting a meter spot from Edison. I don't like the idea of not telling the customer that the manager has overridden my correction but I still have questions. For example, should we allow a main breaker that is larger than the original? And did it even have a main breaker when Thomas Edison hooked it to the grid? How can I not require the old service entrance conductors to be replaced?
 
If the wires at the weather-head, or any other location, are in disrepair and in your opinion consider unsafe, can't you use Section 17920 of the California Health and Safety Code which say, "Any building or portion thereof including any dwelling unit, guestroom or suite of rooms, or the premises on which the same is located, in which there exists any of the following listed conditions to an extent that endangers the life, limb, health, property, safety, or welfare of the public or the occupants thereof shall be deemed and hereby is declared to be a substandard building." "(17920.3d) All wiring, except that which conformed with all applicable laws in effect at the time of installation if it is currently in good and safe condition and working properly." Or even Section 1001.5 of the Uniform Housing Code, to to require the repairs (replacement) be made?
 
Arcal,

I don't have any knowledge of the California Health and Safety Code or the Uniform Housing Code. The electrical code has all that I need as long as I am allowed to use it.

I can't tell the office manager that he can't approve whatever he decides that he will approve. I have had further conversation with him and he might see it my way.
 
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