An average day

[ICE]

A flipper bought this house and stopped work two years ago. The drought has helped preserve the property from overgrowth and decay.



The neighborhood deserves better.



Go Green and plant drought resistant foliage.

 

[ICE]

The contractor has a B license {general building contractor} There are two permits. One is for an electrical service upgrade and the other is for a hose bibb.

This junction box is where the previous service enclosure was located.



I asked the contractor's employee to ruin a keyhole saw in a failed attempt to remove the cover of the type 1 j-box. As luck would have it, he had one.



You may be wondering why there is a plumbing permit to install a hose bibb. Well that's because California contractors law won't allow a B license to obtain a single permit for a specialty trade. The law will allow a B license to obtain two permits for two specialty trades as long as they are not related to the same scope of work.

For example, a B license could not obtain just a mechanical permit for a furnace and a plumbing permit for a gas pipe that supplies that furnace. Clearly a service panel and a hose bibb are not related to each other in any sense of the word. So it is legal for a B license to obtain an electrical permit for a service upgrade and a plumbing permit for a hose bibb.

This is a common practice to circumvent the law. The contractor will replace a 30 year old hose bibb with a one year old hose bibb and everybody is satisfied......did I say everybody......that should read almost everybody.

Here's the thing that trips them up when I am the inspector. Replacing a hose bibb does not require a permit. If I am presented with a plumbing permit for a hose bibb, I understand that to mean that a hose bibb will be installed, at a location of the owners choosing, where none existed previously.

In this particular case, the lady was pleased to find out that she would be getting a new hose bibb. I opined that the detached garage would be a handy place to have one. Then somehow the conversation drifted to Workmans Comp Insurance and how this contractor has none.

Now some of you would say that I am being mean to a hard working, self employed person that's doing their best to earn a living. Like I said, this is a common practice that works everywhere except under my nose. My answer is, "Let them take their keyhole saws and work in your jurisdiction"

 

[chris kennedy]

Pics of inside your NEMA 1 outdoor box?

 

[ICE]

There is a building permit to legalize a bathroom that was created where there had been a closet.



Right away, this one seemed odd. The former closet was in the living room next to the front door and large in comparison to the rest of the house.



Stepping outside I could see where there was a large window in that former closet.



Then I saw this conduit.




We get a lot of after the fact permits. The illegal construction is usually well seasoned. There is always an implied hope that we will be able to approve the work with the least amount of destruction possible. There's going to be dashed dreams aplenty.

 

[ICE]

This is where Edison spotted the meter. The contractor said that he asked about working space clearance and was told that this is safe enough for the Edison workers. A jog in the retaining wall won't be a big deal but a better spot was around the corner and it would have been safe for more than just the Edison workers.

 

[ICE]

Pics of inside your NEMA 1 outdoor box?

He couldn't get the cover off. My screwdriver was in the truck. I try to not touch their work. I really should have loaned him a tool because a picture was what I wanted when I asked him to open it. I wrote a correction to replace the J-box with a 3R. Since I didn't see inside the J-box, I didn't see that they didn't use wet location wire nuts. I'll bring tools next time.

 

[e hilton]

[uThis is where Edison spotted the meter.

How does that work. The HO or gc calls the electric company and asks them to mark where the new meter location will be, they mark it, and everyone accepts it and works from there? Does Edison ever make a mistake?

Looks like this might not have been the best place.

 

[ICE]

Does Edison ever make a mistake?

According to Edison, that would be NO.

 

[e hilton]

According to Edison, that would be NO.

As my wife would tell my toddlers ... use your words. Can you explain a little more for those of use not from the land of fruit and nuts. Obviously the poco is not goping to admit being wrong, but you implied that's not the best location. Is there ever any negotiating with them? Does their location choice always meet building code?

 

[e hilton]

There is a building permit to legalize a bathroom that was created where there had been a closet. .

Can you explain a little nmore why you were suspicious. Looks like nice quality work. What about the large window made you suspicious? The overhead conduit doesn't look properly supported. Did the conduit lead you to suspect a garage conversion to living space?

 

[ICE]

Can you explain a little more why you were suspicious.

I wake up that way.

 

[mtlogcabin]

Being a curious sort, I asked to see inside the garage.

What would you have done if the refused to let you see inside the garage?

 

[ICE]

For starters I wouldn't have written a correction to obtain a building permit to convert the garage back to it's original condition as a garage....yet. Beyond that, nothing else would change. I was already convinced that the construction is all new.

The EMT is cause enough to ask for an electrical permit, so I would have been in the garage sooner or later.

 

[ICE]

Well crap...here we go again.

I spotted a half unit of T1-11 in the driveway and figured there must be an addition being built. The contractor was out front and he said that there a "Little bitty patio cover going up".



Too bad that he doesn't have a little bitty permit.

 

[ICE]

The job is underpinning the existing foundation. There are other details with steel size and dimensions. There is a contractor.



The major drawback here is that there is no existing foundation.



You can see the shoring that they planned on leaving in place.



I don't know how thick the slab is. I don't know why they thought the form work was going to work.

 

[ICE]

I can't fit my hand between the furnace and the framing. I can't see the gas valve or the furnace disconnect. The contractor was waiting for me.

 

[TheCommish]

Here in New England

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[Mr. Inspector]

Don't think that roof will hold the New England snow.

 

[ICE]

Don't think that roof will hold the New England snow.

There shouldn't be much snow on that roof.

 

[SCBO1]

Plans state: Excavation: Using the A-B-C method, please explain?

pc1

 

[Wayne]

Re: An average day

Plans state: Excavation: Using the A-B-C method, please explain?pc1

Divide up the area to be excavated in slots of ABC in repetition so you don't undermine all of the footing at one time then you only dig out all of the "A's". Then come back and do the "B's" and so on.

 

[ICE]

In post 1080 we met a keyhole saw electrician. He was told to install a hose bibb in a location of the owners choosing.

I don't know for sure but I'm guessing that he didn't do that.



I voided the permits on the grounds that he obtained them illegally.

I will be told by management that I must let it go.....you know we did issue the permits so....yada yada yada blah blah blah Then I will hear that the clerks will be told to stop allowing that.

What a bunch of bull shlt. As soon as a contractor gives the clerks a hard time, they will roll over and issue the permit. They don't get paid enough to take shlt from contractors. If they hand them over to the office manager, the manager will take shlt for just so long and then tell them "We'll do it this one time but don't try this again"...... for the hundredth time.....this year.

I will lose the battle....again. But I will make him get another plumbing permit..... he installed two hose bibbs and has permit for just one.

I almost forgot about the electrical corrections. I was right, he didn't use the correct wire nuts but he did install a 3R J-box. One of the previous corrections had to do with correction factors for heat and number of wires in a conduit. They are clueless.

The kid with the saw was the person that met me today. He asked me to tell him what to do about correction factors. I told him to ask his employer.

The contractor will complain about that too. I will hear that I refused to explain the corrections.

Well there are options when dealing with correction factors. So now do you want to figure out what wire would work with that conduit? Do you want to figure out how many conduits it would take with that wire? Can you drop the breakers down to 15 amp? Am I supposed to explain all of the options?

How's he going to do any of that with a keyhole saw.

Management doesn't get the fact that when they allow these crap contractors to have permits, inspectors have to deal with the mess.

 

[e hilton]

As soon as a contractor gives the clerks a hard time, they will roll over and issue the permit.

That's not my experience. If you show soem respect to the clerk you get respect back. If you step on their toes your permit gets misplaced for a day or two.

 

[mmmarvel]

As soon as a contractor gives the clerks a hard time, they will roll over and issue the permit.That's not my experience. If you show soem respect to the clerk you get respect back. If you step on their toes your permit gets misplaced for a day or two.

It depends on how the department works/backs each other up. In some departments, give a clerk a hard time and suddenly everything on your plans gets looked at VERY closely. Ditto the inspector, suddenly your work gets looked at with exacting detail. As I put it (not to the contractor but to my BO) every "I" will be dotted and every "t" will be crossed. He will follow the letter (and measurements) of the plan.

Now if you have a BO that is holding to the mayor or one that wants to become the mayor ... might be time to look for another job.