Needs urgent advice

[bill1952]

If the construction does not meet the approved drawings which are archived as legal documents, then we have a code violations that needs to be corrected. This is especially true of framing changes. Still not sure how this is not obvious.

Does "meet the approved drawings" mean match exactly? It's equally vague as the quoted text about complying with drawings. Laws should be clear (unless you're a lawyer interested in income - an oxymoron for sure.)

 

[jar546]

I inspected a four story dormitory at a private university. None of the dorm rooms had a private bathroom. A representative from the school came to me with a request to add a private bathroom to a dorm room for a student that suffered from cystic fibrosis. It was too late to go through plan check again as we were ready for the under-slab inspection. That bathroom is not on any set of plans.

I admit that I did a wrong thing there ... but was it a bad thing? The kid needed a bathroom and his life was already difficult enough.

I don't see anything wrong other than at the end you get as-builts. If you can't get that then you are not doing your job.

 

[Sifu]

Many jobs don't match the plans (I might even say most) perfectly. We must then determine if the differences are significant. If a plan calls for a wall to be 10'5" from the exterior wall and it is 10'7" it does not match the plans. It is up to the inspector to determine if it is significant, and if they can't make that determination, or they believe it is significant then a plan revision and further examination.

I would note a few things with this project.
1) The owner did not approve the changes, this is a red flag.
2) The builder says it was to hide the HVAC. Hmmm, revise the HVAC? create a chase maybe?, but move a pantry without owner consultation?
3) There is a beam that appears to be questionably supported, it doesn't look like it lines up with the bearing walls (based on the "layouts", which are apparently the framing plans. That beam will deflect, and if you put a partition under it, it will pick up load. That load will cause the wall to deform (as others have noted), and any slab without bearing design could cause further stress via slab movement.

In this case I would be investigating more and would require a revised plan.

 

[ICE]

I don't see anything wrong other than at the end you get as-builts. If you can't get that then you are not doing your job.

The wrong was not asking a stodgy office manager for permission to proceed with no plans or plan check. Of course I was in a contract city and I enjoyed a certain amount of autonomy.

As to as-built plans...Doing the deed is one thing... attempting a coverup adds a layer. I was fairly new at the time....not even a senior inspector yet.

 

[Youstina]

Many jobs don't match the plans (I might even say most) perfectly. We must then determine if the differences are significant. If a plan calls for a wall to be 10'5" from the exterior wall and it is 10'7" it does not match the plans. It is up to the inspector to determine if it is significant, and if they can't make that determination, or they believe it is significant then a plan revision and further examination.

I would note a few things with this project.
1) The owner did not approve the changes, this is a red flag.
2) The builder says it was to hide the HVAC. Hmmm, revise the HVAC? create a chase maybe?, but move a pantry without owner consultation?
3) There is a beam that appears to be questionably supported, it doesn't look like it lines up with the bearing walls (based on the "layouts", which are apparently the framing plans. That beam will deflect, and if you put a partition under it, it will pick up load. That load will cause the wall to deform (as others have noted), and any slab without bearing design could cause further stress via slab movement.

In this case I would be investigating more and would require a revised plan.

The codes' inspectors here in nashville TN are so strict and they did the framing inspection 3 times and no one mentioned any thing wrong about the beam or the other walls and the inspector told me that i can remove the pantry and it is not load bearing , should i still suspect it because every thing else was built exactly as the approved plans except this pantry ?

 

[e hilton]

Ask the builder to get a written document from the architect.

 

[Beniah Naylor]

The codes' inspectors here in nashville TN are so strict and they did the framing inspection 3 times and no one mentioned any thing wrong about the beam or the other walls and the inspector told me that i can remove the pantry and it is not load bearing , should i still suspect it because every thing else was built exactly as the approved plans except this pantry ?

Your inspectors have seen it in person, where we have only seen a picture. If the inspectors are competent, everything should be good.

If the inspectors are not competent, you have no basis to assume the plan reviewer (or submitter) was either, so trusting the plans over the inspector is a dice roll.

If you don't trust the inspectors, you either have to find a friend you do trust to look at it, or hire an engineer to evaluate it.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

We don't require sealed plans for houses that comply to IRC framing tables. I will allow small non sutural changes like like making a closet smaller or larger or moving a door or changing the direction of a sliding or swinging door. I never measure the size of rooms so all my inspections could all be an inch or two off.
Does anyone really measure every room and span.

 

[jar546]

We don't require sealed plans for houses that comply to IRC framing tables.

Which is why I made a lot of money as an expert witness in Pennsylvania in cases against contractors and third-party inspection agencies.