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Pick up a tool? Lend a hand?

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bill1952

SAWHORSE
Joined
Aug 12, 2021
Messages
2,686
Location
Clayton NY
Just curious how many officials here ever offer or provide assistance? Probably a benefit of rural departments. Sunny afternoon, BO was out in his new to him convertible Miata. Stopped by. Helped plumb a new porch pier.

Bill
 
We kind of sort of can't...

103.4​

An official or employee connected with the agency created to enforce the provisions of this code pursuant to Section 103.1, except one whose only connection with it is that of a member of the board of appeals established under the provisions of Section 113, shall not be engaged in or directly or indirectly connected with the furnishing of labor, materials or appliances for the construction, addition, alteration, repair or maintenance of a building located in the town, city or borough in which such official or employee is employed, or the preparation of construction documents therefor, unless that person is the owner of the building. Such officer or employee shall not engage in any work that conflicts with official duties or with the interests of the agency.
 
I have several times. I recall a roof sheathing inspection that failed several times. Not enough nails. The job was an addition to a daycare. I borrowed a hammer and had the kids collecting nails from the yard. I nailed off the roof sheathing myself.

I once changed a flat tire for a lady.... does that count?

We can do that sort of stuff but we can't tell anyone.
 
bill1952 said:
Just curious how many officials here ever offer or provide assistance? Probably a benefit of rural departments. Sunny afternoon, BO was out in his new to him convertible Miata. Stopped by. Helped plumb a new porch pier.

Bill
Click to expand...

I foster cats from a nearby shelter. The shelter is building a new building. Since I already declared a conflict, I volunteered to modify their plans, do the barrier-free (ADA for you folks in the Excited States) stuff, energy-efficiency stuff and told 'em if the need help at the framing stage to give me a dingle.

Otherwise I ain't touching anything that's an actual file in my area.
 
My inspector performed life-saving CPR once, does that count?

Seriously though, you break it you bought it. If you touched it, they could blame you for breaking it. When I was mostly out in the field I would show up to tag electric service panels before utility connection. No one was ever there, and I'm not going to tag something without confirming it's done correctly, so I opened up panels all the time. Someone tried to send me a bill for damages claiming I broke something, it didn't make any sense. I called him up and asked what it was about and offered to meet with him and the homeowner to explain why I had to open the panel in the first place; he dropped it.

Boss at the time said no more opening panels, I said sure, then no more tags unless the contractor is present. She agreed as how are we supposed to authorize the utility to render service w/o inspection? Contractors weren't having it, so they somehow convinced local utility guys to connect without inspection. I caught it within a few days, alerted the utility and they obviously put a quick stop to that. It's now understood and accepted that they have to be there for inspection, duh.

Anyways, point is, we learned from that experience (and others) not to touch anything. I won't even use their pen to sign an inspection card.
 
Joe.B said:
Seriously though, you break it you bought it. If you touched it, they could blame you for breaking it.
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This has been the prevailing policy everywhere I have been. Doesn't mean I haven't helped out a few people over the years, I just keep quiet about it.

I once had an elderly person with dementia on a site. They lived alone, (shouldn't have) and had no idea what was happening in their cellar because they couldn't go down there. I was there for some sort of mechanical or plumbing inspection. What the contractor did was embarrassing, dangerous and unethical. I called them from the site. I asked them to come back right away, I would wait. They equivocated, until I mentioned the potential for the health and human services intervention, (or some similar function) TV news, and elder abuse. They came back.

Another time I was out and found an abandoned trailer, except it wasn't abandoned. An elderly guy was living there, getting water from a hose connected to HIS DAUGHTER'S house hundreds of feet away through the woods, alonf with power for a box fan and lights via an extension cord. Absolute squalor. I spoke with him for some time, went through to check for even the most basic elements of human need, safety and comfort. Had a little conversation with the daughter. Called my boss who had a bigger conversation with the daughter.

I did alert the appropriate authorities in both cases. Does that count?
 
I also had an electrical inspector help with a meter box install - my first. Wasn't much, but helped. I think he jumped the plugs prior to meter being installed.
 
I'm not a B.O., but as a private architect my insurance company will not not cover workman's comp (or professional liability) for me to engage in construction labor on a project. On prevailing wage projects, if I engage in construction labor I would come into all kinds of labor compliance violations. Our contracts prevent us from engaging in any means, sequences or procedures onsite. On existing buildings, I can't even cut a hole in drywall to see what's behind it; we have to get a licensed contractor to do it.

The only exception is exigent circumstances, an emergency or where the is an imminent threat to life an health. I grabbed the end of a beam before it toppled onto a worker, and other staff in our office have ordered workers out of a deep, narrow trench that was an OSHA violation.

For Habitat for Humanity projects, I can choose to volunteer labor as a private individual. I just have to make it clear (usually in writing) that I am not acting in my role as architect. I'm the dumb guy on the end of the hammer or paint brush that does whatever I'm told by others.
 
Sifu said:
I once had an elderly person with dementia
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I got in the way of unscrupulous contractors a bunch of times. That is really a fools errand as a contractor can charge whatever they want. A $12,000.00 sewer cleanout is perfectly legal. Unless they are tied to a chair, elder abuse is difficult to prosecute.
 
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ICE said:
I got in the way of unscrupulous contractors a bunch of times. That is really a fools errand as a contractor can charge whatever they want. A $12,000.00 sewer cleanout is perfectly legal. Unless they are tied to a chair, elder abuse is difficult to prosecute.
Click to expand...
I figured I would leave any additional steps to the county health and human services....all I could do was refer the situation to them. As for the reason I was there, what I wanted, and got, was the attention of the contractor who came back and did the job for real. I did not get into how much the contractor charged, just that they had taken advantage of someone, and didn't leave the job in a safe or code compliant manor. They weren't happy, but they also didn't want any more attention.
 
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