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What To look for?

Rider Rick said:
Tiger Fish,
You should be retired.
Your the kind of building inspector I never liked and never wanted to be like, when inspecting. A small man hiding behind a label.
Rider Rick
Click to expand...

There's something going on that I am not aware of.


"This Building Code Forum is NOT what it started out to be in 09.
I think it's now a JOKE."
Rick

Fatboy said:
"You have to roll with the punches, there is plenty of benefit here........I dare you to find another forum with this much knowledge........I've looked around, nothing compares. You take the good with the bad, then move on. Deep breath.....cling-cling........kumbaya..........;)


While not completely unexpected from fatboy, I find it uncomfortable hearing it from Rick. I can go for a long time not knowing what people think and then get blindsided. I hate when that happens.
 
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to the original poster;
there are lots of things to look at for each service that are common to many amperages.

Some are; proper grounding, proper bonding, working space, wire bending, wire sizing, labeling of circuits, number of wires under lugs, wire clearance to the structure, possible conduit support, wire protection, location of the service, dedicated circuits, arc fault and ground fault protection, etc.

There are lots of good guides out there. I suggest that you take the most expensive Mike Holt class. Heck even get to know a good electrician and let him know you are eager to learn. I found thru my career that there was always time to listen and learn.

While you may have a beef with a certain members inspection style that person has provided years of photography of what is being done wrong with a large degree of that being "what to look for in electrical". I am not that kind of inspector. I don't regularly use photography! And I don't work with as diverse of a group of persons doing installs. I have the luxury of personally knowing most of the people I deal with. Many I have dealt with over and over again.

Just a few days ago I found an undersized width of opening on a required egress window. I was explaining to the contractor (that I have known for over a dozen years) that his project being a slab on grade and a first floor window that the opening could have the total sf of 5.0 sf. I went on to mention to him the minimum dimensions still apply however. That's when I noticed the window did not meet the minimum width of opening. I congratulated him for making the mistake. I may have never caught it if we were not having a conversation (no I actually would have caught it because I am experienced).
 
Since No one wants to give an answer; I will start with:
What To Look For In A Main Electrical Panel:
What to look for in a main electrical panel:

Electrical service entry wiring/masthead

Weather tightness of exterior boxes

Service cap, installed, sealed, properly positioned to keep water out of the wiring

Roof flashing errors at standards or masts

Abandoned cables and wires

Meter rating

Service box rating

Make sure all electrical panels are grounded. Grounding rod and to water supply line.

Bond to gas line

Check for double tapping off the main electrical feed

Check for AFCI breakers and GFCI breakers

Check for exposed wiring

Filled knock outs

All circuits are properly labeled

Spliced wires

Safety hazard

Watch for attachment screws Loose, falling out, or missing
 
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How do you learn unless you ask?
We do not Know if he is inspecting a panel or acquiring knowledge for future endeavors….
 
"While not completely unexpected from fatboy, I find it uncomfortable hearing it from Rick. I can go for a long time not knowing what people think and then get blindsided. I hate when that happens."

I was NOT throwing stones at anyone......just saying that sometimes you don't get the response that you wanted, or expected. Lord knows I've taken my lumps.

Take it for what it's worth....and move on.

Period
 
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my job as an inspector could be a waste of time if everyone was doing everything correct - but I keep finding plenty of things done wrong. So I guess I will go out and seek answers and more knowledge so I know more about what to look for.

I will keep paying my minimum fee to this worthy forum to keep on learning even if it may sometimes come with a bit of argument.
 
I love all the pictures that Ice posts, I am not an inspector so I usually do not see the mistakes unless obvious. I would love if he would note the primary error, or errors that triggered taking the picture. That way I would learn MORE.
 
""And move on" .....it is hard to hear.....and always indicates guilt."

Really?

Seems to me it means there is nothing here worth arguing about.....moot point.....'nuff said....like any further replies from me.
 
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Ya there was never a fish to fry....unless it was a Tiger Fish.


One word caused all of this. I guess that I made a mistake.
 
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ICE, like JPohl sez, great photo's to learn by, point out the violations for us because I sometimes don't see em.

You recently posted on "An average day!" a framed wall in a room and I wanted to know the violations you cited. Glen and I guessed what we thought were issues with the room.

Believe it or not your a trailblazer with all the photo's and comments. When you retire and take your 3-week vacation to Mexico with Jar, and have nothing to do, you can go on the ICC seminar tour, showing slides of all the f...ups you've seen in your inspection career.

We raise out chalice to thee! Dilly...Dilly!

Now some other items to add to the breaker panel inspection list that Mark started:
• Make sure the service is not hot or if it is caution is advised.
• Make sure the panel is secured to the wall.
• Door has to open 90°, no plumbing above or below and and can't be on a stairway
• Verify that if there is two wires under a lug and that they are not different sizes
• Check to make sure the large amp breakers are on one side
• Make sure all the breakers are the same or if the generic breakers are used that they are fitting properly
• If an additional bonding bar has been added, make sure the paint has been scratched off. don't run into that very offen.
• Water in the panel issues, rust and oxidation
• Meter height, grounding requirements, check with all POCO requirements
 
Oh..I forgot one that happens a lot here, distance the SE can be run from the meter to the panel without having to add a disconnect, policy here is 10-ft.
 
Imagine if we only had to do 100 amp services!

The one thing I wish I could do better is visually identify conductor sizes, especially now when I only get out in the field when we are an inspector short and will be looking at everything from 100 to over 1,200 amperes and a few high voltage switch gears.
 
JPohling said:
I would love if he would note the primary error, or errors that triggered taking the picture. That way I would learn MORE.
Click to expand...

All you have to do is ask questions.

There's maybe a dozen people that come around to see what I post. They will be happy to help you understand what's up.....and if nobody does and I see it, I might.

I don't say too much because I don't know what others may or may not know. I'm not looking to come off as a know it all jerk.....just a regular jerk is good enough for me. You've already heard from Rick. By what I have done here he's pegged me as an ahole. Others have said the same.
So I don't have a lot to say. People can think that I am dumb when I keep my mouth shut......I can start talking and prove it to them.

I am pretty much the same at work.

Another thing is that I try to post pictures of an unusual violation but there might be a slew of mistakes in the picture. I don't have an inclination to list them all. If I could I would post copies of the written notices.....trust me on this, I write a lot of corrections every day.
 
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