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"
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"
