aren't they somewhat of a glorified gfi? since they will also trip when you touch the ground and neutral together?
Not exactly. AFCI's have ground-fault protection built in, but it isn't Class A 4 to 6 mA type protection. More along the lines of 30 mA. Some brands will trip if you check them with a wiggy, but not all. A standard GFCI tester won't trip them.
As for failing inspections because houses are wired to the '05 standards, that should only happen if something is permitted in the '05 code that is prohibitted in the '02. And, as ridiculous as that sounds, it's one of the problems we run into when we run a code cycle (or more) behind. Here in Michigan, we may not see the '05 Code adopted until the middle or end of '06. And that's only if the Homebuilders Association doesn't hold it up like they did the '02.
