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Our final inspection for the building shell was turned down because one of the 82 15 watt CFLlamps on this wall was bad. I replaced it the following morning.

Is that taking things a little too far?

The same inspector wanted access doors behind each of the luminaires (To see the back of a 4S box?)
He also said we'd need an exterior light over the door to the 40 square foot electrical room down at the bottom left. (The 82 lights run dusk to dawn)





************Disclaimer**********
BTW, Our member Dmattox did the TI on this job!!...And neither he nor I had anything to do with picking the color or this silly lighting scheme

Where do these type of inspectors (I appologize to the true inspectors here for using that title to discribe this person) come up with these off the wall ideas.

BTW, I like the color.

Roger

[This message has been edited by Roger (edited 11-17-2004).]

Scott:

I think that the inspector could have given a final for the job, knowing that the bulb would be replaced.

Please expand on the type of fixtures used and the reason for the access to the boxes.

Can I see the space behind them in an above the ceiling or attic location?

That door on the left, is it an exit only? I think that the light there would be needed if an exit from that room was necessary because of a problem in that equipment room that resulted in an overcurrent condition.

Please send me a few pictures so I can feature them during the Anaheim EC&M show in February. Also please introduce me to the during the show.

The door on the side is the electrical room. Besides with all of Electure’s lights, no additional A.B. lighting was needed for the drive up ATM :P

The inspector here is a nightmare for Electure’s shell crew, was complaining that they didn’t have certain stickers from the manufacture and the manufacture would tell them no such stickers exist.

The worst complaint he had, was with the ground bus in the main switch gear, it was along the back of the two sections and had T that went to the front of one of the sections. Like everyone would, Electure's crew attached their grounds to this part of the buss. The inspector told them to put it on the back buss because someone might remove that section of bussing!!!

For some reason my inspections were always timed so that our inspector was out of town :P

Is, or was the inspector IAEI or ICBO certified, state licensed, or an experienced electrical industry electrician, or in some way related to the trade?

Please provide the entire list of violations if possible, and any references to the code in effect, either at the local or state level.

I am prepared to challenge that inspector if given the opportunity. Maybe we can plan on a field trip to tag along during the next inspection?

He is an employee of one of the cities around here. He didn't give any code sections on any of the tag sheets I saw. Electure will have to give ya the full list.

btw, the grd bussing was not the neutral disconnect link.
The fixtures are your garden variety vaportight, like you'd have in a walk-in freezer, with cages. They mount to a roughed in 4"Square box with a mud ring.
An access panel would reveal nothing but the back of the box. dmattox would need to buy 80+ little pictures to cover them up
We didn't put them in. No more necessary or beneficial than an access behind each wall plug or switch would be.
The inspector would write nothing more than "Not ready for Inspection" or the like on any of the violation notices that I ever saw, after launching into his verbal manifesto . Talking to him would avail us nothing. He'd just tell us to call for a re-inspect when ready, and then leave.

There are no more inspections, Joe.
It's up and running.

Sadly, and as is almost always the case, we had a schedule that didn't allow us to challenge any of his good ideas (he had many, many more, a couple of which we just ignored). We just complied with his requests for the most part, because each reinspect would cost us at least ahother day

That's the biggest problem of all, I think.

Unfettered, he's doing the same to someone else who has a completion date today. I can imagine the scrambling that some poor contractor is doing this morning to keep his tail out of a Liquidated Damages situation by complying with the inspector's demands.



[This message has been edited by electure (edited 11-18-2004).]

BTW, your guys did a great job on those lights Electure. They look great at night

Where do they get these people???
You should give the job card to the developer or landowner (who has more clout than you) and send him down to City Hall and demand a written correction with applicable code sections OR sign the card. I promise you something will happen.
The bigger the developer the more power he or she has. I see it happen all the time.

The only way to get rid of this guy is by continued documented complaints that he is not doing his job. It won't be easy and it will require persistence.

You decide if it's worth it.

As an employee, it's not my call to make. I'd probably be discharged if I dragged the company into a ruckus like this would be, and like you say, sandsnow, I've no clout anyhow.

After it's done, it's on to other things and places. The priority was to just get the heck out of there, and not look back.

I think that's just how an inspector like this can still be around.

I know EXACTLY which Inspector Electure and Dmattox are dealing with!!!

The term "Clown" is an understatement!

Have also driven by this Project during the evening, and those CFLs are putting out enough light to not require additional site lighting at the drive-up ATM!
(per the typical Financial Code 13000 requirements - AKA "AB244").

Too bad Harley wasn't around still!

Geez, what a disappointment for Final! I bet you have the close-out package ready to hand in... now there is a possibility to install unneeded access panels!

Not sure how the Corporate Security personnel with that particular F.A. feel towards access doors in Cladded Walls (I am "Ass-U-Ming" the ATM Room + Day Cash Room have Cladded Walls???), but the Corp. Security personnel I have dealt with over the years, would probably tie me up in a straight jacket, if I even PROPOSED the idea!


Scott35

BTW: Look around at the other Tenants' leased spaces, on your side of the Street beginning with the letter "C", and across that same Street.
You will notice the Lighting and Color Scheme is unsubtilly universal!

S.E.T.

HARLEY !!!!
Harley was my dad's inspector when he was a contractor.He worked for us in Irvine after he retired from the City of (now that would be telling)

Electure, no it's not the same jurisdiction.

My dad always used to tease Harley that he fell off the pole because he stepped back to admire his work before climbing down.

What a good guy and never at a loss for words and always a story to be told.

It was my job to show him around the City when he first started with us at Irvine. I had to drag him out of the trailer just so we could finish my run. Believe me it wasn't easy!!

Almost every inspector I have dealt with has been very knowledgeable and helpful. Many bent over backwards to help projects move along.

This particular inspector, however, was leaving two separate crews from two separate EC companies scratching their heads. It was so bad, that every time I was about to call for an inspection I would warn our customer several times that we would fail. Just because I had no idea what he would come up with.

If any inspectors took offense by it, Electure and I did not mean to cause harm to your trade. We were just venting a little steam towards someone we feel should not be in the position they are in. Just like how some inspectors tear apart the work in the violation forum

Also, I don't think anyone on this board thinks they are gods. People like myself are here to learn more about our field, and thankfully there are many around here with many years of experience willing to share their insights.

where does anything about a burnt out bulb fall in the NEC?

Hello David, Welcome to the forum.

Roger

I think there's a certain type of person who when put in a position of power let's it go to his head and then starts trying to act beyond the rules by making up his own.

We haven't had electrical inspections here (up to now anyway), but I've run into this sort of dogmatic attitude from bureaucrats before over other issues. The problem is that the more people who just accept the dictats without challenging them, the more the person involved with try to throw his weight around.

With electrical inspections in England being started from tomorrow, I guess we can look forward to running into power-hungry council employees as well.