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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 39
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Im working in an housing development right now "200+ single fam." .just finished #17.the inspector that we had was just elec.and realy knew his stuff.becouse i am working in the some housing development that he is inpecting he always called me to walk the house with him.During the inspection he would show me diferent ways to do the job, to make it faster or look better and was always full of helpfull advice everyone else thought he was a picky &^#$ but I never failed an inspection becouse I was always there to fix any little thing he found before he even left .most times he would stand and watch as I did the fix.----NOW he has been replaced with a general inspector for the whole house,,,I am verry uncomfortable with him becouse, I come over to the house during the inspection and he barly even looks at the elec.the most he ever even looks at is wether the fire stop insulation is filing the holes were the wires pass thru.this inspector is loved by everyone and it it afecting workmanship.things are getting sloppy.my guys get a little pissed when I tell them I dont care what the ispectore will pass you still have to do it the right way...any advice???
Patrick
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 399
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No advice just condolences. Good inspectors level the playing field and promote safe installations. Multi-hat, everything is ok because they don't know the Code, guys will get someone hurt or property damaged. Remember the inspector generally has no liability for missing things, although some sucessful law suits have been filed. You as the contractor will be held responsible. You might want to let the GC know that he too can be exposing himself to future legal action if he starts letting bad work get approved. Alan--Inspector
Alan-- If it was easy, anyone could do it.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,716
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Vlad, just keep up your efforts to do things right, and things will be fine. I know it can be reassuring to have an inspector bless your work, but it appears as though you will have to don a new hat and be your own inspector. Alan, I agree that in general "Multi-Hat Inspectors have one strong field and the others seem to suffer, but then there is our own Ryan J who is an exception to the rule. Roger
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,876
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Don't let any of your guys be around for the inspection... Tell them he's a total code nazi, and all the nit-picky subleties you can even create, came from him. Or, just lay down the law, its your way or the highway.
Mark Heller "Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 717
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I would suggest you move to Salt Lake City. It is my understanding that in that area, they hire the very best of the best multi-hat inspectors who happen to know the codes way better than most, and I am pretty sure are just what you are looking for.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,374
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You guys are far too kind. Thanks very much.
Ryan Jackson, Salt Lake City
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445 Likes: 3
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Probably the hardest thing to teach is professionalism.
Inspectors, as far as I am concerned, are useless, or irrellevant. I don't mean that as disrespect for inspectors, though....what I mean is that "right" is "right," whether an inspector will see it or not. To see it all as a game, with the goal of slipping as much as possible past the inspector, is simply childish. As professionals, there are plenty of times where we have to use our judgement. This is not something to do lightly.
Nor does it matter what "everyone else does." Where there are no men, try to be a man.
The crew is YOUR crew. They look to you for guidance, for leadership. In return, they owe you their fidelity- that is, you have to be able to trust them to follow directions whether you (or an inspector) are there to catch them, or not.
The biggest problem I see at a lot of places is that they give their leadership positions to the "best performer," without any training in how to lead. Leadership isn't learned overnight.
Some folks have encountered these sorts of situations before. Just how do you "internally motivate" a crew? Two suggestions stand out: -Let the guys doing the work have some say in how it's done; and, -Set up competing crews, with performance criteria spelled out in advance. Winner gets a bonus, prize, whatever.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 74
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I know what you mean about multi hat inspectors, they are jack of all trades, masters of none. Multi hat inspectors are hired for financial reasons, they would rather hire one inspector as opposed to an inspector for every trade, my advice would be if you are in charge of the wiring, make your crew follow the code or get rid of them.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,233
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Vlad,
Again, I too am sorry that you have to deal with a multi-hat inspector. I worked in the field as an apprentice, journeyman and owner of my own company before I became an AHJ. I promised myself that I would treat each and every contractor they way I wanted to be treated. If I see something wrong on the job, I would just say, "Hey john, could you fix that so that it meets code. Thank You." and go on. The EC's knew when something had to be fixed and they knew that I would be checking up on it for the final inspection. Some multi hats only know the book knowledge and not what is out there in the real world. BTW do you have a Construction Board of Appeal(CBA)? Here in NJ if someone doesn't like my call, they can take me in front of the CBA. They will have a chance to state their opinion and challenge mine, but I will have to back up my statement with a code section. If the board agrees with me, then the EC will have to do it my way, and vice-versa. Good luck!
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 827 Likes: 1
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Vlad, With your handle, why should I believe that any inspector sucks more than you do??? Also, if you are an EC, why do you have a handle more befitting a lawyer or ex-wife??? Joe van Helsing
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Posts: 61
Joined: August 2007
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