I don't think there is any way that the torque can be checked by the inspector. I have been taught that it is never correct to re-torque a connection. If an inspector would use a torque wrench to check the torque he would be re-torqueing it. The torque specs that are issued by the manufacturers allow for the "cold flow" or relaxation that will occur after the connection is made. The manufacturer's listed torque will provide the proper contact resistance even with the heat cool cycles that will occur with varying loads. If a connection is re-torqued it may become too tight and result in a poor connection at low loads. This would happen to a connection that has been re-torqued and then subjected to a full load. The full load will cause some heating and expansion resulting in additional cold flow. When the load is removed and the conductor cools, the connection may have a higher resistance then it should have. This problem occurs more with wire connections, than with bus bar connections.
A conductor that exhibits evidence of overheating at a termination should be cut off and re-terminated, not just re-torqued.
Don(resqcapt19)
