ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Violation after Violation

New electrical companies in my area get inspected pretty heavily. But once the company gets a reputation for doing solid work (typically by passing a handful of inspections), then the inspectors tend not to "waste the time" inspecting them so heavily. After all, they "know they do good work." SO, with the heat off, the electrical company starts cutting corners because they know the inspector isn't going to take the time to look at everything in detail. Add to that complaceny the fact that most homeowners have absolutely no clue about anything electrical, and the fact that the inspectors often let a lot of things slide, and you have the recipe for work that does not comply with the NEC. It really comes down to the contractor policing his own work.

Kevin

Which is a damn shame because I can't tell you how many times I've heard: "Don't waste time doing that. This isn't going to be inspected."

-John

what an inspector pressed for time could do is do a suprise through inspection of a random but substantial portion of the work, or a randomly selected job. If everything looks good on what gets inspected closely, he could assume that what didn't get looked at likely is of the same quality of work, and if what did get looked at passes, he could just do a quick glance at the rest and pass it all.

It's these jack-legs that are in "the trade" that make me have a bit of distrust in New York City electricians. I really hate to say this.

I've seen some of the work that some of these people do....and it ranges from little details like not wrapping up a receptacle with tape, to not fastening a locknut all the way onto a box connector; to totally using the wrong connector for the type of cable that is being run (e.g. using a romex-only type clamp for fastening BX - and omitting the 'red devil' so the wires are rubbing up against the sharp edge of the armor).