I know we've touched on this a number of times before, but I'm trying to get a more thorough picture of who the AHJs/Inspectors are and other details. Are they Private Agents/Agencies, PT, FT, Town Employees, State Employees, Fire Marshals. ?? Do you call them to schedule appointments when ready or do they act under someone else's direction and control, maybe tied to permits, etc. ?? Do you have a choice of who to call?

Do you have opportunity for any personal contact with him? I mean, Can you call him directly to ask a question?

Thanks for any comments.

Bill

Rockland County, NY
Third party Electrical Inspector/Underwriter
Is called directly for appointments and questions.

I live in Metro Atlanta and currently have permits pulled in 7 jurisdictions, each having it's own rules. I have to pull a permit and then when the work is complete some counties have you call an automated system, others have you call the inspector between 7:30 and 8:30, others have you call between 8 and 9. It can really get confusing trying to keep it straight.

Ron,

That sounds like what we have 'Downstate' too (Long Island)

Electric Eagle,

Who are the Inspectors employed by?
What is your opinion of the system where you are? Do you get to know these people at all?

Bill

We pull a permit then call in for inspection when it's ready. The inspector is an city employee who inspects all day. Normally if we call before 3:00 pm, he will get it that day. I'm in Arkansas.

For the Allegheny Power required inspections, Private Inspectors IAEI certified, all are Electrical Contractors and all but one work for an Agency for inspections. The one that doesn't may not fully understand the liability insurance costs involved.

Personal contact is the only way to get in touch with these guys, and all are quite willing to answer any questions. (Although most of my Q's get a blank stare and an "I don't know..."). One inspector has been known to ask me for advice...

For the city of Lewisburg, a building inspector does both rough and final inspections and permits and city licenses are required. He's adamant on CABO smoke detector rules, but a little ignorant in actual NEC.

One Inspector will only inspect Electrical Contractors that he knows, DIY's and Grandfathered EC's need not apply.

All the EI's are begging me to get my IAEI ticket too...

On a side note, the county permits that used to be required are now a grey area, seems to be illegal to charge a building permit fee without providing some sort of inspection service. Seems this will go the route of eliminating the permits rather than requiring inspections. Too bad.

Virgil,

How does that 1 guy that's not part of an Agency get permitted to do Electrical Inspections if he is not aware of Insurance costs involved? Don't they have to have like a Gazillion $$ worth of Insurance to be approved by the State or County or whoever to perform Electrical Inspections??

Bill

I've only used him once, and he gave the most thorough inspection of them all, I was impressed, but he has to travel many miles and it was just more convenient to use him that day. He was the inspector that I mentioned in this thread many moons ago...

He's apparently under the mistaken impression that his Electrical Contractor's Liability covers him. I'm sure he's very wrong in that assumption, however.

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 05-11-2002).]

We've state inspectors here in VT. They are booked up solid, and may view your work up to a year later, at which point it may be hard to recall what you did....

Each inspector has his/her turf, as the state is cut up into sections for them....

They are approachable, will answer Q's & do plan reviews.

I did a school last yr, and received notice that it would not be inspected due to my bieng 'low priority'. I guess i should be flattered??

'66,

The only "required" insurance is what Allegheny Energy requires & that is only 1 or 2 million in general lliability and about the same for PL/PD for the vehicle.

The important insurance is "Errors and Omissions" and it is terribly expensive. I looked into about 2 years ago. I'd basically be doing my first 100 inspections to pay for the insurance. Since I only have time for 150 to 200 inspections a year, I can't afford it.

BTW, thanks to our legislature, I'm now going to have to buy a state license (read that as a tax) in order to continue doing inspections. It will probably be 6 months to a year before it is implemented.

As for inspections at this end of the Mountain State, larger towns have their own inspectors, usually multi-hats, most of which are very weak on the NEC.

[This message has been edited by Tom (edited 05-11-2002).]

State of Nebraska

1) Good state inspection system for everything not covered by municipalities. They are spread thin and only require permits/inspections when a new service is involved. Each inspector has his own interpretations and quirks, but by and large they are easy to work with, with a few exceptions. Each inspector has his own territory, so we deal mainly with just two guys.

2) Larger cities and towns have their own inspectors who are usually general "building inspectors". With these guys there is much more variation. It is allways easier to talk to them ahead of time and make it clear that you will do your best to comply with the NEC and any local rules. Unfortunately this system is sometimes used to make it difficult for "outside" contractors to come into town and compete. Just a fact of life in the trade I guess.

FWIW,
GJ

ours are city, county, or state of oregon inspectors. they have their own certification process, need 8 years experience, a general supervisor license [like a master electrician] and testing and interviews. i've only had one that bordered on incompetent, and was told he got his oregon insp certification because he had inspected in another state. very hard to reach one for questions anywhere, and you get whoever they send. they have to be called the day before the inspection, but they have to be there the next day, unless its really rural, then i think they may be allowed 2 days to inspect. with the slowdown, there have been a lot of inspector layoffs here so we have gotten some private inspection guys if the ahj is short handed.

i didnt mean to sound rude about our inspectors though. they are generally very helpful and know a lot more than i do [but that aint sayin much] i think it helps that they have to come from the trade here, and need to have the general supervisor license to prove it

Bill,
Our inspectors are county or city employees. One jurisdiction I deal with has 12 regular zoned inspectors and 2 "floaters". (Wouldn't you hate for your job tittle to be Floater?) You get to know some of the inspectors to an extent in if you have several jobs in one area, but we get spread around and I'm rarely on site when they show up. Most of them are OK, but some can be REAL jerks, especially if you try to get them to give you the courtesy of an approximate ETA so you can have someone to let them into a locked house.

Our inspectors are city or county employees. We have to deal with local fire marshals on commercial jobs and state fire marshals on assembly halls and larger jobs. I am fortunate to have good inspectors to deal with in our immediate jurisdiction. I speak with them often even if to just say hello. They have given me their cell numbers so I can get right through. They are also good about scheduling for things like shut downs and reconnects. Some of the surrounding areas are not as good to work with and all of them look for different things. I guess I am fortunate here!

Bill,

Here in Pittsburgh, PA we have a Chief Electrical Inspector. He supervises a staff of electrical inspectors. They are all nationally certified by I.A.E.I. All are employed by the City's Department of Public Safety.

We have an opportunity to call them between the hours of 8:00AM and 10:00AM each workday if we have any questions. After 10:00AM they leave their office to do field inspections.

Frank

Gentlemen:
This reply may be a few days late, but....
Here in NJ
All inspectors are State Licensed
Some work for the City/Town/TWP/etc.
Some work for 3rd Party Agencies
Some are PT/Some are FT
Hours and days vary by Towns...
Typical Tues & Thursday...9:00 to 1:00
Some are Mon thru Friday...and even 8:00 to 4:30.
The guy who wrote"if you call by 3:00 you get an inspection that day"...hey that's great.
Most of the calls are made thru the Towns
We utilize a Statewide Uniform Construction Code with standard forms, and it's supposed to be "almost 100%" computer linked to the State DCA

Anyone that has further curiosities about NJ, you can E-mail me (John_HLEC@msn.com)

John

Thank You all for your comments. Although some circumstances are different there seems to be many simularities too.

Bill

here in indiana since we dont have a state licening we have local hired inspectors they are concidered to have limited law enforcement powers and are protected by the states law suit limit of $300k but since the local units of goverment has to adopt any codes before they can be enforced they have to have this level of power to enforce the codes and levey any fines or charges for violations. and these could be as much as $2500 for like working with out a permit or licecines