Sometimes contractors think they know what inspector’s will approve only, to be proven wrong. Over the years we’ve learned to appreciate inspectors. Here’s an example of why you don’t want to let contractors charge ahead of the inspector’s inspection.
On one one of my projects, plans called for the electrical subcontractor install electrical conduit and floor outlets in an existing concrete slab. In a meeting, the subcontractor, Tony, admits he was late scheduling the inspection. It means it’ll be another two week before the inspector comes out, creating a delay.
To stay on schedule he says, “I’m going to have my guys go ahead and patch the slab so we can keep moving.”
So I ask, “What’s going to happen when the inspector can’t see the conduit?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, “I know the guy; it won’t be a problem.”
We monitored the installation. We knew it was installed per code, but the city inspector has the authority to reject installation. And I’ve met with enough inspectors to know not to assume anything so I say, “Look Tony! You can patch the floor if you want, but you’re doing it at your own risk. The owner won’t pay for you to redo it, if the inspector doesn’t approve it.”
Tony agreed. Because he was was moving so quickly, I wrote him an email that same afternoon summarizing our conversation and agreement. Then I rescheduled the flooring installation to happen after the inspection.
A couple of weeks later, the three of us met on site for the scheduled inspection…
Everything went fine until the inspector saw the new conduit floor patch, and that’s when he said, “Tony, I can’t tell what kind of conduit you installed.” Tony tried, to explain, “We were in a hurry Joe. It’s 3/4″ conduit per code, like we do everywhere. You know our work.”
But Joe stuck to his guns. “Things have changed, and I can’t see it. You’ll have to cut it out and reinstall it, so I can see it,”. Which is exactly what Tony had to do.
A couple weeks later we had the inspector back out after Tony ‘s guys reinstalled everything, and he approved the installation. Then we patched the floor and installed the flooring.
Tony couldn’t have been more wrong. He had to fix redo that work or we would not have gotten the occupancy permit, which would have delayed the re-opening.
If we had agreed with the subcontractor and approved patching of the floor, we would have been responsible for the cost of redoing that work.
The subcontractor didn’t like it, but because he agreed to charge ahead of the inspector at his own risk, he had to pay for it when it was not approved.
Always wait for the building inspector to complete their inspection before proceeding. There is much more information in Construction Conductor about inspectors, what they look at and when to use them.
Major cities often have in-house inspectors, which can lead to longer lead times due tot eh limited number of inspectors. Cities too small to have in-house inspectors, use companies like Bureau Veritas to support the building department. Contact the building department in your city for more information on your project requirements.
