i recently had an inspector come in and check the plumbing and the electricty of the kitchen. the plumbing failed for one minor thing, and the kitchen needs lights that are “IC approved” along with rewiring and a changing of an “amp” on the fuse box. i have no problem being compliant and am going to make the necessary changes.
a few concerns i have…according to my mother the inspector came on day and didn’t stick around, he made a phone call after he left and was in an “edgy mood”. when he came back and failed the electricity setup, my father asked what it had to be and his response was "i can’t tell yah, you need to buy the code book for $45). once again i have no problem doing so, and mentioned to my father/partner that we shoudl have done this from the beginning. his response was that he felt this guy had an attitude and was ticked about the last time he showed up. he said the current setup was the same as his home which was inspected. (this was about 10 years ago however).
at any rate i’ll get to the point, i’m all for going by the standards and codes so that the house is compliant, however i’m tryiing to get a feel of if this isn’t uncommon where an inspector will look harder to fail things due to a grudge or what not. anyone want to share some experiences? maybe of how i should deal with these guys so that they aren’t trying to give me a tough time (if that is indeed what went on)?
thanks,
ryan
codes change all the time; a good example is GFCIs outlets weren’t required within 6 ft of a sink until the mid-1990’s.
you do not state why you had this inspector is in the house, but a GOOD inspector will be able to spot and know what things may be not up to code, but were at the time of construction (this is a very common situation). As such, it is a bit unusual to be forced to upgrade items that were complaint at time of installation/construction.
the quality of inspectors runs the full range from the complete knucklehead with a flashlight to guys that can cite chapter and verse of National Elec. and Plumbing codes.
hello aak5454,
the reason the inspector came in is becuase we redoing the kitchen. we ripped out everthing and are rewiring, putting in new lights, cabinets, appliances etc. in order to put in the lights we had to rewire some of the old ones. also, we had to change some of the pipes which were sticking out of the sheet rock. nothing too major but from what i understand is that it needs to be inspected because once we decide to sell the house (2 yrs) if it’s done wrong and was not inspected prior…then we have to rip it out and do it then.
my goal is to abide by the standards but not have these guys on my bad side for the future so that they make my life a living hell. right now we got set back a week from this…and along with our “floor situation” (see rehab post if interested)…other than that, so far so good!
ryan
This guy is a city inspector then? If you plan to do rehabs in that area then you’ll want to get along with him. Some city inspectors don’t like people that do their own repairs. Some are very helpful.
Since you are redoing the kitchen you probably do need to update to current code. I got nailed on that for hardwired smoke detectors in the bedroom. Granted, my inspector caught it after I the drywall was hung, taped, sanded, and painted.
i think this is just the town inspector…i’ll have to find out. but yes i agree, i hope maybe i can be present when he comes back…then maybe i can get on the good side of this monkey ;]
ryan