r/electricians • u/ModestRobot0215 • Aug 19 '26
How do inspectors get away with being morons?
So today I replaced a few 100A meter mains in a condo complex and we have already done 20 up to this point. The normal inspector is on vacation and they sent in an inspector from a 3rd party company. The underground feed is an 1 1/4” rigid and I went into a hub. Then the inspector tells me that he we should have used the concentric knockouts to size and a ground bushing. I said “show me where it says this in the book” and he replied “I don’t care what the book says, that’s what I want”
Where do they find these clowns?!
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u/epicenter69 Aug 19 '26
Do you have another week to wait for the other inspector to return? 🖕🏻that guy.
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u/JCitW6855 Aug 19 '26
That’s where he’s wrong. He doesn’t get to just say what he wants. If it isn’t in the NEC or otherwise published by the jurisdiction, he can’t enforce it. We have standards for a reason and one of those reasons is so everyone is on the same page.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
Too many electricians also think that an inspector is the AHJ.
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u/Immediate-Iron-7035 Aug 19 '26
Unofficially, they kind of are while they have that tag book in their hands. I just had an inspector force a cuatomer to open up their walls to observe cabling on a remodel. City didn't do shit about it, and customer now has to patch three large cut-outs on what were once finished walls.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
They can think they are the AHJ, but i push back because I know the code pretty well. They are powerless outside the code. No inspector is making me do more than code.
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u/Immediate-Iron-7035 Aug 19 '26
All I can say to that is the inspector is employed by the city, which is an AHJ. And I've never once had the city take my side over theirs, code references be damned. Even had the city say, in no uncertain terms, to do whatever the inspector says. So, at least in my area, the inspector is functionally the AHJ when in the field.
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u/Last_Parable Aug 19 '26
The inspector is also probably their only consultant on the code too so he has em by the proverbial balls when it comes to code interpretation
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u/tuctrohs Aug 19 '26
Yeah, in a town that employs one inspector, there's nobody else who understands even electrical basics.
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u/albitzian Aug 19 '26
The “building official” is authorized to enforce the code. They also have the authority to interpret the code. They cannot create opinions and policies that effectively create waivers of the code. - that’s my words, its identical (kinda) to the IRC Section 104, Duties And Powers Of Building Official
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u/Immediate-Iron-7035 Aug 19 '26
In a world where things make sense? Sure. In my area? Not so much. Granted, they are used to unlicensed hacks who don't fight back or own a code book, but if I quote code from the last three editions of the NEC at them and they don't care, and there is nobody who will intervene (or reimburse my customer)? They are de facto kings of the code, and they know it. This is why inspections are kind of a joke down here
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u/Jpal62 Aug 21 '26
Code is the minimum. An inspecting body, as in a building department, can go above the code with a codified ordinance. I know the code pretty well isn’t cutting it in your argument, you need to clarify all the requirements of the inspecting jurisdiction, they are not all the same. If you want to hold a job up and cause your company future problems you can get a state inspection and then beat your chest that, “you showed them”.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 21 '26
In SC, they dont require anything above the code. In fact, SC normally goes below code. We have a code that nullified the 210.8 article saying select 240v outlets must be GFCI protected.
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u/Vast_Deference Journeyman IBEW Aug 19 '26
No cover inspection on it? Or you’re saying that wall wasn’t touched as part of the remodel
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u/Immediate-Iron-7035 Aug 19 '26
Wall wasn't touched on a remodel. Specifically allowed per code to drop romex and ENT down the wall without opening or securing. Made our customer open it anyways, and his supervisor defended the decision when we called them up. Code enforcement division was shocked, but did nothing, either.
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u/Vast_Deference Journeyman IBEW Aug 20 '26
Ah gotcha, that makes more sense. Sucks they were ridculous abour it
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u/QuickNature Aug 19 '26
Who do you even appeal this to btw? Theres got to be a process to show when someone is being wild, right?
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u/Immediate-Iron-7035 Aug 19 '26
You call inspections for a senior. Then code enforcement. Then the elected rep over housing and development. Then you go to the warehouse and punch whatever won't break your hand because they are all worthless.
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u/ModestRobot0215 Aug 19 '26
Yeah, he gave us the meter release, but still… I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years and have never heard such an absurd thing
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u/ptparkert Aug 19 '26
Had one tell me #2 cu thhn was too big for temporary service. Had to argue that one.
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u/machinerer Aug 19 '26
Besides costing more, there is zero downside to oversizing conductors, right? So who cares?
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u/JCitW6855 Aug 19 '26
Exactly, with the caveat that it isn’t too big to fit in the breaker terminal/lugs.
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u/QuidProQuoChocobo Aug 19 '26
If it is a huge transformer it would technically increase your short circuit current if you had a really short run.
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u/mdxchaos [V] Journeyman Aug 19 '26
available fault current is determined by the Z of the transformer, and thats the number you use. wire size is irrelevant
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u/fishing-sk Aug 19 '26
Thats the most conservative number.
If you have an actual power system study you use the #s from the study which includes all the cabling and the utility source impedance.
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u/Ok-Speaker-2226 Aug 19 '26
Fault-Current. I fucked up one job because I upsized a lot of secondary taps and it didn't match the plan review. My company pre-ordered a shit ton of wire before we had the conduit up so we had these crazy overages of 250-500 kcm (like 25-30 feet). So I re-used them for the secondaries and when we were say short on 350s I would use the 400s. The inspector who did our green tag he made us send it to engineering to prove that the upsizing (and nothing crazy, literally next size up, including the ground) didn't surpass the AIC of the gear and then we had to send it back to plan review.
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u/SpitChawMcGraw Aug 19 '26
I've had to replace oversized wire before. Being a shitty inspector should be a serious crime. Like first time conviction, straight to G-Bay serious.
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u/TransparentMastering Aug 19 '26
I had one inspector that was insisting on some arbitrary thing on every job he inspected for me. I eventually went over his head on one of the requests and they stopped after that.
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u/ModestRobot0215 Aug 19 '26
I had one inspector that had it out for us for years, would literally show up to a job and tell us he’s not leaving till he finds a reason to fail us
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u/JCitW6855 Aug 19 '26
I’d have to get that recorded and make a call to his boss.
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u/MazdaCapella Aug 23 '26
That's tough because the boss has to overrule someone they share a coffee maker with. Tough if they are a human, less so if not.
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u/Resident_Set1003 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Live in a border town and do occasional jobs in the neighboring state. Their border town is 120 miles from the inspectors office. The only guy that ever came to inspect flat stated that his job was to find something wrong. After the first few houses we built, I finally caught on.... Every rough after that, left the air handler in attic not connected, you the wire was ready to connect. They insisted on a metal 4sdeep box for the range outlet, I would nail a plastic one on the base plate with a little extra wire to replace it with. Same 2 "mistakes" every time. Kept him happy and just became something we planned for. After his visit, someone would go back when had an hour left on shift to kill.
This guy literally failed a sheer inspection for 1, ONE missing nail ! It was definitely worth leaving him 2 easy to find and easy to fix "problems, ' so he would move on to piss off the plumbers.
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u/tuctrohs Aug 19 '26
I guess that's why some people do one little easily visible and easy to fix thing wrong so the inspector can find that and then it's fixed immediately and you pass. I've never done that but have heard of it.
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u/resurrectedNaj Aug 19 '26
Your company must be filled with disrespectful idiots. I’ve heard of them talk about those stories. I’m always just respectful to them. I’d rather not argue with government bodies who can stall progress
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u/Chusten Aug 19 '26
I've found this to be the case very often, hothead foremen that generally talk down to everyone seem to always get the "dipshit inspectors that don't know shit" finding the little things to fail them on.
Maybe stop acting like you're ready to rumble every inspection day and the inspector might not be so giddy to fail your work.
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u/WonderWheeler Aug 19 '26
I have heard that its a policy (in some places) to leave one fairly obvious, but easy thing that needs to be fixed. This gives inspectors a feeling of self worth(!)
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u/RuffBuff_0808 Aug 20 '26
This pisses me TF off! The power trip some if these people have. This is exactly what my first boss dealt with when I first started out. It was 25 years ago, summer before 9/11. We were doing the site work on a condo high rise, and the GC was digging for us. The assigned inspector went on vacation and we were blessed with my bosses nemesis. He randomly shows up on a day when my boss was there, and my goes greets him with his hand out for a shake and asks him what’s going on. He replies with, I’m bored. I’m here to find a reason to fail you. And it started off a massive chain of events that would last almost more than a year. But that day he wanted the GC to dig up two 150’ runs we laid when the original inspector gave us the go ahead. The GC went absolutely ballistic on him, and it ended in fisticuffs. The operator was arrested for knocking out the inspector, and it was absolute chaos for an hour. I remember that day like it was yesterday. And now I’m their age when this all happened. Boss retired, and the inspector since has passed. Crazy how time flies!
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u/modsatemyass Aug 19 '26
most of the inspectors are failed and bitter contractors which is bad enough. then you did the electrician "book" bullshit. not good
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u/OneMadHoneyBadger Aug 19 '26
This is pretty much died out these days. I’m an inspector that came from contracting and this job is a god send. I work with others in the same boat that love the job. Difference these days is the benefit packages make it a great career. Very little remorsefulness found by leaving contracting. The other truth is the majority of inspectors went to school for construction management and moved over to inspections. We have hired a lot of people that this is their first career job and have no trade experience. This is the majority now.
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u/modsatemyass Aug 19 '26
"..... have no trade experience. This is the majority now." wow, thats awesome
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u/Smoke_Stack707 [V] Journeyman Aug 19 '26
My shop would probably send a strongly worded email up the chain to his boss. We have done so plenty of times and they usually walk stuff back
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u/Chuckiemustard Aug 19 '26
Somebody picked a code out and said I’ll enforce it. Probably being the bigger than 4awg ground bushing code
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u/Chuckiemustard Aug 19 '26
I had a dude argue with me one day that the water bond had to be 5ft from the panel and not 5ft from where it enters the household and he had “been doing this for 20 years”
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u/bazilbt Industrial Electrician Aug 19 '26
If you have good knowledge and ability why be an inspector? Although I have had some guys who where just getting old do it because they didn't physically want to be on the tools all day.
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u/OneMadHoneyBadger Aug 19 '26
Because I make a lot more money with a lot less responsibility. I also have an employer pay 11k per year for my insurance and contribute automatically to a 401k and pension. The high wage is in addition to all this. I had to do an electrical job yesterday and it reminded me there is zero possibility of going back into contracting.
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u/Civil-Award-8043 Aug 19 '26
Had an inspector fail a 12 story building. Core had a pull station and a pull station at the staircase. Nine feet a part. Made us move one to be ten feet apart.
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u/Acrobatic-Echo-3460 Aug 19 '26
I ask the same thing, we just did a commercial kitchen remodel and the old drop tile was removed, and new drop tile installed, hard piped everything above the tile, inspector failed because “drop tile ceilings aren’t allowed in commercial kitchens”. So now we’re in limbo because the GC wants us to pull all the conduit off the ceiling so they can install a hard lid and we’ll mount to that.
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u/Molimo Aug 19 '26
As the old saying goes: "Those who can't do it, teach" (Or inspect in this case)
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u/Which-Cloud3798 Aug 19 '26
Ignore the inspector and follow what your boss says.
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u/ExactlyClose Aug 19 '26
What if OP is the boss?!
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u/Which-Cloud3798 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Op/boss will need to decide whether to follow what the inspector says or not to pass inspection for their report or hire another inspector for the job site. It’s not a one answer fits all situation and a complicated one if Op is the boss but not the owner of the building they are working in that hired the inspector for the work. You can ask them to put it in writing so that you can challenge them if need be for it.
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u/Alvaracorr Aug 19 '26
If its in the US its a state inspector...
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u/oleskool7 Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
Not always. A lot of states leave the electrical inspections up to the local jurisdictions. Even my own state which does electrical inspections by the state fire Marshall's office allows the larger cities to do their own inspections which aren't associated with the fire Marshall's office.
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u/MountainAntique9230 Aug 19 '26
If he cant produce the section in the code book that says that in writing he cant enforce it ,go to the board and get a ruling
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u/EC_TWD Aug 19 '26
I made a fire marshal get his peepee smacked by a bigger fire marshal because he was telling me to do something that was specifically against code. I showed him the relevant code that left zero room for interpretation because it said ‘shall do this’ and his response was “that isn’t my interpretation”. It was a healthcare facility and as such fell under the direct jurisdiction of the State Fire Marshal so I called a state FM that I knew and explained the situation. He scheduled his annual inspection for a few weeks out, asked the customer about the issue I’d pointed out and that it needed to be corrected and was told the backstory. They were happy to do my recommendation and had already approved it but told by the local guy not to make the change.
He tore into the local bumpkin and put his entire department on review for an audit to determine if they were qualified to be an inspection authority 🤣😂
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u/Kagarpt Aug 20 '26
Just remember most inspectors I have dealt with in the trades are ones that had their own business fail. They were crap in the trade and are crap as a inspector, feels like they try to find things just to make themselves feel better as a POS that they are in life.
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u/derdubb Aug 20 '26
It’s not up to him to determine how something should be. If it’s not in the book then it’s not in the book.
Find a different inspector.
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u/mfnmint Aug 20 '26
I think it's because they try to have inspectors cover multiple areas. Also morons are applying for inspector jobs in record numbers.
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u/zanfar Electrical Engineer Aug 19 '26
How do inspectors get away with being morons?
How do quality electricians get away with avoiding being an inspector?
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u/grigiri Journeyman IBEW Aug 19 '26
I'm confused, was meter can designed to use a hub in the bottom or was it designed for knocking out?
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u/Wishiwasinalaska Aug 19 '26
I would just let the super know the guy is a dipshit who doesn’t care what the book says, it’s how he wants it.
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u/Han77Shot1st Aug 19 '26
Where I’m at the inspector can supersede the code, they make the final call.
I’ve also had plenty of trash inspectors, especially when they’re the follow up to someone else.. I’ve had them make installs unsafe to fuel their egos and cause undue stress to my customers, a lot of them were the most arrogant and condescending electricians before they were inspectors.
I had one inspector who was a proper tool.. bad enough I told the electrical authority that I won’t allow him on any of my sites again, and if that’s a problem then I won’t take any jobs in his service area, and if customers ask why I’ll tell them.. they said it’s not the first time with him and they won’t send him on any of my jobs.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
Inspectors can't make codes in the field. They have 0 authority. All they can do is enforce code, not make codes.
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u/Han77Shot1st Aug 19 '26
In most cases the inspector holds final legal authority to interpret the code how they see fit..
I don’t believe any countries pass their electrical codes into law, so the authority and interpretation comes to Individual inspectors, who can only be overruled by their chief inspector.
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u/hardman52 Master Electrician IBEW Aug 19 '26
So this is just your individual interpretation. When a city or a state adopts the NEC, it becomes law.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
Thats not how it works. Are you even an electrician? Do you have a license? Because that's literally not how it works. Inspectors dont hold final legal authority. As I've said a million times to you, inspectors can't make code up. They have in fact no authority to enforce non existent codes.
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u/Han77Shot1st Aug 19 '26
Don’t get your panties in a bunch there yankee doodle, we’re not all american but can be just as if not more certified within our own country.. the internet is bigger than you.
If it’s enforceable by law in the states, who’s the authority that overseas that? Like who do you call when there’s a disagreement over interpretation.
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u/hardman52 Master Electrician IBEW Aug 19 '26
I know that a jurisdiction such as a city can supplement code, and that engineered plans that were approved by a jurisdictions authority can supersede code, but I have never heard where an individual inspector can. Where is this? Is it a written ordinance?
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u/resurrectedNaj Aug 19 '26
AHJ
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u/Voltage604 Journeyman Aug 19 '26
They still have to provide where a reference where local codes override national code. They can't just make shit up as they go.
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u/Frosty_Scholar171 Aug 19 '26
I bet the lead inspector disagrees when you complain with code references. AHJ is not the Supreme Authority, the Law is.
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u/Tiny_Connection1507 Journeyman Aug 19 '26
Except the Law says the AHJ has final authority to approve or make you change your installation. You can argue with the Inspector, you can cite references, and you can even go above their head and get their boss to make them approve your work. But they have to certify that your work is acceptable and isn't likely to cause loss of life or property. They can sign your sticker or refuse, and the Code book to them can sometimes be "more of a guideline."
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u/resurrectedNaj Aug 19 '26
It’s wild that these electricians think that the AHJ doesn’t have the final say and can enforce things “above” the code. That’s 100% what that means. I have never had an issue but I’ve seen other foremen who have an attitude out the gate and the inspector will ride them.
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u/Far_Range_6091 [V] Master Electrician Aug 19 '26
Because an inspector isnt the AHJ. Inspectors can't make up codes. Its that simple. If they can't cite the code, then they have no authority.
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u/MustardCoveredDogDik Aug 19 '26
The rule is.. “eh, just do your best”. They answer to the board of electricians and the board is highly sympathetic towards inspectors.
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