Stupid fucking inspector

[hugme]

Ok, so last time the inspector was here he made me a list of all the things we have to do. I did them, every fucking one. Moving the sub panel because the ceiling in the room it was in is 5'9" instead of 6' took an entire day. Everything on his list passed. but he came up with a bunch of new bullshit.... and I do mean bullshit....

Want to hear what kind of bullshit rules there are?

if you have a staircase it counts as an entrance... even if the stairs are in the middle of the floor you have to have an outlet on each floor within 6' of the stairs... even if the stairs are in the middle of the floor... this means you have to have 4 outlets on the floor it comes form and 4 on the floor below plus 2 outlets on each side of the stair walls.. yes, that's a total of 10 outlets or almost an entire circuit.. even if the stairs are in the middle of the floor you have to add floor outlets even if those outlets are in a main through center of traffic so that they will be walked on constantly and become a serious hazard.

this is the third time we have failed inspecting.. and each time it's different bullshit they have come up with... this has gotten to the point where it's fucking ridiculous!!!

They wonder why people don't want to get permits... THIS IS WHY!!!

again, I will suggest if you can get away with not getting a permit... don't get one!

Comments

[asbrand.livejournal.com]

I suggest you put them in...pass inspection...then remove them afterwards.

Did you ask him why he didn't bother pointing out all these required outlets around the stairs the LAST time he was there?



-Az

[of-the-myst.livejournal.com]

can you say you changed your mind and make the inspector go away?

[dwivian]

As an electrician, I think I would have missed the outlets on the stairs. Most stairwells come in on the sides of rooms (or as dividers of a living space), so it's not something I've thought about all that often.

I have seen a staircase stop one step short of meeting the ground floor. It is, literally, hovering over the floor. It even has hardwood laid UNDER it. Why? to avoid having an entrance in the middle of the room requiring electrical service. Very pretty, honestly, but the reason was amusing. I think it was considered an art emplacement, thus bypassing a lot of the construction rules, too.

The near-power rule makes sense from a practical standpoint, as we've already discussed, but there need to be specific exceptions like yours. Nobody is going to want electrical outlets IN a staircase (not even to vaccuum). That 'entrance' is close enough to all other walls as to make supplemental outlets superfluous. And, yet, there's the rule...

Even worse to me is the inspector -- why didn't he add these to the list the first time? Why make him come out AGAIN? Are we sure he's qualified to do the job in the first place?

I think I'm starting to feel your frustration.

[nausved.livejournal.com]

I think you pissed the inspector off.

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

I had wondered why the townhouse had outlets on the floor... they were by the stairs... so I guess that's why.

[bitmap.livejournal.com]

Do they not realize that connecting any wires to an outlet near stairs is a trip hazard? Maybe you could go to the city/county board of commissioners for a variance?