How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)?

philS · 03-16-2009, 08:44 PM

Tiger -- Did you say inspection COMPANY? You do realize you need to be dealing with the govt (county or city), not an inspection company. There simply has to be some part of city or county govt that does this. No national insurance company would even come near your town or county if this wasn't being done, VA and FHA wouldn't issue loans, etc etc. But maybe the county or city has contracted it out to a company?
Phil

theatretch85 · 03-16-2009, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigereye

See, this is where I'm confused, too. Not only do they not require a permit, but I can't find anyone to give me a permit. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. I called the city, who said that it's handled at the county level. I called the county Building Dept, who said that a permit isn't required/available for anything on my list since it's my house I'm working on. They did say that I'd need to contact the one approved inspector in the area for inspection. I contacted the inspection company who sent me some paperwork to schedule an inspection, but said the same thing about no permit because it's my house, and to go ahead and start the work, but don't power until the inspection is done.

Frankly, I'd like to get permits so that I've got a proper paper trail before I start anything, but am at a bit of an impasse trying to figure out what to do next.

Hey I must be in that mythical place where no permits are required too! I called the state office or whatever about the electrical permit to remove and replace the FPE stab lok panel and they said that it is not a permit that I have to get its the inspection. They even said they are trying to get away from the word "permit" since all you are paying for is the inspection. Around here its minimum $35 per trip or the amount of the items being inspected at the rate defined. For me to replace the panel, its basically $2 for each re-connected feeder/circuit, or about 40 bucks to have them inspect the new panel install. New additonal circuits or any circuit changed or modified are 6 dollars each for inspection.

AllanJ · 03-16-2009, 09:23 PM

Break up the work into as many projects as you wish.

Each project needs a permit (except in the mythical land of boonies), a rough inspection (except fished work) and a finish inspection before you can turn it on and start using it.

Of course this means that the fewer projects you break the total work into, the lower will be the total of fees you end up paying for permits and inspections.

In some areas some categories of work such as panels need separate permits.

Gigs · 03-16-2009, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philS

Tiger -- Did you say inspection COMPANY? You do realize you need to be dealing with the govt (county or city), not an inspection company. There simply has to be some part of city or county govt that does this. No national insurance company would even come near your town or county if this wasn't being done, VA and FHA wouldn't issue loans, etc etc. But maybe the county or city has contracted it out to a company?
Phil

This isn't true. Lots of places use multiple approved inspection companies, and it usually gives people a choice that they don't have in places where there's a government monopoly on inspections.

As for his work not requiring a permit... this would be more unusual, but states or localities can do whatever they want. The NEC is just a model law, it can and does have exceptions added all the time on a state or local level.

philS · 03-17-2009, 11:45 AM

Gigs -- Good to know about that but I'm sure glad I don't live in one of those places. I can't imagine private companies giving us the kind of support we get here. Education is probably the second-most important goal of our inspectors, so people (DIY and licensed contractors both) understand why they're being tagged. Hard to imagine a contract company caring about that. But, hey, I can always be surprised.

Also our inspectors are perfectly willing to learn. When I use some product that's new to them (so far it's all been framing fasteners), they're willing to go do some research to see if they can find a test report for it (can't recall the initials for those things). Again, hard to imagine any incentive for a private company to be very helpful. -- Phil

tigereye · 03-17-2009, 01:21 PM

Ok, after spending the morning on the phone, I think I've got this figured out...

The county only issues Building Permits. Which I do not need because it's my own house. All Electrical work goes through a private company contracted by the county to handle the permits and inspections.

The paperwork the private company sent me is a permit and permit application in one. I need to fill out all of the details and submit the fee to the private company, but not until I'm ready for inspection. Once the work is done, the private company sends out an inspector.

Seems kinda backwards to me, but whatever.

Regardless, I'm going to the panel as it's own request (whichever way I decide), and then talk to the inspector about the rest of work I want to do and see how they want to handle it.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I'm sure I'll have more questions as we go along.

Mike

AllanJ · 03-17-2009, 01:47 PM

A company to issue permits and do inspections.

equals

Privatizing that government function.

Scuba_Dave · 03-17-2009, 02:15 PM

Well basically it is the Inspection you are paying for
New construction I guess would be handled different since you then need rough electric, framing, plumbing, final etc

Here they "expire" electric permits after 6 months

With the work I'm doing by myself it takes a few months to get th framing done. So I asked if I had to pull permits at the same time (seperate for electric). They said no, wait until I have framing done & I'm ready for rough inspections. Of course with all the work I've been doing they know my house

03-16-2009, 08:44 PM	#16
philS Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: OR Posts: 168	How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)? Tiger -- Did you say inspection COMPANY? You do realize you need to be dealing with the govt (county or city), not an inspection company. There simply has to be some part of city or county govt that does this. No national insurance company would even come near your town or county if this wasn't being done, VA and FHA wouldn't issue loans, etc etc. But maybe the county or city has contracted it out to a company? Phil

03-16-2009, 09:23 PM	#18
AllanJ Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Nashua, NH, USA Posts: 6,775	How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)? Break up the work into as many projects as you wish. Each project needs a permit (except in the mythical land of boonies), a rough inspection (except fished work) and a finish inspection before you can turn it on and start using it. Of course this means that the fewer projects you break the total work into, the lower will be the total of fees you end up paying for permits and inspections. In some areas some categories of work such as panels need separate permits. __________________ The average homeowner who lost his house in the Oklahoma tornadoes should move for good and not rebuild. Too much complexity watchdogging the contractor. Too much a chance to be defrauded.

03-17-2009, 11:45 AM	#20
philS Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: OR Posts: 168	How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)? Gigs -- Good to know about that but I'm sure glad I don't live in one of those places. I can't imagine private companies giving us the kind of support we get here. Education is probably the second-most important goal of our inspectors, so people (DIY and licensed contractors both) understand why they're being tagged. Hard to imagine a contract company caring about that. But, hey, I can always be surprised. Also our inspectors are perfectly willing to learn. When I use some product that's new to them (so far it's all been framing fasteners), they're willing to go do some research to see if they can find a test report for it (can't recall the initials for those things). Again, hard to imagine any incentive for a private company to be very helpful. -- Phil

03-17-2009, 01:21 PM	#21
tigereye Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Northern Ky. Posts: 114	How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)? Ok, after spending the morning on the phone, I think I've got this figured out... The county only issues Building Permits. Which I do not need because it's my own house. All Electrical work goes through a private company contracted by the county to handle the permits and inspections. The paperwork the private company sent me is a permit and permit application in one. I need to fill out all of the details and submit the fee to the private company, but not until I'm ready for inspection. Once the work is done, the private company sends out an inspector. Seems kinda backwards to me, but whatever. Regardless, I'm going to the panel as it's own request (whichever way I decide), and then talk to the inspector about the rest of work I want to do and see how they want to handle it. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I'm sure I'll have more questions as we go along. Mike

03-17-2009, 01:47 PM	#22
AllanJ Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Nashua, NH, USA Posts: 6,775	How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)? A company to issue permits and do inspections. equals Privatizing that government function. __________________ The average homeowner who lost his house in the Oklahoma tornadoes should move for good and not rebuild. Too much complexity watchdogging the contractor. Too much a chance to be defrauded.

How do I break this up for inspections (or how many inspections do I need)?