Building Inspector

[jebatty]

I live in an area without a building code; hence, no building inspector. Leaves me wondering how safe/unsafe or good/bad all my projects are as measured against the uniform building code. Also leaves me pleased I don't have to get every project permitted and inspected.

Wood stove and chimney install in 1990; Tarm boiler, pressurized storage and chimney install in 2007; three house additions, all self-built; rewired and replumbed the entire house, as well as the additions, over a period of 18 years; ripped out a 30' supporting foundation wall, temporary supports, then put in a microlam to hold up one side of the house to allow a basement expansion; installed a beam to carry 1/2 the roof load, which I shifted from other supports; installed roof trusses on one addition with a 16' cantilever overhanging a deck; and a lot more.

Anybody feel safe to visit?

 

[carbon neutral]

No building codes, no inspections, no permits?? Sounds like gods country to me.

 

[jebatty]

We need a building permit, but essentially only for the purpose of meeting required setbacks. We may get an inspection to make sure we complied with setbacks, but no review, inspection, or building codes as to how we build.

 

[carbon neutral]

How does it work with the insurance companies?

 

[Sawyer]

Same here Jim. Our house is biult from trees on the property that I ran through my sawmill. I still follow codes in case I ever have to sell this place and have to have the building expected for the buyer. Hope that never happens and they plant me by my deerstand on the back 40!

 

[Chris S]

Some see building inspectors as a nuisance, necessary evil etc. I think their main purpose is to make us safe. Some have the attitude that if you're building it for yourself then only you will suffer from your lack of skill, ability to follow plans, or inability to meet a safety requirement. Legal issues aside, most Americans live in their home less than 10 years, and then pass on their mess to the next unsuspecting soul. If we build a home to last 100 years, or more the argument of leave me alone I'm only hurting myself doesn't fly.
For example I was in a new home that had unsafe stairs. Too steep, not enough headroom. this could not be rectified, the stairwell opening was not properly designed into the home. Somehow the home had a certificate of occupancy, I know some locales where it would not, under any circumstances.
My attitude is do the work as if it were being scrutinized by the building inspector, the Architect, or the engineer who deigned it, even when there is no enforcement.

Chris

PS I work in construction where we file permits ,and get inspections, but it's nowhere near as difficult as some of the neighboring counties we sometimes work in. and...
I'm in favor of licensing for all trades to weed out the riff raff.

 

[pybyr]

when I bought my 180+/- year olf place almost 12 years ago, the wiring consisted, truly, of every type known in the last 100 years, all cobbed together, often with only friction tape where knob and tube met rusty BX that met Romex. Stray voltage was everywhere, and lights flickered in strange ways

same with the plumbing- had no wood pipe, but had lead, iron, copper, and PVC, and much of it leaked; overflow line from the gravity flow spring would let fetid water back into the rusty stock tank cistern in the cellar

I spotted the biggest hazards and tackled them first

since there's no licensing requirements, I could actually afford to buy a place like this and re-do it myself

I have no licenses, and do not need them where I am, but I do carefully read and carefully try to not only meet but exceed code. My carpenter acquaintances laugh at the way I exceeded joist span tables by threefold when re-doing a floor, but heck, it only cost me $60 extra in lumber and you could park a car on my dining room floor without the floor sagging or bouncing.

I now have a 150 amp main panel, all new wiring, and "home run PEX" with valved manifolds for the plumbing

meanwhile, I had to "beg off" running some underfloor wiring in a nearby old local church because I lack the license needed to work on a "public building" but then upon examining the work after it was done by a licensed "master electrician," discovered that it didn't begin to meet code. not unsafe, just sloppy as heck- romex drooping randomly all over the place between joists instead of being attached to runner boards, etc

and I've seen some horror stories where people who did live in areas that required inspection had it "performed" by ill-informed boobs who found baseless fault with methodically proper installs, and it seemed not-too-subtle that the aforementioned boobs were really angling for a payoff to go away

my point is, an excess of regulation drives up costs for people, while the "licensed" people may or may not really do things right, and, meanwhile, true, qualified inspection is seemingly too scarce anywhere I've been or heard about

 

[mass hills]

There are pros and cons to inspectors. The pros are they are there to protect people from being taking advantage from small minority of tradesmen that should not be in the trades.The cons are it is my house and i can do what i want. I would not cut corners on my own house.

 

[heaterman]

"meanwhile, I had to “beg off” running some underfloor wiring in a nearby old local church because I lack the license needed to work on a “public building” but then upon examining the work after it was done by a licensed “master electrician,” discovered that it didn’t begin to meet code. not unsafe, just sloppy as heck- romex drooping randomly all over the place between joists instead of being attached to runner boards, etc "

Actually I think that NEC states that all wiring in commercial and/or public buildings must be in conduit (EMT, Smurf tube or PVC) or else MC cable. Most of the electricians around here even wire ag buildings that way and they aren't subject to code or inspection. An ounce of prevention..............

 

[pybyr]

"meanwhile, I had to “beg off” running some underfloor wiring in a nearby old local church because I lack the license needed to work on a “public building” but then upon examining the work after it was done by a licensed “master electrician,” discovered that it didn’t begin to meet code. not unsafe, just sloppy as heck- romex drooping randomly all over the place between joists instead of being attached to runner boards, etc "

Actually I think that NEC states that all wiring in commercial and/or public buildings must be in conduit (EMT, Smurf tube or PVC) or else MC cable. Most of the electricians around here even wire ag buildings that way and they aren't subject to code or inspection. An ounce of prevention..............

yeah- I agree with you- don't question me, cause if I'd have done it on a volunteer basis by evening and weekend, even though I am not licensed, I'd have bought or borrowed the most recent Code, and followed its minimums plus a good measure of extra good practice.

instead, a licensed and credentialed person sent their least experienced people in to bang it up cheap and dirty, on the assumption that no one (other than a [insert dismissive expletive here] like me) with a sense of what's what would be likely to go down in a stone crawlspace for many years to come

 

[Tony H]

Yes NEC does require conduit for all commercial buildings , heck the city of Chicage requires conduit for low voltage also. The church should demand 1/2 the money back or tell them to redo it all to code and pay for a hired inspector to review the work. Heck I even put all my AC wire in conduit in my shed and garage to protect it from the elements and the little livestock that seem to invade.

 

[jebatty]

Whoa! I'm not suggesting anyone should build unsafe. As to how mortgage companies handle new home construction, I don't know. Wife and I never have had a new house. Nor do I know the fine print in a mortgage as to homeowner do-it-yourself repairs, etc.

People who have commented on my work more often than not say I "over build." When I lived in St. Paul I bought an old house with knob and tube wiring, 30A service. I rewired (and essentially rebuilt) the whole house, added 200A service, the power co ran a new line to the house, but I put in the service entrance, meter box, etc. I did have that inspected, as I intended to sell the house, and the electrical inspector took a look at the service panel, tested a couple of outlets for HNG, looked at a couple of junction boxes, and congratulated me on a job well done.

I'm also not suggesting that every contractor knows what he is doing, that every bldg insp does his job, or that all codes are needed for safety. I like many could never afford to hire a contractor or a licensed electrician, plumber, pipe fitter, etc. for everything that needs to get done.

BTW, I also make our own lumber from our own trees with a sawmill. Does anyone remember what a real 2 x 4 looks like?

 

[Tony H]

I have an older house I think it was built in the 40's and the lumber is quite impressive

 

[Nofossil]

My floor joists are rough-sawn oak 2x10 beams spanning just over 13 feet. Seasoned them for ten years before we built the house. Pretty sure they don't meet code, but I really don't care.

My boiler isn't UL listed or ASME certified, but once again I don't care. I'm sure someone might argue that I shouldn't be allowed to make such dangerous decisions and that I'd be better off if there were stricter rules to protect me from myself.

Such rules and regulations might make me safer, but that's debatable. What's not debatable is that my standard of living would be MUCH worse. I never would have been able to build the energy-efficient house that we have, and I never would have been able to afford to put in a wood boiler. I'd still be living in a small old drafty house heated with oil.

I'm glad that I had the choice, and I hope my children will have similar choices available to them as well.

 

[Sawyer]

My floor joists are rough-sawn oak 2x10 beams spanning just over 13 feet. Seasoned them for ten years before we built the house. Pretty sure they don't meet code, but I really don't care.

My boiler isn't UL listed or ASME certified, but once again I don't care. I'm sure someone might argue that I shouldn't be allowed to make such dangerous decisions and that I'd be better off if there were stricter rules to protect me from myself.

Such rules and regulations might make me safer, but that's debatable. What's not debatable is that my standard of living would be MUCH worse. I never would have been able to build the energy-efficient house that we have, and I never would have been able to afford to put in a wood boiler. I'd still be living in a small old drafty house heated with oil.

I'm glad that I had the choice, and I hope my children will have similar choices available to them as well.

DITTO!

 

[audiowizard]

All this talk of no permits, building what I want when I want and nofossil with the comment about the govt protecting me from myself. Not to get political but considering the current political enviroment makes me want to up and run from my home state here in California. Ive already ran to the hills in one of the most conservative areas of the state but the walls are closing in, no doubt.

 

[heaterman]

My floor joists are rough-sawn oak 2x10 beams spanning just over 13 feet. Seasoned them for ten years before we built the house. Pretty sure they don't meet code, but I really don't care.

My boiler isn't UL listed or ASME certified, but once again I don't care. I'm sure someone might argue that I shouldn't be allowed to make such dangerous decisions and that I'd be better off if there were stricter rules to protect me from myself.

Such rules and regulations might make me safer, but that's debatable. What's not debatable is that my standard of living would be MUCH worse. I never would have been able to build the energy-efficient house that we have, and I never would have been able to afford to put in a wood boiler. I'd still be living in a small old drafty house heated with oil.

I'm glad that I had the choice, and I hope my children will have similar choices available to them as well.

Ya know..........I'm enough of a Libertarian/conservative/Republican type to agree with you on the code thing. If someone wants to do their own work I say more power to 'em. If local jurisdiction requires said work to be inspected then the person doing the work should be able to pull a permit and have it inspected. Here in trusty rusty, soon to be DOA Michigan, a person can't even apply for a boiler permit unless they are a licensed contractor. That's what big unions will do to a state and that's a bunch of crap.

Some folks like you NoFo have the knowledge, aptitude and attitude to do it right. The vast majority of do it yourselfers are handling their own installation to "economize". Unfortunately that frame of mind pervades the whole project and leads to shortcuts in material, workmanship and safety. When one of those types burns down his house or causes bodily injury, you and I both pay his bill through the escalation of our insurance rates. I have a problem with that too. If a person regardless of qualification undertakes a job, even for himslef then he should bear the full weight of that responsibility. The same would hold true for a guy changing his brake pads or installing a light. You touch it and it's your deal, not mine.

 

[603doug]

I am in the trades and I always hear that the building inspector is an necessary evil and I do believe in part of that statement. Somewhere along the line commonsense is lost. It is amazing how the "ole timers" built homes barns etc with rough sawn 2x4's and there still structurally sound. My town if you want to construct any thing with rough lumber it has to be graded and a snout full of sh@t why you should not use it. I build what I want and I know it exceed code, let my kids worry about a occupancy permit when it is theirs

 

[Nofossil]

There really are some good models out there. In the commercial world, there are 'inspectors' who work for your insurance company. If you allow them to inspect your business and you implement their suggestions, you can get a lower rate.

I'm very suspicious of inspectors with the force of law behind them who may have a chip on their shoulder because of their attitude that only their buddies can do acceptable work. I've seen WAY too much of that in my life.

There's a thread on here somewhere with some pretty outrageous shoddy / dangerous work. If I remember rightly, about half of it was done by licensed contractors and passed by inspectors. If nothing else, I can perform shoddy work myself at a much lower cost ;-)