Passed Inspection

[KindredSpiritzz]

Building Inspector came out today and approved my wood stove installation. Not that im complaining but i found it odd she didnt check one measurement or go up on the roof. She looked up the hearth requirement in the owners manual then walked outside and looked up at the chimney from the ground and asked if i sealed it up. Took 5 minutes from time she walked in the door. I had some questions but when i realized she was going to pass it i kept my mouth shut and didnt press my luck. Now to finish the stone tile and call the insurance company.

 

[slayer7]

That was about the same experience I had 5 or 6 years ago. Inspector showed up, asked for manual, measured from front door of stove to living room floor for front clearance to combustibles, signed paper and left. Whole process < 5 minutes. The insert could of had 1 foot of liner up into the chimney flue and he wouldn't have noticed. The whole thing pretty much convinced me that it's a big scam for the town to make money but I figured that if the house burned down, I have the signed off inspection report to shove in the face of the insurance company. Congrats on your pass, stove season is right around the corner...

 

[BrotherBart]

How about having the inspector get you to give him the short course on chimney liners?

 

[slayer7]

Ha, I'm pretty confident that I've learned more about liners/stoves/wood etc. the last 6 years here than most inspectors know about wood heating in general but didn't want to be sitting on a smoldering pile of rubble with an insurance company claim rejection letter because of a piece of paper.

 

[Heatsource]

yup, around here they spend more time walking around looking for smoke/co detectors

yet to see a tape measure come out at all.

me: "ive got a ladder out so you can go on the roof and another ladder to get into the attic"
inspector: " thats ok, i can check the outside from the ground. Does the pipe in the attic have the proper clearances?"
me: "um......yes"
inspector: "then i dont need to go in the attic either"

 

[2biker]

I had a wood stove sitting in front of a zero clearance fireplace for years. I changed insurance companies. Told me "need an inspection certificate ". Had the town fire company come to the house. Took one glance at the stove. Said "OK, looks good. You get Certificate #1. You are the first one in town to ask to get inspected."

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

Well obviously inspections aren't about safety, must be about making money thru fees and raising your property taxes thru improvements. Kinda feel like i studied weeks for final exams and the test ended up being a 3 question multiple choice. Like someone said tho, mainly got it for the insurance aspect if i ever need to file a claim.

 

[firefighterjake]

Depends on the inspector . . . their level of experience/education and what the government agency/fire department wishes them to do . . . since most inspectors do not drive around with their own ladder they would have to rely on the home owner to provide the ladder which a) they may not have if this was installed by someone else and b) may not be that safe since I've seen some ladders used by folks that look a bit sketchy.

As for the measurements . . . again . . . depends on the level of experience and education. Sometimes a quick glance can give a person a pretty good idea of whether it has met the clearance requirements . . . other times a tape measure may be needed.

I also truly believe there is a good reason for requiring permits in some locations . . . since heating equipment (not just solid fuel heating appliances) is either the second or third leading cause of fires (I forget right now which one exactly). Of course, the folks who generally take the time to get the permit are also the ones who usually have the safe or safer installs . . . vs. that one guy (or two . . . or three) who figures he can just do what he thinks is safe in terms of clearances, installs, etc. -- this guy typically never bothers with getting a permit.

That said . . . yes . . . a permit brings in some revenue . . . and I have no idea of what the permits cost in your own locations . . . but trust me . . . where I work the amount of permits sold for heating appliances may end up paying an inspector for a week . . . it is not a huge money maker.

 

[2biker]

What's burns my butt is when I have some young insurance rep tells me that I've been burning dangerously because it hasn't been inspected. I been burning the same way and taking the same precautions for the last 28 years without incident. Don't they think that I've kinda figured that I know how to burn by now? I also hear it from exterminators " Oh, you shouldn't stack your wood that close to the garage". I stack every piece by hand. Anything with any bugs, get assigned to the outdoor fire pit. After 30 years of doing it the same way without garage infestation........I think I got this! Ok, I'm done venting. Sorry!

 

[bholler]

I have to agree that most inspectors in our area are clueless when it comes to chimneys also. We dont need inspections very often but when we do we usually have to walk them through it. I dont think by any means that this means inspections and permits are bad it just means the inspectors need better education. And with regards to your comment 2biker. I have absolutly no idea how you burn or your setup it may all be very good but i have seen the chimneys of many guys that have been burning for 25 or 30 years and i cant figure out how they have not burned their house down. Doing something wrong for a long time does not make it right. Again not saying you are doing anything wrong i don't know anything about how you do things Just had to comment on your general statement

 

[kennyp2339]

Wow, my town is way different.. thankfully, they are a pain in the butt when it comes to building codes (includes stoves) A couple years ago my parent had a insert installed and they couldn't be home for the inspection so I volunteered to be there (had the day off) the inspector came in ( I know the guy from fire company relations) we exchanged our hello's, how you doing's then he went down to business, he had his tape measure and stove manual in hand and measured the from hearth area, we got a gig on that (off by <2") but I surprised him with the ember pad so we passed, next was the connections of the stove to the flex liner, then he went up the roof to check the cap. I asked him if it was all good and he said it was and that he always checks everything because he feels that when you go home you should feel as relaxed and safe as possible and that's why we have codes, for safety

 

[Simonkenton]

I am glad that I live in the country in North Carolina, and am not required to have a Yankee building inspector tell me whether my new wood stove install is, or is not, up to their specs.
I probably know a lot more about wood burning appliances than any building inspector.

 

[BrotherBart]

The guy that inspected my first installation in Texas in 1977 wasn't a Yankee lately. Ones that know what they are talking about and looking at provide a needed service. The ones that are just there to add it to the property taxes are not.

When we came here in 1985 I called the building inspectors, the fire department and insurance company trying to get them out to sign off on the installations of the two stoves. Nobody was interested.

The insurance company just said "We insured it knowing that there were two chimneys in the place."

 

[Simonkenton]

Why did you call inspectors to check on your work? Did you not know whether or not you had done a good job on the install?

 

[BrotherBart]

Hell no. First time I had ever installed wood stoves and didn't want to lose the insurance claim if I burned a brand new house down. When I was moving from the other house in Texas I went up into the attic to get stuff down and discovered the charred ceiling joists from that "professional" install I had done there without an inspection.

That was a lot of years before I became a wood stove expert on the Internet.