Have you ever tried to give the building inspector beer. Or sent the plan checkers a bottle of whisky? Does this help get better service and faster permits?
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Replies
Nope, but I once threatened to shove an inspector in a small hole. That worked.
Do you actually want us to believe that theatening a building inspector with violence helped you get what you wanted?
Well, I'm not sure I really care what you believe.
The truth is, the clown pushed me over the edge and that was about the nicest thing I said to him. That was at frame inspection, and after that everything went fine. You want his name and the job? I'm sure he will remember me.
Now you tell me how humping some jerks leg is going to get you signed off. I don't play that, I do the work and expect them to do their job. Of course I am a people person, and get along famously with the masses, so that helps.
Ace, click on Qtrmeg's name and check out his pic and you'll see why Building inspectors don't mess with him!Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
My brother & I are both builders & have a good friend that is a building inspector in a high end town. Now, we both work in this town & of course have to pull permits. When getting our inspections, John shows up , does the inspection & then after buisness is taken care of , we have BS time.
Last year, My brother went out west to go elk hunting with John the building inspector. After a few days John decides to go down to the river to wash up. He strips down to nothing in camp & strolls off to the river. Well of course my brother has a camera along & now he has a glossy 8x10 of a nude building inspector.
Now that picture gets alot of things done.
PJE
"good friend that is a building inspector in a high end town........John shows up"
PJE,
This "inspector" wouldn't happen to drive a green pickup truck would he?
Jon
Hi Jon.
He's from Brookfield
PJE
"He's from Brookfield"
PJE,
Don't know him that well , but are we still taking about the same guy? I know "john, jon" is a common name.
Jon
P.S. Reply via e-mail please.
Shore - like I want a drunk building inspector falling into a small hole all by himself?
Excellence is its own reward!
If they are professionals then they won't accept it and it won't help you.
Mine all prefer large amounts of cash!
I thought they prefer gold. :)
Just a joke from another thread.
Depends.
Building Inspection:
A Science or an Art?
: )
Building Inspector? What's that?
I've seen it go both ways.
One inspector got threatened with bodily harm early in the job and from then on job went smoothly. (Inspector was wrong in this case)
Also saw an architect go off on a plans examiner... took over a YEAR for the plans to be approved.. (Examiner was right in this case)
I guess it depends on if you're right or not. :)
The photo idea was good. :)
I think offering anything other than an honest persona is an insult to the inspecters occupation. If ya want something from them and try to achive it by cuddling up with a beer..I would be insulted..if ya came out and asked me directly , or told me what your situation is I'd be more inclined to trust you, and your motives. As the relationship (which it is) continues I'd be more likely to know that you did the best of your capability, and that counts..esp. in those 'grey areas'...trust is EARNED not bought.
Just my opinion.
I was on the building committee for our $2 million church expansion a couple of years ago. Just happened that the inspector was one of my tenants. We had a pretty good rapport. Worked out a couple of issues just because we knew each other - stupid handrail requirements, stuff he had begun to dig in his heels on, but when I got together with him, we always worked it out to the church's advantage.
The other guys on the committee gave me the devil about " giving him another months rent " They still rib me about that, but it never happened. Just my natural charm, that's all !
Greg.
I find the best way to gain a good rapport with the BIs is to build to or above code, and be polite. Not that I have not pulled the book out on occasion and said "show me where it says that".Re another thread where an inspector asked that the rough plumbing be done before the floor was framed, I would have told that BI where to get off. Matt
You know your in trouble when the Inspector is carrying a big book or a tape measure in his hand. Only new Inspectors do that.
A contactor who is proud of his work and profession welcomes a good Inspector because he raises or maintains the construction quality in the neighborhood. You can compete better when the paying field is level.
If you new Inspector is mean, answers very little and doesnt help you, his knowlege and experience may be lacking. That is when you take him in by teaching him. Lead him thru the job, a show him all the code stuff you know and techniques that he can use. We all know you cant build a house with a code book, but that all he as until you comme along and "Guide" him or her.
If your a great contractor, you Inspector will want you to work on his house.
The Best Inspector is one that learns from his Contractors.
Church I used to go to in PA was doing a big renovation, including putting on a new kitchen.
Plans were done by quality firm, approved by the county, sprinkler system was installed by the well established company in the area.
At the final kitchen inspection, inspector eyeballs the extinguisher system, rubs his chin, and announces the sprinkler system is inadequate.
The head of our building committee politely asks him what is wrong with the system - approved plans etc.
Building inspector says: "Well, have you ever seen your deep fat fryer go up in flames during your Friday night fish fry?"
After several moments of silence, and glances among the building committee members, the head of the committee responds: "Well, perhaps you didn't notice our sign. This is the Community _Presbyterian_ Church, so, no, we've never seen a deep fat fryer catch on a Friday night."
He then adroitly asked the inspector for his opinion about some obscure issue of kitchen design that had managed to get itself discussed at length at one meeting but which was totally irrelevant to the inspection. After that digression, the inspector decided that maybe that sprinkler was OK after all.
_______________________
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Thanks to Jeff and David and Jim and Rich and Steven and Mark and Jason and Shep and Jen and Mike and Joe for their offers!
The first donation just arrived! Thanks and God bless!
Here they're very concerned about any appearance of impropriety. Some might accept a cup of coffee, but nothing more.
The inspectors are under pressure to get a lot of inspections done every day, so the only way to get on their good side is to have everything ready for them to get in and out quick. Have ladders and lights set up and ready, and the card on a clip board in your hand. The inspector wants to see, sign, and get on to the next site asap.
-- J.S.
Permits: Been on both extreme ends, but years ago.
1st house built 1971, my permit was one of only 2 in King Co WA in Feb 1972! (there are THOUSANDS a month now). Anyway, when the framing inspector came out, he literally spent the whole day with this then late 20's kid giving a world's worth of wisdom. Never even knew the guy's name, but grateful. Same with plumbing and elec. inspector.
Bad end of spectrum, adding church addition in mid '80's - commercial type permits and inspection. Luck of draw got as plan examiner a guy that usually did 30 story up high rise office bldgs in downtown Seattle for megamillionaires. He scheduled meeting for plan review (he had 'concerns') at 11:30 AM -- figured this Joe wants to be taken to lunch (which was within ethical guidelines at the time) but this Junkhound cheapo wasn't about to squander church donations on lunch for a fathead. Had literally memorized city codes before the meeting, chapter and verse. He says to me, you can't get this approved without a PE stamp (I've never bothered getting a stamp, everything prof. I do is for a big aerospace Co, why pay the state $40 a year for squat, etc). I says, code xyz paragraphs 234 says < 20,000 sq ft don't need it, etc. etc. ; he says you do, you have cantilevers and non-standard construction (implication that a lunch would fix it OK). Dumped an inch thick of stress and stability calculations on his desk in addition to drawings, left, got approval a week later. Good with with elec and plumbing inspectors, just what was expected.
Good point John. What's worse, if you don't have a ladder readily available for inspectors in our area (attic inspection, etc) they will write you a pink slip and be out the door before you can say "wait a minute".Matt
Offering the inspector a beer is very dangerous business, if he's new to you and you don't know what sort of character he is. He might be a reformed alcoholic... Regardless, he'll probably wonder why you have beer on your worksite- he'll wonder how many you've been drinking while you were working!
Around here, HOs who do work themselves have the worst time with inspectors- for obvious reasons, they have to meet a higher level of expectation because they're unfamiliar to the inspector, and building isn't their occupation. The HO might be like that guy on the other thread who has the foundation ripped out from under his house and has it sitting on a few steel wide-flange beams supported with spindly posts sitting on a few patio stones, and wonders why the whole forum is flaming him about what a dumb-@ss he is! They tend to get a little more forgiving when dealing with contractors who they know, because they've seen enough of their work to figure that they know what they're doing.
That approach is a two-edged sword for the inspector. Here's a little moralistic tale about why inspectors in my neck of the woods are really tough and inflexible:
Once upon a time, there was a HO who wanted his basement floor lowered, requiring the footings be underpinned. So he gets a renovation contractor in- probably the only one he could find who was interested in that kind of slogging in a hot building market (anybody should know that THAT'S a bad sign...). The guy tells the HO that they'll need a building permit, but that it'll take six months because the building department is backed up and screwed up because they're in the middle of being amalgamated with the other five buildind departments in the region. The HO goes ballistic...The contractor says that if he doesn't want to wait, he can go ahead without the permit, but it'll be on the HO's head if they get caught...
The inspector sees the roll-off box on a drive through the neighbourhood and stops in. The work's more or less done, including interior finish. He says that he should get the contractor to tear out enough of the interior finish and break enough of the floor slab so he can inspect the underpinning. The contractor and HO sweet-talk the inspector into letting it go this time. The building inspector, who has had at least some experience with the contractor, lets them off, because the guy's work has seemed to be pretty good in past.
A year later- the walls are cracking because the underpinning was done wrong. The HO sues the city's building department, claiming that it's the inspector's fault- and wins a settlement...
Personally, I think there should be special courts for cases like that, where the litigants fall into a deep pit as soon as they walk in the door. But now it's perfectly understandable why the inspectors go overboard here...
No, and I don't think anyone in my area has ever tried that. You have to have respect for the inspector. Just do the best you can, build to print, leave nothing out (even in areas that aren't easily seen by the inspector), provide a VERY clean jobsite, permit and plans in an obvious location.
The worst that can happen is that he'll note what's missing. Make the correction and call for another inspection. In Los Angeles, if you call for an inspection by 10:00 a.m. you're guaranteed inspection the following day.
A little story about an inspector that everyone hated, known as Dr. Wong. This guy was such an ***hole that almost every contractor in the area threatened his life. A foundation contractor I knew was so fed up with him that he once had one of his guys smash his car windows while he was doing the inspection. Many complaints were made about this guy to the city and finally they relocated him to another district.