Multi-trade Inspectors - Electrician Talk - Professional Electrical Contractors Forum

william1978 · 05-09-2009, 10:32 AM

One of the Counties that I work in is talking about going to multi-trade inspectors.

Do other parts of the country have multi Inspectors if so how do they work out? Are they doing quality inspections in the other trades that they are not comfortable in? What are the pros and cons of multi-trade inspections?

william1978 · 05-09-2009, 10:43 AM

Me personaly I like having a single trade inspector. Most of the one's around here have come up thru the trade,and have a love for this trade. I wouldn't want to have to look at building,plumbing,mech. and electricial and make life safety decision's.

**Speedy Petey** · 05-09-2009, 10:58 AM

NYS uses third party inspectors that are approved by the local building dept AHJ, and I LIKE it that way!

Some building inspectors around here are complete assholes who are on power trips. You can tell they get a woody making people's lives miserable.

Thank goodness I do not have to typically deal directly with them.

manchestersparky · 05-09-2009, 12:13 PM

I always said: "You can't beat a man at his own trade"

Single trade inspectors in my opinion are better for a couple reasons.

They only need to deal with one trade and this gives them more time to do the inspection properly
They only need to be proficient in one trade which makes it easier to stay current on that trade
They only have to deal with the one trade on a job site

s.kelly · 05-09-2009, 12:17 PM

I used to do elevator work,which inluded stair lifts and other accesibility equipment

Went out to a rural area to install a stair lift, inspector was "the inspector".

I am pretty sure that he had never seen a stair lift. I showed him,and explained what I thought would make him happy, and he went on his merry way. Easy inspection for me, but not ideal for the consumer. I think even if I had left stuff off he never would have known. Lift was in a church so might have gotten lots of use.

3phase · 05-09-2009, 03:44 PM

My area uses multi-hat inspectors. But our electric inspections are usually done by just one guy. But I have had the HVAC guy do electric finals before.

gilbequick · 05-09-2009, 04:52 PM

I've done a bunch of work in Gaston county and they had multi-trade inspectors there. It's been a while, but if I remember correctly they had one guy for the building inspection and one guy for elec/mech/plumb. They for the most part were horrible, at least in the area I worked in. They're just glorified home inspectors....and how often do we all complain about those guys and the crap they come up with or miss alltogether?

The single trade inspectors did a much better job, how could they not? There's no way a single person can know as much about every trade as a someone who specializes in a particular trade.

**Speedy Petey** · 05-09-2009, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilbequick

The single trade inspectors did a much better job, how could they not? There's no way a single person can know as much about every trade as a someone who specializes in a particular trade.

Yup.

Yet homeowners and DIYers rely on them to catch all their mistakes and violations.

"It's OK. If I make any mistakes the inspector will catch it and let me know."

paul d. · 05-09-2009, 05:01 PM

i think the job of inspectors is to " protect " the innocent from hacks, crooks and incompetents mostly. how can they do that if they dont know the trade???

Kevin J · 05-09-2009, 07:30 PM

Around here, we have multi-trade inspectors. Years ago, these guys were a joke. But, I have to admit, they have really got some guys in there who know their stuff. Most of them have come from a single trade, and the building inspectors office has invested a lot of time and money to train these guys in areas they are not familiar with. Also, on any given job, the same inspector might do framing, mechanical, etc., but not all on the same day. They aren't fly in, fly out inspections, they take their time and do it right.

**MDShunk** · 05-09-2009, 07:35 PM

My area uses third party inspection companies, and the type of inspector you get sorta depends. If the inspection is for an electrical only project, I get an electrical inspector. If the electrical work is being done under a larger and more general building permit, then I'll get a multi trade inspector. Some of the electrical inspectors are now becoming multi trade inspectors, so sometimes it's an electrical guy anyhow. I find the multi trade inspectors generally don't seem to have a real good handle on the more complicated electrical things. Stuff that I think I might have installed in a bit of a grey area passes without comment or even a second look. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not.

JohnJ0906 · 05-10-2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manchestersparky

I always said: "You can't beat a man at his own trade"

Single trade inspectors in my opinion are better for a couple reasons.

They only need to deal with one trade and this gives them more time to do the inspection properly
They only need to be proficient in one trade which makes it easier to stay current on that trade
They only have to deal with the one trade on a job site

What Ken said.

manchestersparky · 05-10-2009, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnJ0906

What Ken said.