Ive got an inspector causing me much grief and lots of time and money wasted myself. Havent failed an inspection yet...i can usually go 3 or 4 years between a random fail happens, but its been a real PITA. They switched inspectors on me in the middle of the project. This is the third time that has happened in the 14years of building apartments and all 3 times its been bad. Each inspector has their own pet peeves and interprets codes differently. I built the 1st two 90 unit buildings to the 1st inspectors liking and breezed thru inspections...i have 2 separate 3rd party inspectors that are honestly much tougher and ridiculous because they have nothing better to do, and they will never give you a "clean sheet" inspection because they find tiny things to nitpick just to justify their existence and pay. Thats normal for 3rd party. Just how it is. The city guy was a veteran about my age that i have had on other projects though, so he knows me and my company, and i had his respect and trust.
So he got pulled from this project AFTER i built the other two 90 unit buildings in the ways that pleased the 1st guy. Got 1 floor of 1 building inspected and got a clean inspection....didnt have to add a single block, or stud, strap or hanger...not a single nail. Just passed. So they switch guys with zero notice and the new inspector is young, gay, and ridiculous. Called in the roof on the 1st building. Has over 200 braces on trusses and at least that many clips and hangers. I missed 1 brace when i checked them. Actually my guys missed 1 brace that i had marked to install but i misses ut on recheck. Youd think that would impress the guy and build up some trust right? Naw. He tells me to call in the floor trusses too on every floor separately so he can check every floor truss at each level also. NEVER had a floor truss inspection before by themselves. Ever. In 14 years. So now i have called in all the floor trusses on 1 building and passed them all. I am waiting on the MEPs to finish their inspections so i can finally call in my framing inspections for each floor. I know hes gonna be a super PITA on all that stuff too.
He has already made 1 big issue on the other building that is all fire treated material, and we arent even calling in real inspections yet over there. Just the areas that need to be pre-rocked. He looked at the columns on my deck towers (6 floors tall) that are all completely done, where we framed the columns per the architects 1 hour UL wall assembly clearly labeled in the plans...and said "those should be framed 2 hours. You need to RFI the architect." Keep in mind these plans were approved by HIS DEPARTMENT HEADS in plan review and stamped approved. Meaning HIS bosses said they met code. I will have to tear all the decks back off the building and buiild them all again to change the columns to 2hrs rating...because they will have to have continuous sheetrock behind the deck bands. The columns are already framed with FRT lumber, and sheeted with FRT plywood. Oh..and again, his office approved the design. So i am waiting to find out what we are supposed to do about them. I dread these framing inspections coming. I never fail inspections. But this jackass makes up stuff that isnt even code...nor in the plans.
Theres always the nuclear option: call his supervisor. That can backfire in a MIGHTY way though and could even perhaps make me a pariah. In Charlotte theres a separate group of inspectors called the Megateam that only check apartments bc theres always so many being built. If this guy went back and told the other guys (many of whom i know) that I went over his head, it could ruin me in this city ever passing inspections in the future. So I really cant do that...even though he really is way out of line. I would be done with all my framing inspections by now on both buildings with the 1st guy...he would check my framing inspections before/during the MEPs getting theirs unlike this clown. Of course i have another big job to start up in Mooresville in a few weeks also...now theres no way I will be done here because of this clown. Yay...inspectors are like cops. The older guys are good dudes usually, but the younger ones are arrogant, ignorant, and dangerous.
