How to get ready for you final inspection

[bmxdad]

How to get ready for your final inspection

So ... what should you do to be prepared for your final electrical inspection?

• Feed breaker off or on?
• Sub-panel breaker off or on?
• Covers on or off?
• Be friendly or business like?
• Paper work?

What did you do to make sure you didn't raise any red flags?

If they find anything wrong, do they shut you down or what?

 

[fury9]

Move all the stuff out of the way, don't offer more information than asked for, be nice and do what he asks. DON'T OFFER ANY EXTRA INFORMATION OTHER THAN ASKED FOR. MAKE SURE YOUR ELECTRICIAN IS THERE.

 

[drivesitfar]

BMX: i agree with Fury. since you are your own electrician you might just brush up on the terms and know your wiring because if you bring your BIL who might be a licensed electrician your job might be taken to a different level by the inspector.

good luck

 

[Rock knocker]

BMX: i agree with Fury. since you are your own electrician you might just brush up on the terms and know your wiring because if you bring your BIL who might be a licensed electrician your job might be taken to a different level by the inspector.

good luck

Power on, covers on.

Have your previous cover inspections handy.

Did the OP do the work, or a contractor? Regarding the BIL, having a licensed electrician who is not an administer can get the whole slew of you in trouble. Only an electrical administrator can act as a contractor in Washington.

Is the inspection L&I or municipal?

 

[Aceman]

I pull the panel covers off before the inspector shows up, he'll need to see in there. I leave the power on so he can test the GFCI's and use his plug in tester.

If he finds anything wrong, he'll just cite you. Then you correct it, and call for a reinspection. He won't shut you down, unless he finds some death trap.

 

[Rock knocker]

In Washington, you can fail electrical final having the panels uncovered. Final means everything is done

 

[bmxdad]

Power on, covers on.

Have your previous cover inspections handy.

Did the OP do the work, or a contractor? Regarding the BIL, having a licensed electrician who is not an administer can get the whole slew of you in trouble. Only an electrical administrator can act as a contractor in Washington.

Is the inspection L&I or municipal?

I did the work. Permit said only I could do it. What is an "electrical administrator"?

 

[James-W]

I wired everything inside the garage myself, but I had to have a Master Electrician put in the 200 amp service because the city will not allow the homeowner to do it. Once the inspector checked the service, he said I could start wiring the inside of the garage.

When I contacted the inspector to do the final inspection, I had the cover off the breaker panel, and I had covers on all the outlets. He came in, looked at everything, used his little tester on several outlets, and told me I was good to put up the drywall. Only took about 5 minutes.

The main thing is, follow the code to the letter and don't try to get away with anything. If you do everything correctly there is no reason for the job to fail. On the other hand, if you try to do some "shortcuts" and you get caught by the inspector, you will fail and then he/she will be all the more on the lookout next time.

 

[Mustang51js]

Depends on the state and how inspectors mood is that day. Here I don't have to open anything up but as a curtesy I will take the panel cover off. Outlets and switch covers stay on and they check a couple with a tester. I also have a rough inspection so that's when they check the wires

 

[Rock knocker]

I did the work. Permit said only I could do it. What is an "electrical administrator"?

In Washington, we have a variety of electrical licenses. A electrician license allows one to work in the field as a electrician, but does not allow one be be a contractor. An administrators license allows one to be an electrical contractor, but does not allow one to be a field electrician. The owners of small and modest sized electrical contractors will most often have both licenses. The management of large companies like DW Close (RIP), Cochran and the like often only have a administrators license and let their field license lapse.

Only a HO or administrator can pull an electrical permit in Washington

 

[cagullett1]

Just curious, is this for a large electrical project? or are you guys pulling permits for adding a couple circuits with outlets to an existing garage?

 

[Rock knocker]

................

 

[bmxdad]

Just looking for general information on getting ready for an inspection

 

[Rock knocker]

Just have everything buttoned up, ready to go and all your paperwork in order.

Is it Puyallup or L&I?

 

[bmxdad]

It's TPU

 

[JasonF]

Just finished running 100amp service to my new pole building that is 250' from my home and had it inspected a few days ago. I ran 2/0 Al MHF in conduit the whole way and then put an outlet and light in the pole building just for temporary use. Both panel covers were left of in the house and the barn as well a wall outlet in the barn. After the inspection was done I recieved an approved sticker and then had to sign a document from the inspector that I would recover all exposed panels/outlets, basically CYA by the inspector.
The whole thing was kind of a let down, inspector never checked to see what kind of wire was used, never checked to see if I had two ground rods at the subpanel, didn't check to see if the bonding screw was out, then give me a bunch of **** about the temporary outlet I put in at the subpanel not being a GFCI.
BTW, I have to thank those on this site whole threads and comments helped make this job a success!

 

[Rock knocker]

It's TPU

TPU? Don't they end at the meter. I looked it up, Puyallup is a L&I reviewed, and I assume a L&I inspected area. What kind of electrical inspection are you getting if TPU is doing it? Are they now doing NEC inspections?

 

[James-W]

One thing I failed to mention in my previous post is that the inspector wanted to see that the electrical panel has everything marked as to what each breaker is for. This may be a local inspector thing, I don't know for sure, but it couldn't hurt to make sure you have a chart with all the breakers listed just in case it is a requirement.

 

[bmxdad]

I passed final with no issues.

Couple things others should be aware of:

• If your running wire underground, make sure it's inspected first or you have pictures with the conduit showing if it's needed. I had pictures with conduit showing. They check the wire type, mine was THHN/THWN, and if its not for burial they want to see the conduit.
• Covers off. They want to see how your terminating your grounds, in the panel and the boxes.

He did mention that I need to get a new permit when I finish with lights and outlets, as any work that adds a circuit to the panel needs to be inspected. This runs counter from what I've been told and read, but not a big deal. No time limit on when it needs to be done, and cost is minimal. Something like $40 plus $5 a circuit.

This is for Tacoma Public Utility, and was a nice experience.

 

[Rock knocker]

I passed final with no issues.

Couple things others should be aware of:

• If your running wire underground, make sure it's inspected first or you have pictures with the conduit showing if it's needed. I had pictures with conduit showing. They check the wire type, mine was THHN/THWN, and if its not for burial they want to see the conduit.
• Covers off. They want to see how your terminating your grounds, in the panel and the boxes.

He did mention that I need to get a new permit when I finish with lights and outlets, as any work that adds a circuit to the panel needs to be inspected. This runs counter from what I've been told and read, but not a big deal. No time limit on when it needs to be done, and cost is minimal. Something like $40 plus $5 a circuit.

This is for Tacoma Public Utility, and was a nice experience.

If you didn't have all your cover inspections (like before you buried the conduit) and you still passed with minimal fuss, he cut you a break.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I passed final with no issues.

Couple things others should be aware of:

• If your running wire underground, make sure it's inspected first or you have pictures with the conduit showing if it's needed. I had pictures with conduit showing. They check the wire type, mine was THHN/THWN, and if its not for burial they want to see the conduit.
• Covers off. They want to see how your terminating your grounds, in the panel and the boxes.

He did mention that I need to get a new permit when I finish with lights and outlets, as any work that adds a circuit to the panel needs to be inspected. This runs counter from what I've been told and read, but not a big deal. No time limit on when it needs to be done, and cost is minimal. Something like $40 plus $5 a circuit.

This is for Tacoma Public Utility, and was a nice experience.

Glad it was a nice experience!

Mine was a nice experience as well. I had a pro do my wiring.

My code enforcer was a little different than most. He wanted me to take photos of the trench with the conduit, and then he wanted it covered as soon as possible because he had people break thier legs falling in the hole.

He did one inspection of everything roughed in, followed by a second inspection once everything was finished. From what I remember, he pulled the breaker box cover and a few random outlets and switches on the final inspection.

I know it is a hassle, but the inspector is there to make sure everything is right so your building don't burn down.

If I hear a pro worrying about the code inspector, I kind of worry about thier work.

Chris

 

[Rock knocker]

My code enforcer was a little different than most. He wanted me to take photos of the trench with the conduit, and then he wanted it covered as soon as possible because he had people break thier legs falling in the hole.

You could have called for cover as soon as the conduit was in, but he trusted you and didn't want to waste his time and was concerned for safety. A good inspector, which most are.

 

[Moose97]

Re: How to get ready for your final inspection

In my area of Texas we do an underground inspection (if needed), a rough in inspection ( this is where type of wire, box fill and placement ,etc.) are looked at. Next is meter release. Panel cover off, grounding, safety on this one and then we release the meter. Final is everything closed up and energized.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bmxdad]

If you didn't have all your cover inspections (like before you buried the conduit) and you still passed with minimal fuss, he cut you a break.

Thats the reason for this topic ...

And where does it say that? When I got my permit I talked to a nice lady at TPU who said I can start work any time, and when I was finished to get an inspection. Nowhere is this information, for a home owner at least, told. If I knew where it was written down as a requirement I would have.

I know what the code is ... hours of reading and the nagging of electricians I know. So what I did is good.

Should be noted that I'm just adding a sub-panel to a detached pole garage in Washington state.

 

[Rock knocker]

It has been so long since I've done any work south of Renton, I can't remember what the permit forms look like down there. Basically what almost all inspections of all types are is a "cover inspection". Before you cover the framing, insulation, pipes and wires with gyp (for example) they must be inspected.

I'll try to dig up some inspection forms from Bellevue or Sea-town

 

[Rock knocker]

Here's a random one from the public files of the City of Seattle

 

[600SL]

I leave a copy of the 2014 national electric code in sight. My last inspector tried to get me on #6 wire with a 100 amp circuit breaker and a N6-50R receptacle for my welder.

I went to the chapter on welders and showed him my welder data plate and cleared that right up.

 

[brentrice1]

I wired everything inside the garage myself, but I had to have a Master Electrician put in the 200 amp service because the city will not allow the homeowner to do it. Once the inspector checked the service, he said I could start wiring the inside of the garage.

When I contacted the inspector to do the final inspection, I had the cover off the breaker panel, and I had covers on all the outlets. He came in, looked at everything, used his little tester on several outlets, and told me I was good to put up the drywall. Only took about 5 minutes.

The main thing is, follow the code to the letter and don't try to get away with anything. If you do everything correctly there is no reason for the job to fail. On the other hand, if you try to do some "shortcuts" and you get caught by the inspector, you will fail and then he/she will be all the more on the lookout next time.

Sorry for the reply so long after you commented, I just wanted to share my experience here in east Tennessee because it's so cowboy out here it just makes me laugh. The caveat to all of this is that I do own the building. I couldn't do this at someone else's place, but since I own the building, I was able to not only pull the permit, my POCO also had me run the new buried line (had existing overhead service on the other side of the structure)...INCLUDING running the riser and weatherhead up their pole! That's right, they allowed me to strap conduit to their pole all the way up to the drip loop 18 inches below their transformer! Just bonkers. Blew my mind. Inspector came and inspected under two different rough in inspections...one for the trenching and the other for the structure. Then came back and issued the service release for the POCO to tie on to the grid and throw on the meter.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

this thread is 10yrs old

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

this thread is 10yrs old

Maybe the OP got "locked up" (15 year sentence) for offering the inspector $200 for "lunch money"

 

[NUTTSGT]

this thread is 10yrs old

The OP has logged on for 4+ years.

Thread closed.