Any body have to go through random audits ?

[fastfredracing]

Tuesday morning , I take the 997 to work. I drop my kid at school, then I get coffee, and when I come out of the store, I am greeted by a huge puddle of coolant under the car . I stop by my house, top up with coolant, then head to the shop .
When I get here ( 9:15 ish ) , my quality assurance officer is sitting here , waiting for me so he can do my yearly audit for State inspection .
It didn't go well . He first off scorned me for not having business hours posted ( I am not required by law to have them ) . My hours sign was old and ugly and I threw it away a few years back. I have since designed a new one and hung it.
Right off the bat, he is snarky with me . He says he was here Friday and I was also not available , and that I am required to be open 40 hours during a normal business week. He explains that this is a violation
Im already a bit spun with my car issues, and I try to explain to him that I had to take my son to the doctors Friday morning, and that I was here at 10:00, and that I am here every day , all day ( I wanted to tell him to shove it , I work a ton of hours ) I probably had a little attitude in my tone .
I was not even worried in the least about my books. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping them, but he found enough mistakes and omissions, that he is writing me up. Its just sloppy book keeping, worst case ontario is a 60 days suspension . Most likey it will be a warning from the state, and a few points assigned to my station .
I almost always go through my books in Feb, to make sure evrything is tip top .. This winter has just kicked my butt and I am behind on everything.
I hate the random audit thing..Had I had even a 24 hour notice, I would have been johnny on the spot .
I've been beating myself up all week about it , because in 30 + years of operating an inspection station, I have never had a bad mark . I used to be proud of it .
Our auditor is new to the area, and I remember hearing last year, that he wrote a bunch of shops up for similar violations. My guy before him , was super lax . He would point out mistakes and recommend how to correct them. He always told me that the important part, was that we were making sure that vehicles were getting proper inspections and were safe . He didnt get too upset about forgetting to cross a t, or dot an I . Maybe I got complacient .
I remember Ricks thread about getting his FFL, and was thinking how awful those audits could be .
I know a few of you work for the man, or do subcontractor work for the Government Do you have to go through random audits ?
To rememdy my situation, I have finally went paperless . No more writing in that stupid log book . I am finally going to use one of the online servcies that report directly to the state, and will not allow you to log an inspection untill everything is correct .
Even though I make a living off vehicle repairs, I wish were not subject to yearly vehicle inspections. I strongly dislike having these book worms put me under a microscope every year. Plus, even though they generate work, State Inspections by themselves are not generally profitable

[bmcuscgr94]

We're subject to them for the farm from several agencies (pesticide use, food safety, farmworker training, water quality, hazardous materials and more). They're referred to as Headquarters inspections. Usually get 24 hour notice. I've been able to "comply" so far by answering some questions in advance. We're a small farm, less than 25 acres but we still have to follow the rules like the bigger farms. I've gone almost completely paperless, doing everything online or keeping records on a computer. Some agencies require online records only.

Did have one inspector call me from the front gate asking to come in for an inspection, but it turned out we were below the threshold for what he was inspecting for so he just left.

[Arizona_928]

New guy having something to prove. He’ll calm down (eventually). I deal with some state regulators with some having a big bug up their asses… Once you know how to work with them and butter em up, you’ll do better. .

[Rick Lee]

I'm pretty sure the licensing guys from ATF are so overwhelmed, and about to get more so, that it will be a long time before I'm audited. Of course, that just means I could be doing it wrong for that much longer before it's brought to my attention.

[fastfredracing]

I was not audited for 2.5 years. They were having staffing problems .
They finally got someone last summer .
Its funny, they can't meet the same same standards they try to hold me to .
They have no one monitoring our entire county for 2 plus years , yet he's gonna bust my stones over being an hour late to work one morning .
I hate dealing with the government .

[David]

Yes, but after many years, I'm pretty used to them. I got rid of the underground unleaded and diesel tanks at work. That was a guarantied annual audit!

Now it's just the occasional city inspector, county tax assessor, or fire marshal visit and if we're really unlucky, a visit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or OSHA.

[Rot 911]

Is this just for car inspections? When I lived down in Missouri, a friend of mine, that owned a car repair shop that also did inspections, just quit doing the inspections because he didn’t care to deal with the hassle of it. He didn’t seem to lose any business over that.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by bmcuscgr94

We're subject to them for the farm from several agencies (pesticide use, food safety, farmworker training, water quality, hazardous materials and more). They're referred to as Headquarters inspections. Usually get 24 hour notice. I've been able to "comply" so far by answering some questions in advance. We're a small farm, less than 25 acres but we still have to follow the rules like the bigger farms. I've gone almost completely paperless, doing everything online or keeping records on a computer. Some agencies require online records only.

Did have one inspector call me from the front gate asking to come in for an inspection, but it turned out we were below the threshold for what he was inspecting for so he just left.

Wait… wut? Farm audits?

That would not fly in Alberta. Not a chance. Nope.

[bmcuscgr94]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Wait… wut? Farm audits?

That would not fly in Alberta. Not a chance. Nope.

Most of it comes from the State of California (pesticide reporting, water quality, nitrogen applied to crop, hazardous materials, training) and a little from the Feds (Food safety).

[Baz]

Hopefully Fred.....one day you can hang up the shingle and just do stuff on the side for cash.

Not sure how it would work - but should be some way.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by Baz

Hopefully Fred.....one day you can hang up the shingle and just do stuff on the side for cash.

Not sure how it would work - but should be some way.

Im dreaiming of that day Baz!! I will still work as much as I can, I just can't wait to not have to work .
Im gonna try and run 10 more years at the shop . that puts me right at 65. Ill hustle old Porsches, unique cars, and side jobs as I please and tow cars to help buy my weekly rations of Ben Gay and Doans back pain pills .
I love to work though . I hope to play with cars till I drop .

[Rick Lee]

I think a buddy of mine in NJ gets a farm audit every so often. He has 100 acres in Hunterdon County, which would mean ruinous property taxes, if not designated a working farm. The dairy farm was run into the ground when his father fell ill and passed long ago. I think he has to produce so many bales of hay per year to still qualify for the farm property tax rate, which is a pittance.

[pwd72s]

Think it was Reagan who said that these were terrifying words:

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

Don't know why this thread reminded me of that.

[masraum]

Sounds like the new guy is a real Farquaad. (which I never realized before right now is probably meant to conjure thoughts of "fuchwad")



It's a shame when you should be able to tell them to stuff it, but that's like telling the Chef he sucks before you get your food or calling a cop an a-hole as soon as he walks up to your door. It's just not going to end well.

[GH85Carrera]

At the place I worked at, we were inspected by the fire department to check our safety. All the fire extinguisher were up to date, and we had no flammable liquids in the building.

One inspector asked what steps we take in case of fire. I answered big ones right out the door, and call the fire department. He did not think it was funny, but I did, as well as my co-workers.

With no flammable liquids, and in a concrete tilt wall construction building, with all metal studs and one one wood 2x4 above a processor to provide a light tight seal, we had little worries of a fire.

[bleucamaro]

Yup, very used to audits, NADCAP, AS9100, and local stuff.

Rules I learned growing up in a small business:
1. Never let them in the door without an appointment or an agenda.
2. Only show what they state ahead of time they'll be inspecting.
3. Know the rules.
4. Make the auditor cite and quote the code or rule they are claiming a finding against.
5. All audits will have some type of finding. Auditors have a hard time justifying their jobs if there are no findings, so expect something. If they find something stupid and easy, don't argue, just commit to correcting it. (this can sometimes contradict #4).