[cpconst]

To start my rant, I've been in the building and remodeling industry for 30+ years and have pretty much done it all. I've built many houses over the years and have had many inspectors during the same time frame. I get along with just about everyone and always respect what inspectors have to say and agree with their decisions if there is an adjustment to be made. So last week I scheduled an inspection for a basement slab on a house I'm building for a client with whom I've worked for since 1994. The foundation crew back filled a corner in the front of the foundation and parts of a knee wall along the back of the foundation in order to get gravel into the basement. I hadn't gotten an foundation inspection yet for the tar application but the waterproofing firm always puts their sticker on the foundation and 85% of the fountation was still visible all the way down to the washed 57's that cover the perforated 4" drain tile that goes all the way around the footer. The inspector called his boss from the job and told him that 50% of the foundation was covered up and suggested hitting me with a $200 not ready fee for the waterproofing inspection that I hadn't even called for. Mind you I had my crew, concrete and a pumper truck set up for the next morning to pour the slab. Trying to convince an inspector to change their mind about anything is like asking a referee to change a bad call after it's made. So I got absolutely no where with this guy or his boss. I'm now jumping through the hoops of the county's three ring circus in that I dug all the backfill out with a track hoe being careful not to scrap any of the $1500 worth of water proofing off my freshly poured walls. Lesson learned with this inspector so I'll chalk it up to my misfortune of an inspector having a bad day and absolutely hating his job that he says he's over worked at and under payed at doing.
My re-inspection that I never scheduled in the first place and my $200 penalty that was paid by me that gives me the privilege of having this guy show up tomorrow for another shot at it will hopefully go without a hitch. None the less I feel heartburn is in my very near future with the anticipitation of tomorrow's meeting. Why isn't there any leeway with the county on working with the very contractors and public that pay their salaries? I'm all about being fair with people and reasoning with whomever when there is an opportunity to resolve an issue. Why can't that be the policy of some inspectors who feel like they are somehow being taken advantage of? Instead of saying hey, how about removing a little dirt in this area so I can make sure you didn't forget to spray this little piece of concrete with tar and you can go ahead and pour the slab in the morning, the say pay me more money and you can resume your project. That's my rant, now I'll be happy to take further flaming from building inspectors that are on this forum.