David Martel wrote:
Bob,

It's hard to tell from your one sided post if the inspector had an
attitude problem. It does sound as if he was late though you don't say at
what time he hoped to arrive at your home. But other than that what is your
complaint? He told you what he believed to be wrong with your work and how
to fix it. Do you think that he is misinterpreting the code? Was he rude or
abrupt? In characterizing the inspector as "a former electrician who went
out of business, and he blames homeowners doing their own wiring." you make
it clear that you have an attitude problem.
It's possible that the man was having a bad day but I doubt that would
lead him to go over your wiring and carefully explain to you all of the
defects in your workmanship and materials. If you truly need to pursue this,
research your local building code and determine whether your work is up to
code, then file a complaint with his supervisor.

Dave M.


I've already changed the undersized boxes and removed most of the
nonlisted staples. I do have an attitude problem, and it gets worse the
more I think about it.

He was sarcastic and belittling. He said he would be there probably
about 10:00 and he didn't show up until noon. When he was looking at
the service panel in my basement, he disconnected a cable TV ground wire
that was in his way, and he didn't hook it back up again.

He said the #6 neutral wire had to be marked white or gray or green from
end-to-end by the manufacturer. The code doesn't say that; I just
looked it up:
"310-12 (a) Grounded Conductors. Insulated conductors of No. 6 or
smaller, intended for use as grounded conductors of circuits, shall have
an outer identification of a white or natural gray color" [doesn't say
green, doesn't say continuous]

Article 310-12(b) is for equipment grounding conductors, and *it* says
the covering must have a continuous green covering or green stripe, and
it has an exception allowing the just the ends to be taped green "where
conditions of maintenance and supervision blah blah blah"

He's trying to apply parts of article 310-12b that don't really apply to
article 310-12a. 310-12a doesn't have an exception about taping the
ends white under "conditions of maintenance and supervision" because no
exception is necessary.

Best regards,
Bob