Sasha wrote:
As part of remodeling my kitchen I had to redo plumbing on the second
floor bathroom that is just above the kitchen. I was pretty confident
in my plumbing skills and knowledge as I did a bug plumbing project in
my house before. I plumbed full basement bath including underslab
plumbing, installed sewage ejector pump, stand pipe, utility sink. All
work was inspected multiple times and except few issues that I had to
correct everything was fine. Now a new inspector in my township came to
check my new kitchen and upstairs plumbing. He rejected my work due to
several problems to his view:

1. He said my house must have 1 3" vent and two 2" vents. I thought
that vent size is determined by number of fixture units it vents. I
have two 2" vents and that is more then adequate for my house with 2
1/2 bath. Can someone point me to the place in NPC where it states that
house must have these number of vents.

2. He insisted toilet must have a wet vent instead of dry went that I
put. Why does toilet must have wet vent and why dry vent is no good?

3. He insisted that rubber Fernco couplings that I used to connect new
PVC DWV with old copper plumbing are prohibited despite I used them in
my basement and previous inspector approved them .I also cannot
understand if Fernco couplings are prohibited why any HD sells them?

Calling an inspector on some of his decisions can cause problems, make
him lose face and create an enemy which would affect any future
projects. You're the only one that can determine if fighting city
hall, and still potentially losing the battle, makes sense.

Inspectors have agendas, same as anyone else. He might be of the
opinion that it is his duty to take any opportunity to bring the house
closer to being in complaince with the current code. You didn't
mention when exactly you did that basement project, but the new
International Residential Code came out only a couple years ago. Your
township may have adopted it, adopted it with modifications or come up
with one of their own.

Some inspectors hate dealing with homeowners. They feel it's not their
job to teach plumbing/construction to someone who, in their opinion,
knows nothing and is a pain in the ass. If you're run into one of
those, lotsa luck!

If the guy seems reasonably willing to discuss things, but isn't
budging on his requirements, ask him to point out where exactly in the
code that it prohibits certain things (such as Fernco couplings). Be
aware that if you live in a smaller town, your plumbing inspector may
be the final authority - there may be no one to overrule him. Even if
there is, his boss may be unwilling to do so if it's minor stuff and no
one is "harmed". Your concerns are not for life and limb, just some
added expense for you.

Look at the bigger picture before you go making an enemy.

R