Cheating Contractors
 

It always amazing me as to what contractors of all types will try to get
away with. They go to extremes in order to bypass codes and inspections. In
many cases their violations are a danger to the life/safety of people,
especially children, and domestic animals.
There is a swimming pool contractor in the area that has been violating the
construction codes and bypasses the final inspection by never calling for an
inspection and letting the permit expire. I learned of this when he did a
job for a neighbor and I viewed his installation and there were many code
violations. I photographed the visible violations and delivered copies to
the county inspection department. The inspector informed me that there had
been no inspection. The inspector came out, as a courtesy to me as the
permit holder had not called, and verified the violations. That’s all it
took. My neighbor’s system was extensively re-worked and is now code
compliant.
The county has now gone into their closed files to find the jobs where no
inspection was called. It appears that there may be upwards of 17 instances
of letting the permit expire without performing the inspection. The county
is taking action.
I have reviewed my neighbor’s system before and after corrections and the
interesting fact to me is that if the system was installed in accordance
with the code to begin with, the actual material/labor cost would have been
slightly less than the violation installation. Go figure!
If you have a job performed, be certain that there is an inspection that
ascertains that the installation complies with local codes/ordinances.