DOB Inspector Question
We recently had some minor electrical work in our coop done. When DOB came to inspect, they gave us a violation for the location of the breaker panel, which is located in a closet (this was done before we bought). The inspector said we could just move it so it’s facing the other way to…
We recently had some minor electrical work in our coop done. When DOB came to inspect, they gave us a violation for the location of the breaker panel, which is located in a closet (this was done before we bought). The inspector said we could just move it so it’s facing the other way to where it is now, which would put it in a bedroom behind a door, but it would have the proper clearance. Our electrician is saying we can’t do this, even though the inspector said we could. The electrician says if a different inspector comes back, they may not accept that placement.
Is this true? You can have a DOB inspector tell you one thing to clear a violation, but then another inspector that comes back the 2nd time can still fail you? Anyone know if a circuit panel in a bedroom is acceptable to code?
If the public is dissatisfied with the performance of the DOB the public is at fault. Inspectors are constantly second guessed. They are under a microscope and any omission or mistake can be, and often is, construed as corruption by a jaded, cynical public. Inspectors never know when they are being “set-up” by the Department Of Investigation or Internal Affairs with an integrity test. So being “anal”, as some call it, may just be an act of self preservation when the city is looking to lay people off for any reason. Add to this the glaring lack of judgment and down right corruption of individual former employees of the DOB and you can understand why paranoia has more and more inspectors in doubt and writing violations for an “i” not dotted, or a “t” not crossed. When you have a problem ask to speak to the Assistant Chief or Chief Inspector with the experience and standing to advise you properly.
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI, Freedom from Fear
my experiences with the dob are so ridiculous and infuriating and berzerk that let me just say at times I just wished all it took was a fifty or a hundred dollar bill tucked into someone’s pocket while they “weren’t looking”. It is a tiresome and a peculiar predicament. If you don’t ask for permission, they won’t care, but if you ask, they will torture you and stall you to the depths of their bureaucratic whimsical hearts.
would moving the closet be cheaper?
The threat of a violation for being in the closet… or one for being out of the closet…. That’s why we need to get rid of don’t ask, don’t tell.
Your electrician should make his work up to code at no extra cost to you. That said, I recently had a similar issue where the circuit breaker box need to be moved three inches up and rotated right to come up to code. The first inspector looked over things with a fine tooth comb, the second inpsector barely stepped foot inside the basement and gave half of a glance before giving the all clear.
My electrician told me it was the luck of the draw and that some are anal about the work while others are extremely laxed in how much they actually look at the work because they don’t actually know what it is supposed to look like.
Uh Alex, he was asking about the door again become someone else directly contradicted what you said. _That’s_ what was difficult to understand about it. Turn the ‘tude down a notch.
Was this a DOB construction inspection or an electrical inspection? Usually the DOB doesn’t note electrical violations unless they are glaring – pig tails hanging out of an electrical box, lacking of public hallway lighting, etc.
Since you describe electrical work, I am thinking it’s an (BEC) Bureau of Electrical Control inspector; and the next inspector will have access to the violation. I don’t believe there is a problem putting it in the bedroom. The BEC prefers boxes be centrally located in a hall but it can be elsewhere if it meets the requirements.
TM, I agree they’re not out to solicit bribes any more, unfortunately. If they were it would make things a lot easier.
But what they are out to do is make sure they stay working in a time of diminished construction activity. So, another failure means another re-inspection, and more work for the boys…
Speaking of Alice in Wonderland, you can of course fight a DOB failure, you just have to move up the chain of Mad Hatters. You can get an engineer to write an opinion for $250 or so, then get an expediter to take the opinion to the DOB for oh, another coupla hundred?
Since this seems to be a fairly straightforward issue, according to Alex, maybe you’ll pass the re-inspection. OF course your electrician is setting you up, since if it doesn’t pass he can say ‘I told you so’ and charge you for whatever needs to be done to pass.