What to expect from DOB Electrical Inspection

We had the electricity upgraded in our home and we’ve passed the ConEd inspection, and now we will have the DOB inspection to close out the permit. What should we expect? I have heard so many horror stories. What is the worst case scenario? Will the inspector dig around and look for extra violations or things to cite that are unrelated to the electricity? Fortunately we can have them enter through the front coal hatch and go straight into the basement. Not that things are so illegal, but no permits were EVER pulled on this building (prior to our owning it) so I am sure there are a ton of what are technically violations based on no permits being pulled. Please share your experiences, good and bad. Preparing for the worst…

notfromny

in General Discussion 7 years and 4 months ago

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randolph | 7 years and 4 months ago

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We failed ours the first time because we had a hanging lamp in a bathroom. Apparently that’s against code. So we swapped it out, got reinspected, passed, and put the hanging fixture back up the second they left. What a waste of everyone’s time.

hnarov | 7 years and 4 months ago

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As a park slope licensed electrical contractor in business over twenty years, many of our inspections pass on the first visit. Many electricians being hired are not the licensee and quite frankly don’t know the code! The inspection process is designed to check only what was filed for on the permit. Keep in mind, if an inspector sees something in his inspection that is a serious violation, the homeowner will receive a violation. Recently, we were contracted to install a new four family incoming service. A month later, the inspector passed our work and closed out the permit but issued a violation to the owner for electrical work performed without a permit.

notfromny | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Thanks, helpful. We didn’t pass, but I guess that’s standard. There are a few tiny things that need to be taken care of, according to our (unreliable) electrician. So we’ll see…

Lurker | 7 years and 4 months ago

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We had one in the past 6 months. They inspect only the work done, but they look for any reason to fail. They failed us because the porcelain temporary fixtures installed as sconces in our bathroom beside the mirror had glass lightbulbs. I can’t explain it but that’s code. So I had to get another inspection after putting in $5 depot fixtures with… glass light covers over the lightbulbs. Good enough! They also required that we have new pricier breakers that our electrician argued are only meant to be in bedrooms and kitchens and yet we had to have them. After that all good.

yudashasom | 7 years and 4 months ago

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In my experience, these inspectors are only there to look at what was filed and if the work was done to code.