I've been a builder most of my life. I live in a densly populated area just North of seattle. As a result, I have to work in probably 25 different jurisdictions, towns and counties. Each jurisdiction has it's own codes and quirks. There are SOME areas I simply will NOT build in.

Over the years I've had some seriously bad run-ins with bad inspectors. And occaionally the opposite has been true. For example, I was once on a roof of a building I was building, somewhat out of sight, when I witnessed a county building inspector receive a payoff of a case of whickey. I got him fired.

On the other hand, I witnessed a construction foreman reduce an
inspector to tears on the job. She was brand new and she was quite correct to deny approval for something he'd done. I stepped in and he backed off.

There are inspectors and then there are inspectors.

I really never thought that building inspections, per se, had much intrinsic value until I witnessed the devastation of the 1989 earthquake that hit Santa Cruz, California. I had friends there who were almost destroyed. I spent two weeks there afterwards helping to shore up several homes and buildings. I witnessed entire houses thrown off their foundations. I went to one funeral while I was there. It was horrible.

All this kinda reminds me of that wonderful song that Tom Paxton wrote:

"THIS WORLD GOES ROUND AND ROUND,
WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN,
JUST LIKE A SPINNING WHEEL,
IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU.

YOU FIND WHATEVER YOU FEEL,
YOU LOSE WHATEVER YOU STEAL,
JUST LIKE A SPINNING WHEEL,
IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU!"

If you pick a fight with a building inspector, you're 'gonna have a fight. And you'll likely lose, because untimatly they've got the power. If you start off an inspection with coffee, a doughnut, the blueprints and the previous inspection reports, AND YOU DON'T HAVE A CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER, you'll probably get a fair inspection. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson