I have an area of a SFD remodel that is labled "attic" with over 8' of headroom.
The EC wired the area as a habitable area.
The homeowner has ran out of money and does not want to cover the framing in the area at this time.
I told the EC to either to remove the outlets or protect the NM cable up to 8' above the finished floor.
My supervisor says we cannot force the homeowner to cover the NM cable since the area is labled attic on the plans.

Thank you,,
Neal Burdick
COT
Construction Inspector II

Keep in mind, I have not seen the dwelling. So take this reply for what it is worth:

There are very few "attics" here in Florida. If it is "roof space" (space between trusses) where equipment is placed, other codes may even come into play.

My first suggestion is to take up the problem with the general contractor, not the EC.

Certainly whatever the space is, would not in my opinion relieve the burden of protecting NM cable that is "subject to physical damage." Normally the electrical inspector can make this call, since he is the one that was there. So my second suggestion is -- if your supervisor is satisfied that the NM cable isn't subject to physical damage, then ask him/her if they would not mind signing off (provided of course, that everything else is OK). I'm sure they went there and took a look for themselves prior to making any decisions.

If someone gets shocked or killed because they came into contact with an unprotected cable, then the supervisor's signature is on the inspection record.

Again, take this response with a grain of salt because I did not personally view the situation.

Thank you for your reply Nick.
My supervisor cannot sign off as he only has a standard building inspectors license.
I guess another electrical inspector is going to sign off on it so at least I wont have to worry about it.

Other comments would be appreciated.

Neal
COT
Construction Inspector II

Then how can he even make the call????

LOL,
Its the way things are now.
We cant make a homeowner do anything they dont want, they might complain to the Mayors office.
You must drink the koolaide and be thankful you have a job(so they keep telling me).

neal

It is a shame to say the least. I'm sure you are not the only one. I have experienced some of that in my career. True building code enforcement professionals understand that our function protects the end user, NOT "the homeowner at that particular time." Houses can be bought and sold and then the next poor sap gets stuck with it.

There are good and bad city and county managers, same as any other profession. The trick is to find the good ones and work for them. Maybe they are too few and far between.

I agree this is a GC question.
I may be naive here but if it is clear this is going to be an un permitted room I would treat it like a rough inspection and visualize where the walls are going to go. We are not tax cops, we are safety inspectors. Try to give the re-modeler as safe as a start as you can. Maybe even try to get them to permit the finish and get a final look, see to be sure they won't burn up.

How about if you just disconnect the circuit from the breaker and safe it off. Now there is no hazard. Have the home owner provide a letter for the file about the disconnected circuit. If they enegize later, not our problem.

I would make the licensed electrical contractor choose to either route the cable vertically up and down the framing (less subject to damage) or install 1x2 guards along the face of the framing to protect the horizontal cable runs (poor routing of cables in my opinion)and no keyless fixtures without globes. This is an unfinished storage space and the permits should be revised to record this fact.
Reasonable customer service is a fact of life...

I think what Neal described is not an issue of "reasonable customer service."