Warning about Inspectors

[Nikola91423]

While the inspector was on sight (my inspection did not pass), he noticed that I had set up a home office in my garage. Because of the pandemic, I need to work from home, and I setup a home office in the garage. I placed carpet tiles in the garage, placed a desk and computer inside, and installed a mini-split AC. (The garage door still works, so if I move my desk I could park my car in there). The inspector explained that I am not using the garage for it’s intended purpose, which is not allowed; and asked that I schedule an inspection for the garage’s AC unit (which was already in process). In Los Angeles, are we not allowed to work from our garages? Do we have to notify the city if we use the garage as a workspace?

A word of caution - if you have a home office in your garage, don’t let the inspector see it.

 

[Misterbee]

Interesting question. I know someone who is thinking about putting solar on the roof of her house, and has a freestanding garage. Part of the the garage has been converted into a living space. She does not plan on putting solar on the garage roof. I wonder if the inspector will notice or care, if the solar install has nothing to do with the garage?

 

[thr33xx]

Inspectors unfortunately have the ability to inspect more than just the scope of your project. In northern California - county inspector was inspecting some re-plumbing work being done then advised that the smoke detectors needed to be updated otherwise inspection would not pass. Smoke detectors had zero relationship to the re-plumbing. As much of a hassle and frustration as it is, it's a simple fix and was done.

Pretty sure there isn't a law against how you can use your garage. What's to stop people from using the garage as a home gym, office, game room, storage, etc? That said. I would go the path of least resistance with these types of people since they can cause a lot of headache. Move your office stuff temporarily back into the house before the inspection, then get it inspected so that it can pass. Then move your stuff back.

 

[Alonzo]

Pretty sure there isn't a law against how you can use your garage.

I don't know about Fort Worth, but many communities have zoning and occupancy laws which would restrict how garages or other buildings are used. At the very least, most jurisdictions would require permits and inspections when converting a garage to a living space.

 

[GaitherBill]

Some inspectors just want to exert their power on people for no reason.

Happened with ours too.

 

[Alonzo]

Some inspectors just want to exert their power on people for no reason.

Happened with ours too.

This may be the case. However, let me point out another possibility. An inspector goes to look at a plumbing job and sees electrical issues. He doesn't say anything about the electrical, nor does he report the problems. A week later the house catches on fire due to improper wiring associated with what the inspector witnessed. Homeowner says "well, an inspector was out here just last week and saw all of that wiring and didn't say a word". Do you see some liability there?

 

[boaterva]

I would definitely not use a garage as any living quarters use (or working, like an office) where an inspector could see it. This expands the occupied space of the house, for one thing. Storage is no issue, occupied space is. You can do what you want, but having officials ‘observe’ it is asking for trouble.

 

[wjgjr]

Inspectors unfortunately have the ability to inspect more than just the scope of your project. In northern California - county inspector was inspecting some re-plumbing work being done then advised that the smoke detectors needed to be updated otherwise inspection would not pass. Smoke detectors had zero relationship to the re-plumbing. As much of a hassle and frustration as it is, it's a simple fix and was done.

I would guess that in most cases, inspectors will not bother with something outside the scope of their inspection unless it is in plain sight. However, at least in our area, smoke and CO detectors are the exception. I'm not sure if is state or county regulations, but with any inspection, they actively check to ensure the number and type of detectors are appropriate. I suspect there was a decision that this was an important enough safety issue to take every opportunity to enforce it.

 

[Ampster]

Pretty sure there isn't a law against how you can use your garage.

Read your zoning code and look at the building permit. A garage often does not meet the same standards for human occupancy that other parts of the house do.

 

[SoCal Dave]

Inspectors can tag a property for anything they see which is out of compliance.They can even do this just walking or driving by - though usually what I have heard is them stopping work when they see unpermitted construction going on.

 

[Big Dog]

I would guess that in most cases, inspectors will not bother with something outside the scope of their inspection unless it is in plain sight. However, at least in our area, smoke and CO detectors are the exception. I'm not sure if is state or county regulations, but with any inspection, they actively check to ensure the number and type of detectors are appropriate. I suspect there was a decision that this was an important enough safety issue to take every opportunity to enforce it.

Ditto CO detectors. For the first few years after our City passed a mandatory CO law, any time an inspector showed up for anything (new roof?), s'he'd ask about CO detectors. It was just on their list to ask about.

 

[jboy210]

Ditto CO detectors. For the first few years after our City passed a mandatory CO law, any time an inspector showed up for anything (new roof?), s'he'd ask about CO detectors. It was just on their list to ask about.

Same thing here in the NorCal East Bay. Fire and CO are checked even if you are having them inspect your patio. Sounds like they are using the same list they do in Irvine.

 

[rhumbliner]

Inspectors unfortunately have the ability to inspect more than just the scope of your project.

When I moved into my new home in Jackson, I set up a quick & dirty method to charge my MS by pigtailing off my 30-amp garage heater with a NEMA 14-50 receptacle. It was an egregious code violation but I compensated by turning off the heater, labeling the receptacle “Tesla Only”, and dialing my MS down to 20-amp charging. Besides, it was a temporary solution inside my own garage so there was little danger anyone else would use it.

A month later I had my WC installed and scheduled an inspection. When the fire inspector showed up he approved the WC and I commented that I could now remove the offending receptacle. He replied it was none of his business since he was only allowed to inspect what the permit listed and nothing else.

 

[SMAlset]

I tend to look over things like manuals and did so with our engineering documents when we were sent them. On the Cover Page under General Notes apart from the language about all work complying with Calif building, plumbing, residential, mechanical, fire and existing Calif building code and National electric code as amended by Calif's electrical code, it states "Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors Required". We're in Santa Clara County but I think this might have been a state wide change. If you are wondering who your fire code is under your AHJ is listed on the Cover Page License section along with your utility.

We've had a couple permits taken out for remodeling and hardscaping work and had inspection during those. What we found out when doing our kitchen remodel was that once you open up the walls you are going to have to meet current code on things as it applied to the area of the permit. As a result we had to lose our incandescent kitchen/kitchen hallway can lights and replace them with more energy efficient ones. At the time it was specifying fluorescent which I hate with a passion and LEDs were only on the cusp of being introduced and approved as new lighting technology. All I remember is our contractor thankfully managed to work with our inspector providing lighting and energy calculations and we got the waiver but it required us to add more LED can lights than we had incandescent before (LED "bulbs" were pretty expensive at the time so were an additional cost per unit in addition to the number required). Of course a year or so later code was changed to approve use of LEDs. But yeah, you can run into all kinds of things when remodeling or adding some new equipment that messes with code. After seeing what extra cost the lighting change made to our kitchen remodel, we added the provision to our homeowners insurance about covering code changes. BTW we called our insurance agent and added our new solar/PW equipment to our homeowners policy.

When we had our NEMA 14-50 added to our garage, the inspector asked about our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Our house was hardwired for the smoke detectors and luckily we had added a carbon monoxide one prior to this so we are covered for this.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

Adding AC equipment now classifies the space as living space and you are not allowed to install powerwalls in a living space. You will have to remove the AC. And will never be able to install AC.
Could you wall off the powerwalls and call it a utility closet and then pass?

 

[AxlxA]

This post about inspection makes me nervous about my garage. I have these ceiling shelves from Costco installed. Two of the support beams of the storage shelve are right near the sprinkler. I suspect this isn't up to code? Norcal as well.

 

[SoCal Dave]

This post about inspection makes me nervous about my garage. I have these ceiling shelves from Costco installed. Two of the support beams of the storage shelve are right near the sprinkler. I suspect this isn't up to code? Norcal as well.

Not sure on the code for stuff near sprinklers, but I would be more worried about obvious large stuff like a room addition that someone's cousin did over a weekend for a six pack or using a garage for living space. Every house which has had a few owners probably has stuff out of code. Most inspectors aren't going to rip it apart unless it is something egregious.

 

[Electrph]

This post about inspection makes me nervous about my garage. I have these ceiling shelves from Costco installed. Two of the support beams of the storage shelve are right near the sprinkler. I suspect this isn't up to code? Norcal as well.

Wow i have these exact same Costco shelves also nor cal ... sprinklers near but do not seem to obstruct .. now i’m paranoid as well

 

[AxlxA]

Not sure on the code for stuff near sprinklers, but I would be more worried about obvious large stuff like a room addition that someone's cousin did over a weekend for a six pack or using a garage for living space. Every house which has had a few owners probably has stuff out of code. Most inspectors aren't going to rip it apart unless it is something egregious.

Ok well if it's blatant large things like that, then I don't need to worry.

I did convert one kitchen gfci outlet to a non-gfci usb outlet so maybe I'll swap it back before inspector comes.

 

[AxlxA]

Wow i have these exact same Costco shelves also nor cal ... sprinklers near but do not seem to obstruct .. now i’m paranoid as well

When are you doing your install? Mines slated for end of November ....