Thanks for the good vibes people. I made pancakes for DD and her sleepover friends just to distract myself. The inspector came in the afternoon and walked around for a good hour with my GC. A couple of electrical misses - smoke alarm in the family room outside the bedroom door, some 220 circuits not having an arc (I think this is something for preventing short circuits I think). He was not too thrilled with us reusing vintage windows to keep the look uniform. He would have preferred to have seen tempered glass etc.. But did not cite that. Re-inspection for the missing pieces on Monday and hopefully occupancy permit then. I did breathe a tiny sigh of relief. I was very worried about my creativity in the Kitchen. My GC had felt several things there had a potential to be an issue including toe kick drawers, jumper cables for UCL led bars, drawers under cooktop and DW under sink. None of that seem to have caused an issue. Honestly with all the trouble we have been having with the GC, I am looking forward to getting him to close on the punch list and get out of our lives. All I want to do is move in, unpack and stay and home for a few days and let the happiness sink in. Hopefully just a couple more weekends I hope. I am shopping for hand soap to connect to the NeverMT.. that is a sign of confidence right!

Let's see. For the most part, it went well. We had one sub at the beginning of the process that slowed us down. Kept overpromising and underdelivering. Frustrating! I learned that it's very important to design a house to fit the land instead of the other way around. I think that's what caused more frustration for us in the beginning. We had a house we wanted but the land wasn't cooperating. I learned that EVERYTHING is negotiable if you're willing to ask. I learned that it's important to ask lots of questions. I learned that 9/10 of having a successful build is being able to manage time and multitask. I learned that you should ALWAYS have a contingency fund . . . 10% ideally. I learned that some subcontractors require the "bad cop" approach (that's not my nature so DH handled those situations). I learned it's so important to be on site as much as possible. I learned that EVERYONE has an opinion but at the end of the day, our satisfaction with the house was really the most important thing. I learned how grateful I am for my parents allowing us to squat at their house for several months since our house sold quickly. It's been a great adventure. DH and I really learned a lot being the owner builder. It was fun most of the time and very fullfilling. When I look at the finished product, I'm still in awe that we made all this happen. Bost most importantly I learned to slow down and enjoy the process . . . not get so caught up in the little things . . . be flexible . . and be grateful.

When you get a remodeling permit it doesn't cancel the existing certificate of occupancy so early occupancy is not condoned but enforcement is a gray area. Perhaps your contractor will have an opinion. Remember, its about your safety and payment of the final permit fee. Guess which one means more to the local authorities. I designed a 1.5 million dollar renovation and the local Historic Commission held up the C of O for 3 years but no one tried to evict the owners. It really does depend on the inspector.

In my area, to name a few, they check compliance with: box fill requirements, grounding, proper size breakers, circuit requirements for kitchens, GFCIs where needed, adequate wire lengths in boxes, cable stapling, outside receptacles, etc. In short, they want to make sure the electrical code was complied with and there aren't potential problems with the wiring that might cause your house to burn down or get someone electrocuted.