it really depends on the new inspector. when my parents added on their sunroom, the contractor went ahead and put up the panelling before the electrical inspexctor came by. he had to tear part of it out so the inspector could see for himself that it was to code. even had to remove the cedar palnks from one wall that he never touched, it was the original back porch wall with an original outlet. but once he came in everything had to come down.

other, lazier, inspectors may simply say it will be ok if they just fix X problems, no tear out needed.

It REALLY depneds on the inspector.... we had our prliminary inspection and he barely checked anything. Nothing was hooked up yet, just wires ran (maybe this is normal?)

We are having our final inspection next week and I am terrified something will be wrong.

Generally speaking, if you are up front with the inspector, he will end up being on your side. If inspections are required in your jurisdiction, then it is the responsibility of the trade contractor or the general contractor to call for them. I would proceed as you are planning.

The entire process of following NEC Code, getting permits and having inspections really boils down to safety. The question begs, if he covered junction boxes, what else did he do? I would start by reporting the contractor to code inforcement and ask them what needs to be done to insure your home is safely wired.

well, the NEW electrical inspector came this morning...

6 PAGES OF VIOLATIONS!!!!! best guess is roughly 24-30 seperate violations.

more details coming soon!

okay, now things are getting interesting. i was informed over the weekend that there's more to our code issues than we think.

over the summer we had all this work done with a grant we got from an orginazation called "housing revitalization", who gets their money from HUD. I was informed we may be S.O.L. on some of these violations because HUD has their own set of codes, that overrides local and national code. and apperantly they think alot of stuff is save, even though the rest of the country doesnt!

still looking into this issue further. any input is greatly appriciated on how we should proceed.

I'm confused by your wording. You say you may be S.O.L. but then you say that HUD thinks a lot of the stuff is safe but the rest of the country doesn't. That sounds like HUD has lesser requirements than the local AHJ.

I would be surprised that IF HUD has less stringent requirements than the local code that that would override the local code. It would might have some requirements that are more strict than the local codes & in those scenarios the HUD code would override.

24 to 30 violations is pretty bad. Were those violations from the areas that you had renovated or the contractor? Was the contractor you hired a GC or an electrical contractor?

my understanding is that HUD has alot of things that DIFFER from local and nec codes, some more strict, and some less strict. but after i posted i talked to the second elec insp who found all the violations and said they dont even meet HUD code.

95% of the violations were from the contractor. basiclly we got the grant from housing revitalization. they get their funding from the state of new york, and they get the money from HUD. housing revitalization came into our home, determined what needed to be worked on and sent it out to be bid on by a group of independant contractors that do work for them. lowest bid wins... work starts. housing revitalization is responsibile for inspecting each individual item on the job sheet (i.e., replace front door, install new breaker box, etc) as it is done, then a final inspection. all electrical is to be inspected by a certified elec inspector, approved by local code officer and finally housing revitalization.

the contractor is in no way a certified electrician. he is an average joe who has a 2 man crew, is was very messy, worked for 2 days and took a week off, was rude, crude and has had to come back a dozen times to fix other things that werent right.

bottom line is no one in this situation knew what they were doing. contractor did piss poor work, housing revitalization approved said piss poor work and now is coming back to haunt us.

there are many days i wish we had never gotten this grant.

I have some experience with HUD inspections. Most mobile home made in the US are built to HUD codes. There are some differences. For example...they allow some circuits to be 15 amps while my local juridiction specifies a minimum of 20 amp circuits. And... when a mobile home leaves the factory with a HUD seal no local juridiction can enter the home and begin to cite violations. And no home can be kept out of a jurisdiction because it doesn't meet local codes. This is Federal law and overrides any local laws. The local jurisdition is limited to how the home is connected to the to the service and that's it. I have seen this challenged and the local jurisdition loses.
Aside from the allowance of 15 amp circuits, I have seen very little in the HUD code that varies from local codes. And we know that most local codes are based on the Natl. Elect Code. HUD certainly doesn't allow jb's to be covered in a wall or any such thing.
By the way, the mobile home manufacturer pays for each HUD sticker that is put on a home. This supposedly covers the cost of HUD inspection, but I have no idea if each home is inspected or if it's random.

although i dont think it matters, it is not a mobile/manufactured home. our house was built in 1895. but i agree that even though HUD's standards are different, they are not really any less strict.

i think we are about to take on the beast head on... we got the official report from the 2nd inspector and went to the contractor first, he told us basiclly to screw ourselves and said the work was inspected and he is off the hook. he said to take him to court. went to the 1st electrical inspector and after he read the report he said he didnt have anything to say and to leave his office. looks like this one is going to end up in court!