I win!!!!!..............................(Starch)

Ken_8

Guess who will never bust your chops again - ever.

Nice call and nice result.

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=68&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

John Starcher_4

Received a phone call today......

.....from the head of the plumbing inspection department.

(re: my earlier post "Plumbing Inspector)

I was told in no uncertain terms that the State will not require me to remove the floor for the crawlspace drainage pipe inspection. His exact words were, "If you guys can crawl under there to install the piping, we can certainly crawl under there to inspect it."

I went on to vent about a few of the other wise-a&& comments the inspector made to my man. I stopped short of asking for a written apology :-)

Bottom line is, we have been vindicated, and a reinspection will take place first of the week with no additional fees.

The best part is, the original inspector will be on vacation next week, so we'll get a different guy. Next time PI #1 comes to one of my jobs, I'm going to make sure I am there!!!

Thanks again to everyone for their words of support.

Starch, breathing a sigh of relief in Marblehead

Mike Kraft_2

Starch!

Glad it worked out.It's hard to figure how people can be so thick.3 cheers

cheese

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Dunno'

It might have been fun to see the guy crawl.

I'm glad you won that battle. Well done.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Dave Yates (PAH)

Kudos

Nicely done.

After getting our nastiest PI demoted, I paid him a visit in his office to explain how things were going to work from that day forward. By the book - the one that is written and contains the code - not by his whim or mood. That dog is caged where our work is concerned.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Robert O'Connor_7

John Starcher.....

The basis of public relations is simply a fundamental need for human beings to understand each other. A building department, by virtue of its diverse mission, comes into contact with people from all walks of life. This diversity demands that a variety of attitudes be developed and tempered by the basic philosophy of understanding. Since a building department is in effect a monopoly because people must come to it, whether they want to or not, a calloused attitude can be developed by employees who can become weary of an unending succession of repetitive queries and complaints, a succession of non-knowledgeable persons, others seeking preferential treatment, all displaying varying degrees of temper and attitude. Inspectors who are exposed to builders or craftsmen who display characteristics that might cast some doubt on their integrity, can develop prejudices that might influence their judgments in all cases. Plan checkers can develop a similar attitude or prejudice against incompetent architects or engineers. In the multitudinous aspects of a building department's administration, a function that should be classified as one of the most important is public relations. Without good public relations, the most proficient organization can, and will, fail. When a building department practices good public relations, and it becomes generally known that fairness and objectivity are a doctrine or philosophy of the department, its reputation as a respected and professional organization is well on its way to becoming an important factor in the total esteem in which it is held. Experienced and hard-bitten construction professionals have been heard to remark of a certain building department, "It's tough, but fair." This is an accolade of the highest order. By TOUGH, they mean demanding of compliance, firm and resolute, but not obstinate, arbitary or unreasonable. By FAIR, they mean objective, intellegent and conscientious. A building department that shows no respect or freindliness toward the public with whom it deals, is seldom rewarded with public support. As an end, a favorable official attitude toward the public is essential in any democratic form of government that is contemptuous of and unresponsive toward the public is by its nature undemocratic...............Robert O'Connor/NJ

Ray_7

Robert.......

....I agree with you 100%. It was obvious from the statements made to my by the head of the inspection department that he feels the same way. He stressed to me over and over that he does NOT want his department to have the reputation of being a bunch of bullies.

I also agree that, from the inspector's standpoint, dealing with incomopetence and/or ignorance on a regular basis could grind on you after awhile. That doesn't give you the right to take it out on someone who is doing the right thing, though.

Starch

Robert O'Connor_7

John...

My advice to you is simple. Make it a point to be at ALL your job inspections until a working relationship has been established with the department. YOU call for YOUR inspections and YOU meet with the inspectors, it is YOUR license and reputation at stake here for you don't know what your man might have said or what feild conditions were present when he showed. Be a little more diplomatic and not so quick to go over the guys head you might find the hat he's wearing isn't really a condom (if you get my drift)...Robert O'Connor/NJ

Ray_7

Robert.......

I appreciate what you're saying, believe me.

I am not, however, going to waste my time attending every inspection personally when I have qualified employees who can handle it. I trust my men implicitly, because they have earned my trust. They are my diplomats, not only to the inspectors, but also to my clients. If I have to personally witness each inspection to verify my men are interacting properly with the inspector, you could also argue that I have to follow them around on every service call they perform.

I do not feel that I was being un-diplomatic. I was merely facing time constraints that did not warrant attempting to "work it out" with this individual inspector - especially when I knew for a fact that I had done nothing wrong to require me to bend over backwards for him.

As I stated earlier, I have no problem with someone calling me or my employee on the carpet if we deserve it. The fact of this instance was that we deserved nothing except a successful inspection on this job. Period.

You coming to Wetstock? I'd love to share a beverage with you!!

Starch