Budget Cutbacks Threaten Critical Safety Function
"Where you have state inspection agencies that cover areas outside incorporated townships, you're seeing drastic reductions in electrical inspections," observes the vice president of a major electrical products manufacturer. "New York City is currently failing to inspect 30,000 jobs a year," asserts the manager of NECA's New York City chapter. "There are major cutbacks everywhere in the state," laments a member of the Oregon state electrical board.
There's a swelling chorus of agreement throughout the electrical construction industry that declining numbers of electrical inspections and inspectors represent a serious and growing problem. Fewer inspectors mean fewer inspections. And fewer inspections mean a whole host of problems: decreased safety, increased liability for product manufacturers and installers, loss of public confidence.
Unfortunately, there's a lack of hard data documenting the trend. The International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) makes a distinction between inspector and non-inspector members, but its records don't differentiate between types: electrical inspectors, building officials, or combination inspectors.
One thing we know: there is a problem with electrical inspections the lack of them and it's growing. Due to municipal budget cuts, inspectors are not being replaced as they retire or take other jobs. New York City, for example, has cut its electrical inspector force to less than 15% of its previous force of 10 years ago. Prince Georges County, Md., near Washington, D.C., last year terminated all six of its commercial electrical inspectors. Different magnitudes, but the same problem and similar stories can be heard all over the country.
Historically, Inspectors Trained electrical inspectors have rarely examined every electrical installation. In smaller towns and counties, the all-in-one building official (sometimes a part- timer) has been the rule. Likewise, in many jurisdictions, dedicated inspectors and combination "multi- hat" inspectors have coexisted for years. Combination inspectors have traditionally approved one- and two-family dwellings, while the more highly trained "A-level" electrical, mechanical, and structural inspectors have approved commercial, industrial, and multifamily structures.
Today, that traditional division of responsibilities is changing. As the numbers of specialized electrical inspectors employed by jurisdictions drop, combination inspectors who may have started out their building industry careers as plumbers or carpenters are more and more often being asked to review large, complex jobs for which they may not be qualified.
Electrical Inspection Problem Has Many Roots
Most observers agree on the cause for the decline of the electrical inspection function nationwide: declining public budgets. Ironically, inspection is a service that pays its own way. Construction permit fees are supposed to pay for inspections. But increasingly, cash-strapped municipal governments are diverting permit revenue to the general fund, shortchanging inspections and public safety in the process.
A New York City electrical contractor estimates that the city is more than 100,000 jobs behind in its electrical inspections. "This is particularly true of small jobs," he notes. "Basically, the only jobs that are getting inspected are very large ones and those where the owner needs an occupancy permit."
The problem is exacerbated by what IAEI Executive Director Phil Cox calls the politicizing of the inspection function. "Electrical inspectors find they're the low person on the totem pole in many jurisdictions," says Cox. "In many cases, the electrical inspector is under the supervision of a building official or administrator who has little understanding of electrical systems and related safety rules. Where political and economic pressures impact inspection departments, electrical inspectors are often adversely affected."
Besides reducing the frequency of inspections, the governmental funding crunch has secondary effects as well. "Many of these folks can't get support from their jurisdictions to attend IAEI meetings or continuing education classes," observes Cox. "Sometimes inspectors can't even get paid time-off to attend at their own expense."
The predictable result? The lack of recognition and support for their professional development has resulted in a "brain drain," driving experienced people from the field and worsening the shortage of trained, qualified electrical inspectors. No one is quite sure how many inspectors are taking up their electricians' tool belts again or changing fields entirely.
Neglect Impedes Solution
Electrical inspection doesn't have a natural constituency. æInspection is not a priority for cash-strapped governments," comments IAEI's Cox. "Some jurisdictions are trying to eliminate the inspection function altogether."
While a pro-inspection industry coalition in New York City has representation from inspectors, electrical contracting firms, and insurance groups, so far there is no participation by consumer advocacy organizations. "We're trying to get them involved," says a coalition member who serves on a code-making panel. "But inspections don't have the same sex appeal as something like unsafe toasters."
Ironically, declining governmental support for the inspection function raises similar public safety and consumer issues. Third-party verification of safety claims has long been a key element in what Underwriters Laboratories calls the "American safety system." Just as reputable electrical manufacturers recognize the importance of third-party product inspection and labeling (despite its costs), reputable contractors support independent safety inspections of electrical installations. The lack of inspections creates a host of potential problems for contractors, manufacturers, and the public alike:
- Liability. Inspections provide independent verification that electrical products were installed and working properly at the time of inspection.
- Safe products. Inspections insure that only safe, listed electrical products are installed.
- Professionalism. Inspections insure that electrical installations are performed by qualified contractors.
Self-Certification Mirage
One strategy being tried in some jurisdictions to relieve the electrical inspection backlog is self-certification. Licensed electrical contractors are permitted to certify that their own installations comply with applicable codes, without a third-party inspection. In other cases, the registered architect or professional engineer who signs the plans is allowed to certify the installation. Compliance is supposedly audited through random inspections by the authority having jurisdiction.
Self-certification has a natural appeal for state and local governments. It automatically eliminates backlogs of uninspected jobs without devoting personnel or resources to the task while continuing to collect electrical permit filing fees.
Based on the apparent success of self-certification with plumbing and mechanical installations, some jurisdictions are extending the concept to electrical construction. But critics see potential problems:
- Unqualified installers. "You're going to see a lot more unfiled jobs and unqualified installers," predicts one contractor. Or partially filed jobs, where somebody files for two receptacles and then re-wires the whole floor. Without electrical inspections, there's no way to catch that sort of thing."
- Electrical safety. The stated purpose of the National Electrical Code is the practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity. As an electrical inspector observes, "Just because this works with plumbing is no reason to try electrical. Leaky pipes don't kill many people."
- Third-party verification. The New York Board of Fire Underwriters, a non-profit agency that conducts contract inspections throughout much of New York State, typically finds problems needing correction in 25% to 30% of the installations they inspect. The simple fact is that even when qualified contractors install listed products, third-party verification through independent inspections is an important guarantee of quality electrical installations and public safety.
Industry Takes Action
Recognizing the seriousness of this issue, a coalition representing all segments of the electrical industry has met several times to map out a strategy for encouraging local governments to maintain adequate electrical inspection resources. Education is a top priority for the group, which calls itself the Inspection Initiative.
The coalition is raising the profile of this critical safety issue with the public and consumer advocacy organizations, and helping key constituencies, including local governments and the insurance industry, to better understand the true benefits (and low cost) of qualified electrical inspections.
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