Joe Spinosa wrote:
> The city should have no need to be involved here, and should they knock on the
> door, can't I say "Oopps, must have turned the crank too far, let me just
> adjust this here... There we go: 12' and legal beagle!" Besides, we all do a
> lot of operating after dark anyway.
>
> The insurance question might be a bit more tricky, but I think I could live
> with it.
>
> Now then, if I do this, nobody (from the city) will be checking the cement
> hole, or looking over US Tower's UBC calculations. Is that a bad thing?
>
Not that I would ever condone an end run of your illustrious city
officials.....
But to cover yourself, go with a design per the book, or go the extra
mile and get a local engineer to do the neccessary calculations. Then
after you get the hole dug, video tape your self and/or your engineer
inspecting the hole and measuring to make sure everything is per print
or his recommendation. Also video the tower installation - nice home
movie touch.
Make a copy of this video and put it in a safe deposit box. Only let the
city see the copy if they ask about it.
I am also reminded of a situation a friend of mine was in.
Seems that he had bought some major equipment for a factory installation
(about $3 million worth of equipment). Had the manufacturer come in and
install it. The manufacturer did not use local union electricians. So
their friends on the building department red tagged the installation and
said that he could not turn it on, until they were "satisfied".
After an appeal through local channels, which surprisingly went no
where, my friend asked me what he should do. As I am not licensed in the
electrical field, I could not help him directly, but pointed him to an
out of state engineer who was licensed in his state, and extremely
competant in the electrical power field.
The independant engineer came in and inspected the installation, and
compared it to the local and National Electric Codes. He noted that the
deviations that inspectors were complaining about were, in fact,
superior to the code requirements and were based on the equipment
manufacturer's recommendations. He so testified at a second appeals
hearing, which was hastily conveniened because my friend had filed
notice that he was going to sue the city for lost production and
interest charges because they wouldn't let him turn on $3 million worth
of equipment.
In the old west, it was a known fact the a Colt revolver beat a full
house. In todays building environment, a PE stamp beats a room full of
inspectors.
Please note that I have worked with a number of very competant and
honest inspectors over the years. Most of them understand the work they
are inspecting and try to do a good job in protecting the public from
the few shoddy contractors, or in the case of home owners, the home
owner's occassional ignorance. But there have been times.
de n0yvy steve
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