Talked to a building inspector today and now I'm second-guessing my leveling

I was swapping out a controller in a 12-story office tower downtown and this inspector walks up. He says 'you know those shims you used on the guide rails last week? I've seen those crack after 5 years with heavy traffic.' He showed me photos of failed ones from a job in 2018. Now I'm sitting here wondering if I should go back and redo it. Has anyone else had a building inspector drop knowledge that made you rethink your whole approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

zarak1814d ago

I had a similar moment back in 2016 when a fire marshal pointed out that my conduit straps were spaced too far apart for the new code revision. He showed me a report from a building in Chicago where loose straps caused a whole bunch of wiring to sag and short out during a fire drill. That conversation cost me a weekend of redoing work, but I have to admit it made everything safer in the long run.

adams8213d ago

Nah I gotta disagree here. Those composite shims are rated for way more than what you’re putting on them unless you’re stacking like 5 of them together. That inspector might’ve seen some bad installs but that doesn’t mean yours is gonna fail.