When the final inspection is approaching, there is little time for mistakes or delays. The final inspection occurs near the end of the overall project and by the time the final inspection is scheduled, all wiggle room in the project timeline has usually been exhausted in the months leading up to the final inspection. When the final inspection fails and the grand opening of the business is delayed, liquidated damages occur and eat away at the profits of the contractor who is responsible for the delay.

Liquidated damages are funds (written into the contract) covering the costs for each day the construction project continues past the date of completion set forth in the contract.

Think ahead and don’t be afraid to ask questions. By this time in the project, you should be on a first name basis with the city inspector.

Request a consultation with the city inspector and ask him or her what things you should be aware of that might help you breeze through the final inspection process. The inspector has been through this many times before and has first-hand knowledge of what common things typically hold up the show when a project nears completion.

What additional paperwork will the inspector require? Some occupancy types will have elevators or emergency systems that require selective coordination between certain overcurrent devices. An experienced inspector will ask you to request paperwork from the electrical engineer attesting that overcurrent devices requiring selective coordination have been adjusted in the field so that selective coordination has been achieved. Simply having adjustable overcurrent devices in the electrical distribution system does not mean that selective coordination has been achieved.

Adjustable overcurrent devices are factory preset to default settings rather than site specific settings needed to coordinate with other downstream overcurrent devices for your specific installation. The site electrician should not be responsible to ensure that any selective coordination required by the electrical engineer has been achieved. The electrician is responsible to install the overcurrent devices specified by the electrical engineer, not to figure out how to adjust them in the field to achieve the selective coordination specified by the electrical engineer. That’s the responsibility of the electrical engineer.

This paperwork request can usually be satisfied by a simple letter drafted by and signed by the electrical engineer of record. Unfortunately, the electrical engineer will usually just send the entire selective coordination study to the city inspector for his reading pleasure. This is not what the inspector is looking for. The inspector does not want to look through a hundred pages of a selective coordination study to double check the engineer’s work. The inspector simply wants a letter from the engineer stating that the engineer or his duly authorized representative has field verified that the dials on adjustable overcurrent devices requiring selective coordination have been set to the proper number so that any code required selective coordination has been achieved.

I personally have seen large projects delayed for weeks after requesting the electrician obtain a letter from the electrical engineer (during the final inspection) attesting that selective coordination has been achieved.

In my experience, the electrical engineers generally think that once they specify certain overcurrent devices for a project requiring selective coordination, that the site electrician will take it from there and figure out what to set the dials at. Once this letter is requested by the inspector, a crazy series of events usually occurs with the electrical engineer making an unexpected site visit to meet with the site electrician so that they can go over final adjustments on specific circuit breaker dials.

Below is a preview of the NEC^® (NFPA 70). See the actual NEC^® text at NFPA.ORG for the complete code section. Once there, click on their link to free access to the edition of the NEC^® being enforced.

NEC 700.32 Selective Coordination. Emergency system(s) overcurrent devices shall be selectively coordinated with all supply-side overcurrent protective devices.

Selective coordination shall be selected by a licensed professional engineer or other qualified persons engaged primarily in the design, installation, or maintenance of electrical systems.

The selection shall be documented and made available to those authorized to design, install, inspect, maintain, and operate the system.