Post #448579 by TIKI-RAY on Tue, Apr 21, 2009 8:43 AM

Ive been a union construction foreman for 20+ years working mostly in LA county . I spent 3 years at a Kaiser hospital job which could have been finished in a year and a half . But these days the paperwork is more important that than the final product . If something happens such as an earthquake or a pipe bursting, look out because they want to go back through the records to see who inspected it and installed it and have their heads on a stick .You can do everything possible to make it as safe as possible but when an earthquake come , Mother Nature always wins .
Just to mount an anchor in the concrete ceiling is a major task. First you find an inspector available to watch you drill the hole overhead , then the next day you have to set an appointment to get him to that area again to confirm that it is still a hole and then you can set the anchor and torque it to specs . Then you need to set an apointment 2 days later to get him back there to retorque it where he might finally sign it off .This is just one of thousands of anchors in the building . Now add in plumbing , electrical , sheet metal ducts, a/c piping and all the cosmetics for decor . Then you have temp inspections , punchlists and hopefully you will get a final signoff in the near future . Thats just mechanical, dont forget health inspections going on as well.
In a high profile area such as this , you are lucky to be getting this establishment this early . Remember, the bigger the name, the bigger the building, the bigger the problems.