I have seen my fair share of AHJ's who are inventors (my term). I personally have a hard enough time getting something close to code compliance let alone invent new sections. Happily, I have very few of these problems with the sprinkler community.
There are some AHJ's who are "badge heavy" I think it was called. I've had calls from contractors asking how to deal with a fellow FM who was asking for far more than the code required. My suggestion has always been to ask for chapter and verse on the requirement. This seems to resolve most issues. Ask politely. No accusations. No shouting. We are trying to keep the train on the tracks - once it leaves the rails we will all be unhappy in the end. Ask for the code section. It might be a local code (welcome to PA and our "uniform" code!). More than likely it is a misapplication of the code or a knowledge gap. And sometimes it might be your misunderstanding instead of mine. Don't make it personal! For my PA friends, if it is a legally adopted ordinance in accordance with the PA UCC, it is law here. Just because it isn't in NFPA or the ICC doesn't mean it is not required. Don't educate me on the code if you don't know the code for my town. Yes George, this is part of the PA problem, but without local amendments we lose our residential fire sprinklers. Lastly, just as you all have to deal with every AHJ - both good and bad; we have to deal with all the contractors. Even the ones who tell me they don't have to replace painted sprinklers, who use bad gauges during a hydrotest, who falsely claim I approved the installation allowing drywall to be installed prior to inspection, etc. Yes, these are few and far between - but I am only human and if you catch me after one of these inspections I might be a bit testy. Jim Kettler Fire Marshal Buckingham, PA _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
