Codes and Failed Inspections #LIVE
HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs
Bryan Orr
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2020
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this live podcast from the Castbox app, we talk about codes and common causes for failed inspections. We talk about these topics both broadly and with some specifics.
Many of the places where we fail to meet codes are on the electrical side. Electrical components have fire and electrical shock hazards, and codes are stringent for arc and ground fault protection. Leaking current to ground can shock someone, and arcs can cause damage to property and human life. We commonly see failed inspections due to improper marking on the air handler.
In the HVAC industry, we have specific wire and breaker-sizing codes for our trade (440 in the NEC). Inspection failures are common in this area, as it's easy to leave the incorrect breaker in place. You also must have a disconnect or easily accessible circuit breaker that can function as a disconnect. In our market, we must also insulate drains and show proper attention to strapping, pitch, float switches, and cleanouts; otherwise, the drains may fail inspection (though it's rare).
Clearances also come up quite often and are especially relevant to safety in our industry, as we don't want condensers blocking panels. Obstructed rooms or lack of egress are also common code violations related to safety. Anchorage is another safety-related code category, and there are special requirements in locations that are prone to high winds (like Florida) or earthquakes (California). You can't assume that units installed on rooftops have been anchored correctly, so be sure to check the anchorage.
We also discuss:
- Pulling permits
- CO detectors
- PVC primer on condensate drains
- National Electrical Code (NEC) vs. AHJ
- Catwalks in attics
- Duct sealing and mastic vs. metal tape
- Florida Energy Conservation, Mechanical, and Building Codes
- Customer complaints
- Furnace venting and GAMA tables
- Smoke detectors
- Locking caps
- Wire protection
- Sealing boots
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of the HVAC School Podcast was broadcast live using the Cast Box app, which is a free |
| 0:07.8 | app you can find on iPhone or Android, that's Cast Box. |
| 0:12.3 | You can also use the link hvacr school |
| 0:14.4 | dot com forward slash live whenever we do go live to participate in the |
| 0:18.9 | conversation yourself times will be broadcast on our social media channels |
| 0:23.2 | HVAC school on Facebook and other locations |
| 0:26.8 | everywhere you find your HVAC school stuff. |
| 0:29.6 | So here we go, HVAC school live. |
| 0:32.0 | So this is a live episode. |
| 0:35.0 | Thanks to the sponsors, you know who they are. |
| 0:38.0 | Kairier, Navac, Field Piece, refrigeration technologies, and Speedplane are the primary sponsors of HDC school and |
| 0:44.8 | they're also partnering with us on the event coming up soon which just sold out just |
| 0:48.4 | sold out 100% yesterday so all 200 tickets are now sold. So hopefully some of you'll be there. Chris Stevens who's here. He is going to be actually, I don't know if you caught out of this, Chris, but you were going to be a keynote. You're the only one speaking and you are closing out the event. So |
| 1:04.9 | Chris is going to be closing out the event giving some of his experiences and |
| 1:08.7 | tips which I'm really looking forward to. So anyway, thanks for coming. So today we're talking codes. We're talking inspections. We're talking failing inspections. |
| 1:17.0 | And at any time here, you can call in, when you call in just mute yourself as soon as I bring you on until I address you and that sort of thing just so we don't have a bunch of feedback because that happens sometimes. |
| 1:30.0 | Quickly about the events, Steve said, are there going to be any bouncers in case there any party crashes. |
| 1:35.0 | I think we have plenty of bouncers. I think we have a lot of guys who be willing to bounce out some party crashes. |
| 1:40.0 | I don't know who the party crashes would be, frankly, and that'd be pretty lame like what would I say |
| 1:44.2 | about somebody if they were crashing and air conditioning technician party but I |
| 1:48.7 | digress now I will mention this though this was interesting so we have get a permit, so speaking of permits and inspections, |
| 1:54.8 | we have to get a permit for our event with the city. I didn't know that was a thing, but apparently |
... |
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