Top 10 things to do to **** off your inspector

[Nige]

Payback's a bitch ain't it ...?

[JDOFMEMI]

It is just a shame it took 2 years for it to catch up to him. That is a long time for one like that to cause trouble for all of you.

[Nige]

In the expat world where everyone's on contract I get the impression that sometimes a lot of bosses don't want to bite the bullet & just bring someone in the office and tell them straight out they're being let go. They seem to prefer just to let them work out their contract and then not renew it. I don't agree with it but then again I'm not in their position.

[JDOFMEMI]

Ah, that explains it then. Sounds like they might have been on the hook for his wages anyway, plus have to absorb another salary as well.

Things like that do a good job of explaining your signature line.

[Nige]

So does "Been there, done that" .........

Probably right on the salary/benefits side of things. It would cost them more money and trouble to terminate someone with all the associated costs of getting the employee & his family back to his point of hire than it would to just let him get to the end of the contract and leave.

[CM1995]

I can understand their rationale. If they canned the guy, they would be facing an immediate quadruple cost - moving him and his family out and moving another in plus being on the hook for the canned guy's remaining contract and the new guys salary. That's a tough position to be in. A very good HR dept is required for this kind of staffing.

[Nige]

A very good HR dept is required for this kind of staffing.

And pray explain to me exactly where you'd find one of those ..........??

[CM1995]

And pray explain to me exactly where you'd find one of those ..........??

You got me Nige. Just looks like a company doing business in these areas need to try and hire the right folks. A good HR or recruiting dept, in my eyes anyway, would be a necessity but I have never had any experience working as an expat, just sitting on the beach and drinking local libations as an expat.

[Nige]

Let's leave it by saying that most HR people seem to be of the type who were subjected to a frontal lobotomy at an early age.

Personally I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me .......

[JDOFMEMI]

Yes Nige, but who else would want the job? I think that the lobotomy must be one of the prerequisites for the job.

[RBMcCloskey]

All good sound advise, I might add to number 8, that the downside is, if the work was installed correctly you would be forced to pay for the re-installation.

I had this experience on a NJDOT project, the Regional Engineer was VERY unhappy with the Resident Engineer about the $164,230 change order to reinstall the 12" DIP and with a Owners Engineer on a Lowes over soil testing and compaction.

[crashz]

Coincidently, I have a similar background as the OP, and perform a lot of construction oversight, however I'm often the engineer on the projects as well.

Coming from a construction background, and working my way up from a laboror in my father's excavating company, the OP and I have a unique perspective on the rift between engineers and contractors. Long ago I dedicated myself to trying to bridge that gap, and most times its easy to do. Sometimes its a total failure.

A couple things I think contractors should know about the engineers:

1) Engineers (and inspectors who are educated as engineers) chose this carrer path because of their abilities and attention to detail. Not because they have good people skills. In fact most have serious behavioral issues. I'm not trying to pick on them, but its true.
2) The inspector's job is to observe and perform QC/QA as defined by their scope of work. They are not there to direct the contractor. They have no authority to order the contractor to perform re-work. And unless given the authority by the client, thay have no authority to stop work.
3) The inspector's job is to document construction progress and document any QC/QA failures. Their authority comes into play when the client or regulator is notified of a deficiency. The client can the refuse payment based upon work performed outside of the contract documents.
4) The inspector should be the mediator between the contractor and engineer, not the other way around.
5) The inspector should be observing all work onsite to the extent practicable. Work not observed because the inspector was not availible does not constitute re-work or contractor proof. That is clearly a fault of the inspector/oversight agency.
6) Most projects require a photo log as well as the as-builts. This works in everyones favor actually. If the contractor is doing their job, being safe and not cutting corners, there should not be a worry.
7) A good inspector will stay onsite, try to be of some help, and help the constractor by noticing anything wrong immediately. Protocol for communication is usually decided at the kick-off meeting, but everyone should feel free to talk to each other. I often talk to the operators, laborers, etc and then sum up my conversations with the super or foreman if needed. But then again, I also take coffee and lunch breaks with the crews and shoot the bull with them.

In the end, we are all there onsite to get a job done. Most times it comes down to how we get along.