illenium

In california, to pre inspect any reinforcing steel or post tension prior to the placement of concrete one needs to be a accredited by the ICC and approved to inspect that kind of work by the building official in the jurisdiction where the inspection will be performed. When I arrive on a job to pre inspect a slab on grade the first thing I do after meeting with the super intendant and concrete foreman is walk the slab and get familiar with the layout. At this time i'm also looking for standard code deviations like debris and deleterious material in the footing and in the slab. I'm also looking at reinforcing steel clearances, ensuring that plumbing is properly wrapped, vapor barrier is installed, no obvious signs of rebar or post tension missing, etc.. The next thing I do is go over the plans and familiarize myself with them. Next I verify the type-size-grade and lap lengths of the rebar and verify that it was placed in accordance with the stamped construction drawings. I count hold downs and anchor bolts and verify that they are installed correctly. I also verify the placement of conduits and plumbing and ensure that they too are in conformance with the applicable building codes and the drawings. After giving the slab the once over, I then verify that all of the documents are in order and sign off on the inspection card if there aren't any discrepancies or missing pieces of the puzzle. Sometimes if I find something wrong and the contractor is there, I will let them fix it while I continue my inspection. Writing non compliance notices can be a pain in the butt. Of course this is just a broad over view of how I perform an inspection, each job has it's unique way of going up. Check out http://www.iccsafe.org for more information regarding special inspection.