Construction Inspections

April 2012

by Bill Christenson

Commercial contractors have long understood the need and requirement to accept responsibility for quality control of the construction work, both their own work as well as their subcontractors’ work.  This entails proper staffing and expertise to perform the necessary ongoing inspection of the work. Municipal inspectors, whether they are city, county or state, also play an important role in the inspection process, however their inspections are mandated by the building permit and are very limited in scope and nature.  It is not the role of the municipal inspector to oversee compliance with the contract terms, project plans or specifications.

There are contractors, and more commonly residential contractors, that rely completely on the municipal inspector for their project quality control.  Their adage is: as long as the project passes inspection it’s acceptable and meets the necessary standards.  This is a fallacy and completely disregards the contractor’s responsibility.  The municipal inspector may be on the site only a half dozen or more times over the course of the construction project to perform code mandated inspections.  Who is responsible to ensure the quality of the work during the other 99% of the project?  That’s the contractor team’s responsibility, inclusive of the general contractor, subcontractors, and sub-tier subcontractors. The contractors are also accountable for work inspected by municipal inspectors, hence they are responsible for all of the work.

Construction  inspections can be contracted to independent third parties although this is more common in commercial construction than residential construction. The project architect / engineer is often contracted to perform inspection services.  In these situations the inspection and quality control responsibilities must be carefully addressed in each contract between the owner, architect/engineer, and contractor.  Building permits often require independent special inspections for certain complex phases of the work such as soils preparation (geotechnical engineer) or structural concrete and structural steel framing (structural engineer).  When planning a construction project, make sure the parties understand and accept their roles for project quality control and that the necessary means and expertise are available for successful project completion.

Table Saw Initiative

October 2011

by Michael Showalter

After years of allowing the power tool industry to police itself through voluntary standards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is calling on toolmakers to strengthen safety standards. These actions come as table saw manufacturers face an increasing number of product safety lawsuits throughout the country.  One of those lawsuits resulted in a jury awarding $1.5 million to a man who had sawed his fingers on a Ryobi brand table saw.  In that lawsuit the plaintiffs charged that the manufacturer had known about a safety technology called SawStop, but had not integrated it (or something similar) to its products.  No less than 50 similar lawsuits are pending nationwide, putting manufacturers on the defensive.  Every day 10 people lose fingers in table saw amputations and the chairman of the CPSC would like to know why more isn't being done to prevent such accidents.

Most table saw operators who injured themselves removed the blade guard for operational convenience, according to a CPSC study conducted from 2007 to 2008 that looked at 66,900 "blade contact injuries."  For that reason, CPSC is considering requiring that table saws come with a safety brake like the one offered on SawStop contractor and cabinet table saws, according to NPR.  Within three-thousands of a second of contacting human skin, the brake fires and the blade drops down into the table, preventing injury.

SawStop detects flesh and almost instantly stops the saw blade from spinning and drops it into the tool and away from fingers and hands. In demonstrations using hot dogs, the technology has been shown to leave nothing more serious than a small nick on the skin.  CPSC says it costs the United States $35,000 every time someone is injured on a table saw, accounting for medical treatment, lost time from work, product liability & litigation, and human pain and suffering, so the CPSC is working to implement tighter safety standards for the common contractor tool.

However, cost is the main sticking point for requiring a blade brake like SawStop on every table saw sold in the U.S.  Most manufacturers say it would add $100-$200 to the price of a new table saw.  For a small portable or jobsite unit, that could double the current sales price.  As a first step to making the law, CPSC recently recommended publishing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register.  After that, public comment is sought before crafting a final rule.

Contractors must be prepared to provide the correct power equipment on all sites if and when the new rules for table saws are adopted.  Otherwise they may face liability for providing an unsafe work place and endangering workers.  The Washington Administrative Code regarding equipment can be found at this website:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=296-155-009