Preparing for the Combination Inspection.

            When you are prepared for the rough electric, rough plumbing and the final waste line plumbing and the sheer inspection it is time to call and request a combo inspection. As things begin to wind down a bit take your time and walk through the project with new eyes. Look for those little adjustments that you can make, that little improvement that you can make that will make a difference in your fished project.

As you are preparing do hook things up to prepare for the testing and you need to purchase the item to make the hook up flow easier and the repair work for who ever is call in the future keep Murphy’s law in mind,” Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”. While your out get the material ask yourself what is likely to happen, then ask what might happen. Plan for your best outcome, but prepare for the worse. It is easier to return the things you do not use than it is to get parts after the stores have closed Be prepared to have to seal of a system to be able to restore the system to others.

Take advantage of these delays to getting the inspections to make improvement to the craftsmanship of the unit. Take the time to go back through the process and drawl as built sketches and write notes on lessons you’ve learned and plans to improve the project the next time you build one like it.

Take the time to ask yourself those what ifs. Rearrange the project and image it in another use. If you’re building an ADU (Additional Dwelling Unit) would it be a good design for a duplex? Once this phase is finished let you owners have a party in it and leave messages on the studs and framing members. It helps makes it theirs and they can see the building come together now in their eyes.  Listen when they let their family and friends walk through your project someone may make a suggestion which greatly improves the layout that you have never thought of. Some people view these commits as criticism but if you try to view them from the other person’s viewpoint you may find a solution which you never thought of.

Not everyone is the same that is why it is important to listen. Do not build the building you want; build the building they see and allow the house become a home. Do the little things: blocks for their TV, add a box with a large line for future technology, put in the towel bar backing. Let the owners explain to you haw they are going to use it and do the little things which will make their tasks of making it their easier. In many ways we are service provides, the trick is to improve your services and set yourself apart from those who work for the money and become one who works for the love of the people. Your clients may open doors of opportunity that you could never imagine.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.