Regulatory Attack

By Timothy Allinson, P.E.

Murray Company, Long Beach, Calif.

Years ago - ten or more - I read an article with this same title about how Americans are being regulated literally to death. It cited the case of a man so burdened by harassment from the Internal Revenue Service that he shot himself in the head and willed his estate to his wife under the condition that she use the money to sue the IRS over his case. She did, and she won. It's an extreme example, but the sad reality is that the regulation of our society has since gotten worse rather than better.

Probably the first regulation impacting our industry was the development of the plumbing code. At my old firm in New York City we had a copy of the New York code from 1930. That was an old one, but codes go back even further than that. The Code of Hammurabi dates back to 1800 B.C., although I doubt that it addressed plumbing issues.

Prior to the development of plumbing codes, plumbing was designed and installed in a professional manner, sometimes with more skill and quality than it is today. But because not everybody with a wrench and pants slung low in the rear can be trusted to perform in such a professional manner, codes and licenses were developed to ensure that they would.

After the development of the codes came additional regulations: ANSI, OSHA, ADA ... the acronyms are probably endless.

One of the more recent regulations that has become increasingly difficult to comply with is the Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan (SUSMP), the subject of my August article. As I wrote then, it is noble to regulate the protection of our oceans and wetlands, but the implementation often spirals out of control, losing sight of the big picture and replacing it with nonsensical interpretations that can cause real hardship while accomplishing nothing.

Different states and cities follow different codes or locally modified versions of the standard codes. Some authorities enforce their code lightly, relying on the professionalism of the engineer and contractor - coupled with the checks and balances of the legal system - to do a good job. Other jurisdictions enforce their code relentlessly, often generating interpretations that deviate from and even contradict the intent of the code.

Here in California we follow the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), with amendments by the state, local agencies, the Housing Authority, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), OSHPD (the Hospital Authority) and a host of other state agencies. Each city and/or county within the state handles its implementation of the code differently. Some are merely concerned with ensuring that the permit fees are an accurate reflection of the scope of work, while others, like Los Angeles City, review the engineered documents with excruciating detail to be sure no mistakes have been made. It is an expensive and often arduous process, but it is in fact a very good and thorough "second set of eyes" that help ensure that no mistakes have been made.

The only problem with the Los Angeles process, and with others like it across the country, is that there are three forms of local interpretations to contend with. The first and easiest to contend with is the Los Angeles City Code, a ubiquitous series of yellow pages that can be inserted into the California State Code.

The second, more challenging, form of local interpretations are the interoffice memorandums circulated internally in the Department of Buildings (DOB) that are not readily available to the community. These are the interpretations you learn of only through experience. If you are lucky, you can acquire copies of the memorandums from your peers, saving you a potentially costly mistake. If you are unlucky, you learn of the interpretation after the work has been installed, generating an expensive fix.

The third set of interpretations are those that do not exist in print, but rather in the minds of the local inspectors, and these are the most difficult to contend with. The Los Angeles city inspectors wield more power than any I have dealt with anywhere in the world. Each has his or her own set of interpretations of the code that might not agree with your interpretation, the plan checker's, or even the other inspector's. But the code gives the authority having jurisdiction ultimate power, and the inspectors have the final say.

Dealing with the varying interpretations held by the inspectors is problematic, to say the least. It does the job and your relationship no good if you try to go "over their heads," and even if you try, you stand a good chance of running into a bureaucratic wall.

So what can be done in this situation? What can you do if you are faced with something similar? At my firm we are in the process of arranging a meeting with the top dogs at the L.A. DOB to discuss our frustrations, giving specific technical examples. The intent is not to point fingers at individuals, but to make them aware of this problematic situation and to discuss what can be done to control it.

In NYC a similar situation occurred, except that, there, the inspectors -- all but one -- were arrested by the FBI for taking bribes in a two-year sting operation. As a result, the chief of the DOB in NYC decided to institute a very progressive self-certification process. This process relied on the integrity of the licensed engineer and contractor to deliver a quality installation. To keep everybody honest and on their toes, random inspections were done on a small fraction of the projects. When an installation was ready for inspection, the contractor would notify the DOB of the inspection date. On occasion an inspector would show up, but, most often, no inspector would show up, and the contractor would certify the installation himself. This process was a very successful means of reducing corruption and costs in the DOB while maintaining professionalism and quality in the plumbing industry. I do not expect that such a radical change will occur here in Los Angeles, but I'll keep you posted about what we accomplish.

Timothy Allinson is a Senior Professional Engineer with Murray Company, Mechanical Contractors, in Long Beach, Calif. Prior to entering the design-build industry he worked for Popov Engineers, Inc. in Irvine, Calif, and JB&B in New York City. Tim holds a BSME from Tufts University and an MBA from New York University. He is a professional engineer licensed in both mechanical and fire protection engineering in various states, and is a leed Accredited Professional. Tim is a past-president of ASPE, both the New York and Orange County Chapters, and sits on the board of the Society of American Military Engineers, Orange County Post.