RPZ P.I.T.A. 411

So there we were, mid-October 2007 or so, the glass wall construction finally wrapping up, with our minds firmly on the big 3 inspections needed to get this job complete once and for all. The big three being 1) Electrical 2) Plumbing and 3) Final Construction. Our electrical inspection passed with no incident on the second try, so we think we are doing pretty well. For plumbing we had already had a series of rough-in inspections for both our unit and the rental apartments so final plumbing is looking like a breeze. Our plumber self certified the final plumbing inspection and when the DoB didn't show up for the inspection date we assumed we had passed (that is the way it usually works) but then looking on their website we saw that we failed but couldn't determine why. Finally, after navigating that extremely poorly laid out interface we discovered that the issue had to do with not have the proper inspection done to our RPZ valve, a valve we were told we needed for our 4 head in-ceiling sprinkler system around our bottom staircase to the cellar. I called up the plumber and told him about this and he responded in barely understandable Polish that he would file the forms with the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) who handles RPZ valve approval. He warned me that the DEP is very slow and that it would mostly likely take 6-8 weeks to hear back from them. I was annoyed, but at least I thought the ball was rolling.

Our expeditor confirmed that the DEP handles this and can be slow, so I waited about 6 weeks and called the plumber asking for an update. What I heard from him made my blood boil. It turns out he hadn't filed the paperwork, but had attended the class and gotten the certification that allowed him to sign off on installing this type of valve in the first place. He explains in broken English/Polish that he never told me he was filing the paperwork and I must have misunderstood him. Great! So nothing had been filed with the DEP and I'm seriously considering murdering the plumber when I start trying to figure out what exactly an RPZ valve is—it's a backflow prevention valve, that's all. With some help from the architect we find a document from the DoB explaining what type of places need these valves and our house doesn't seem to fit any of the requirements; we have no in ground pool, no bidets, no restaurant equipment, nothing. So we proceed to talk to our expeditor/code consultant and we get the answer we always get when we ask them a question about building code: "I DON'T KNOW" or "IT DEPENDS"

Seriously if your job says you are a code consultant shouldn't you be able to answer questions definitively about building code? If your job says you are an expeditor shouldn't you make things happen, you know, fast? We've dealt with these morons for years now and there's never once been a clear cut answer on anything.

At this point I backtrack and try to figure out why we even have this valve in the first place. It turns out that the plumber told the architect we needed it, so the architect put it in the plans and the expeditor reviewed it and got it approved by the DoB. At no point did anyone question the plumber, so it pretty much seems like this mess is all his fault. But still, shouldn't someone be double checking these things and re-confirming? That is the plumber's excuse; he says the architect or the code consultant should have reviewed because they know better than he does. And guess what the architect and the code consultant say? That's right, the exact same thing about the plumber. Everyone was just pointing fingers and not getting us any closer to a resolution.

So we spent some time trying to figure out what was the lesser of two evils 1) keeping the RPZ valve and filling out all the paperwork for the DEP or 2) Removing the valve, re-filing the plans without then and then redoing the plumbing inspection. Either one cost thousands of dollars and takes about 2 months to accomplish. The nail is the coffin comes when we find out that the RPZ valve must be inspected every year and the results sent to the DEP in a timely matter. The punishment is fines ranging into the thousands of dollars again and the cost of the actual inspection is about $200 every year. So, it became pretty clear that the best thing to do was to take the valve out.

We re-filed the building plans about 3 weeks ago and got final approve on them last Tuesday. The valve came out shortly thereafter. In a possibly miraculous turn of events the DoB might let our last plumbing inspection stand, but we're still not sure at this point. The answer from the expeditor on how this will play out? "I DON'T KNOW" Man, I wish I could get paid for being that clueless and incompetent.

Comments

[rktek]

did anyone stop to ask the Building Department why they wanted aRPZ valve installed?

[dana]

the DOB never said we needed it, the plumber did but the architect and the code consultant had their heads too far up their asses to double check that bit of information and thus the extreme confusion. The problem was that the RPZ value went into the plans and was approved by the DoB (no one there stopped to ask why we needed it either) so then removing it from the plans was a huge headache. Can you see why I loathe everyone involved in this process. The so called "professionals" that are supposed to guide homeowners through the alteration process are a bunch of losers and morons.