The Work Is Complete But....

[StinkyGrass]

Hello,
  The last 2 weeks we had a general contractor come in that we normally use and he subbed a company to install a new 1500 sq foot drain field.

  It was nearing completion, and the health inspector dropped by to check 'er out.  The installer put in unequal length fingers varying from 90 foot at the "top" near the tank, to 110 at the bottom.  The inspector didn't care for that idea at all.

  The inspector checked for level and on the last finger there was at least 1.5" in elevation changes end to end which the inspector says is not good.

  The installer was given pre approved drawings that they did not follow, and they system is several feet away from what was designed, however the inspector was called and approved moving it up the hill a bit to find a flatter spot in the world.

  The system is covered with soil now, and the work appears to be complete, however our inspector has not signed off the system.  She may sign it but there will be a letter stating what is wrong with the system, and she is recommending the installer give us a significant reduction in the 4000 owed.

  What should we as a homeowner do in a situation such as this?  The system is in, but its sub-standard by at least 3 different codes.  The inspector states that it will possibly function fine, however there is a chance we will have issues later in life.

Payment is due upon completion, however wouldn't inspector approval be part of the completion process?

I'm a bit bummed, I was so excited to have it nearly out of our hair...

Thanks in advance,

Terry

[jmenchhofer]

Payment is due upon completion, however wouldn't inspector approval be part of the completion process?

One would think so.  Do you have anything in writing to that effect?  As an inspector, I have had this kind of situation come up occasionally in the past, and it puts me in a somewhat difficult situation.  The issues you describe seem relatively minor, but if the inspector is not comfortable approving the system, all he or she can really do is disapprove the installation because it doesn't meet code, and hope for your sake that the system works anyway.  If site constraints permit, additional length could be added to the shorter lines to satisfy the inspector, but other than that, once the system is in the ground, the "damage" is unfortunately already done. 

Again speaking as a regulator, I don't think I would officially concern myself with the details of the transaction between contractor and customer, but you may have some civil recourse that would allow you to keep some of the agreed to purchase price of the system since it was not installed entirely to code.