[RE-wrenches] NABCEP Stamp

[Peter Parrish]

There may be some confusion here. Bill Brooks is referring to “work” being
done and the original post, unless I am mistaken, referred to “plan
checking”. Aside from the fact that the work being proposed needs to be done
by a duly licensed contractor, the plans may be the product of just about
anyone with or without any credentials. 

The plan checking arm of any AHJ has wide latitude as to who might certify
the conformance of the plans to relevant codes. I have found in my dealings
in Southern California, that the less the plan checker knows, the greater
their insistence on independent review. While this approach makes sense for
large and complex jobs, in other cases it is no more than a convenient
excuse to shield their ignorance. 

I digress. The most blatant example of I have encountered occurred in a town
in Orange County; where the Planning Department refused to approve a “supply
side feed”. I appealed their decision, offering to bring to a meeting my
tabbed NEC 2008 Handbook, articles by experts, and a written opinion by the
chief of Planning of the City of San Diego – to no avail. It turned out they
did offer one way out: if we retained the services of a registered PE – not
just any PE – but one from their “pre-approved list”. Two calls and one hour
later I found out the price for this service was $1,500, and we were taking
about a 4000W inverter and a 100A service panel. We opted for a 200A panel
upgrade, for less than that amount. I consider this an example of a
convenient excuse” and essentially extortion.

Back my main point. I think that my suggestion to use a “NABCEP Certified
Installer” sticker might not be appropriate since the tag at the bottom of
the sticker says “This photovoltaic system was *installed* by a national
Certified Solar PV Installer”. 

I think Ezra's idea of attaching a business card with the appropriate NABCEP
Certified Installer logo, the installers name and certification number -- is
a great one.

One final shot: I think that the NABCEP Certification is amply and openly
documented. If an informed AHJ feels comfortable dealing with someone so
certified, that's their prerogative, and theirs alone.

- Peter

 
Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com  
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885

 
________________________________________
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Bill Brooks
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 8:11 PM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP Stamp

Andrew and Troy,

While I can’t speak for NABCEP, I would expect that NABCEP should be very
opposed to this type of use of their logo. NABCEP does not certify the work
that a NABCEP certificant does. They only certify that the installer has met
the obligations for certification. There is a HUGE difference between the
two. NABCEP cannot, and should not, be held accountable for work that
someone does in the field. A contactor’s work is covered by the state laws
and the licenses required to perform that work in that state. 

Just because a local jurisdictions thinks that getting a certification from
NABCEP means something to the installation, does not mean that the
information should be on the plan set. Information about the certification
of the installer should be provided separately. 

Don’t make a stamp, whatever you do.

Bill.

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Andrew
Truitt
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 10:57 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP Stamp

Troy - I have not encountered this before but would you mind sharing what
city agency you are refering to?  NABCEP is always interested in hearing
about these types of "unconventional" uses of the certification.