By Joe Eskenazi : missionlocal – excerpt
Onaje Boone says he applied the building code fairly — and flunked builders who’d done poor work. He was abruptly let go with only weeks remaining in his probationary period.
Not long into his brief wondrous life as a San Francisco building inspector, Onaje Boone was taken aside by a higher-up. It was, to Boone’s recollection, a strange and terrible discussion.
Boone, 47, a former carpenter, a licensed contractor and a building inspector in both the public and private sector for more than a decade, was last year told there were issues with his report writing. Specifically: They were too detailed. If the rebar is good, just write Rebar Good.
This was not the sort of advice Boone expected to receive while being paid six figures to serve as a building inspector in a major city.
“The code calls for so much space, so much cleanliness of the area, a certain type of waterproofing,” he says, going into minute details about lap splicing and other matters of some importance in a town situated between two major earthquake faults.
“I write it specifically to what the code book calls out,” he continues. “Whatever was required was noted. I know how to write a report.”
For Boone, Rebar Good was not good enough. He continued to write reports his way. And do inspections his way: as in, failing people who didn’t meet the code. There were a few… (more)