Restarint of Trade by Electrical Inpector?

[Mr. Electric]

California.
The enforcement of the Code is by electrical inspectors, most often municipal employees, who are recognized as the Authority Having Jurisdiction and as such, are responsible for the interpretation of the code (and hence the choice of materials and methods used in some cases).

Situation-
When an electrical inspector makes an interpretation of the code that is deemed by peers (in formal local industry meeting to answer code questions) to be outside the accepted intent of the code, and that it affects the cost of a contractor’s installation, is there any remedy under law to persuade that inspector or his/her City Manager/Mayor to change the interpretation to that generally accepted by the rest of the industry? Might this be covered under some part of the restraint of trade law in that this unconventional interpretation will increase the cost of goods and services to the public in that area?
In this specific case, the inspector in question when asked to justify his position with an NEC citation, cited Article 90-4 under Enforcement, that (paraphrased) gives the interpretation of the NEC to the authority having jurisdiction (meaning that he could do with it what he wanted).
Is there any remedy? Is there any precedent?

 

[racer72]

As long as he applies the same standards to everyone, there is probably little you can do. I ran into the same thing a few years ago. The inspector's supervisor agreed the inspectors went too far but because the inspector treated everyone the same, the supervisor was not going to overrule the inspector. My only other option was to ask for a hearing from the planning commision and that would have cost more than the upgrades the inspector wanted.