Two weeks ago, we got the final sign-off on the project.  It came as a huge relief, as the project felt like it needed to be done.

The final sign-off was a bit complicated.  Technically, all we had left to be signed off on was the landscaping.  But the landscaping sign-off was not simple, and involved several elements.

Storm Water Management

I just posted about the storm water management completion and sign-off.  Bottom line is, our City doesn’t have someone qualified to sign-off on the work of a civil engineer designed storm water management system, so they pay for a special inspector, basically another civil engineer that inspects the work.

Plumbing cross-connection

This is a fancy way of saying back-flow valve.  Any time there is a chance that tainted water can get back into the city water system, a back-flow valve must be used.  Our property has two of them; one for the landscape irrigation water, and one for the fire sprinkler system.

For the fire sprinkler system, it is possible that water that sits for so long in copper pipes might no longer be potable, so they want to prevent the water from going back into the city water system.

For the landscape water, it is possible for dirt, bacteria, etc. to get into the irrigation pipes, so there needs to be protection from that getting back into the city water.

This is really only a concern if they turn off the water supply for some reason, which might allow water from our property to drain back into the city water system.  But that does happen from time-to-time.

Luckily, there is a long-list of qualified 3rd party inspectors, and it wasn’t expensive.

Plan changes

We removed our pool from the current scope as we decided to do it later, and just mulch our backyard where the pool will eventually go.  This required a plan change, which, thankfully, was what they call and over-the-counter transaction.  This means that we just had to have new plans made, submit them to the city building department, where they receive them, stamp them, and give us a stamped copy back.

Landscaping sign-off by the landscape architects

Our city requires that the landscape architects that designed our landscaping, inspect the landscaping as implemented and submit a letter that indicates that the landscaping is substantially in accordance to the design.

What does this mean, you ask?

There are lots of things that come into play when you are putting in landscaping.  Plants die because they don’t like the soil, negotiations with neighbors over hedges might change the plant selection, and sometimes you just want things differently once you see stuff in the ground.  I would guess that probably 10% of our plantings are different than what are on the plan.  In most cases, we’ve simply replaced one plant specified on the plan in a location with another plant also specified on the plan.

The landscape architects just make sure that when it is all added up, the water use is still within the required limits.

Since we had a separate irrigation designer, he too had to submit a letter attesting that that irrigation was installed per plan.

Landscaping inspection

Finally, after all that, we had an inspector from the City Water Resources department come by and inspect the landscaping.

Sign-off

Whew!  After all that, we had an inspector come by to make sure all of the above was done, and sign our “job card” with the final sign-off / certificate of occupancy.

We of course celebrated after that.