The rule is simple: do not cover anything before it has been inspected. Every year somebody learns it with a drywall saw.
Here is what gets inspected and when, what the inspector compares it to, and how to make sure the HVAC side of your job passes the first time.
Before any HVAC is covered: equipment location, ducts, returns, exhaust fans, HRV ducting, and anything through fire separations. Walls and ceilings stay open until it passes.
Before concrete or flooring goes over it. Tubing layout, and normally a pressure test. Once it is buried, it is buried.
Equipment installed and running to the approved schedule, HRV installed and balanced, fans working. Some municipalities want the HRV balanced and tagged and the furnace tagged before occupancy.
Never cover anything that has not been inspected. Your permit papers list the stages. Call for each one before the next trade closes it in.
The ventilation summary (RMVDS) is part of the permit package. The inspector checks that the HRV and fans installed match it.
One question, asked many ways: does what is installed match what was approved? The inspector compares the work to the drawings.
Right size, right type, right location, as on the equipment schedule.
Layout and sizes as designed, returns where they should be, nothing pulling from the garage.
HRV or ERV installed as designed, ducted properly, balanced.
Bathroom and kitchen fans working and vented outside.
Duct penetrations through rated walls and floors handled properly.
Venting, clearances and combustion air for fuel-burning equipment.
A contractor sketch is hard to inspect. A full design is easy.
The furnace on site is not the one on the drawings. See changes after the permit.
Drywall up before the rough-in was called. Holes get cut.
Installed, plugged in, never balanced or tagged. See HRV balancing.
We do not inspect. We make the drawings the inspector checks against, and we make them complete: heat loss, equipment schedule, duct or radiant layout, ventilation design, and Schedule 1.
When the design is complete and the installer builds to it, the inspections are short.
Building this year? Get a complete design before rough-in. It makes every inspection easier.
Get Free Quote →Yes. Building departments inspect the HVAC rough-in before any part of it is covered. Drywall over ducts that were never inspected is how people end up cutting holes in new ceilings.
Whether what is installed matches the approved drawings: equipment location, duct layout and sizes, returns, exhaust fans, HRV ducting, and anything passing through fire separations. They check against the design, so the design has to be complete.
Equipment installed and running, matching the approved schedule, the HRV installed and balanced, exhaust fans working, and the paperwork the installer is supposed to leave. Some municipalities want the HRV balanced and tagged and the furnace tagged before occupancy.
Expect it. Tubing is normally checked, and pressure-tested, before the concrete or floor covering goes over it. Once it is buried, nobody can see it again.
The inspection usually fails until revised drawings are submitted and reviewed. See changes after the permit.
Whoever holds the permit is responsible for calling for inspections at each stage. On a contractor-run job that is usually the builder. On an owner-built job it is you. Your permit papers list the stages.
Send your drawings. We deliver the complete HVAC package, so your installer has a clear plan and your inspector has something to check against.