Foot In My Mouth (Again)

I received confirmation today that the building inspector is not happy with me. We failed to keep him up to speed on the change to the equipment package - namely the type of oven I'll be using - and it caused both him and his HVAC inspector to waste their time determining whether or not I needed fire suppression on my hood. Since I am using a conveyor oven, Town of Normal code since 2002 has stated that all conveyor ovens require a Type-I hood with Ansul fire suppression. Since they weren't aware that I was no longer going with swinging-door convection ovens, a decision was reached after reviewing my menu which allowed me to go with a Type-II exhaust hood without fire suppression. Upon seeing the plans, the HVAC inspector was kind enough to immediately inform me that the more expensive hood would be necessary after all.


So, they were not thrilled with us. Not knowing whether they could trust us any longer, I now must wait until the plans are formally reviewed by all the necessary inspectors before work can commence. Originally, I had been told that a building permit would be issued in advance which would allow for basic carpentry work to begin as early as last Friday. A voicemail from the building inspector to Jeff (contractor) indicated that this would no longer be the case.


I am positive that I did not help matters by venting in a two-sentence email reply to the HVAC inspector. I came off sounding like I knew more than they do; I managed this feat by reminding them that the Madison store has an identical oven, but does not require the expensive hood, and that the oven does not have any open flame (every time I re-read that email I cringe at how I must have come off). Those two lines of an email may really end up costing me in the end - we'll see.

The most agonizing part is that a building inspector is usually tough to get a hold of. Jeff has instructed me to sit back and stay away from the situation - very tough to do, and I may be violating that order by writing this. I'm hopeful that the building inspector gets back to him soon and at least tells us where we stand; the worst part is not knowing when we'll be able to start work.

I wrote an email apology to the building inspector, which at least made me feel a little bit better. It probably won't make any difference, but a big part of business is managing relationships, and I don't like the idea of other people thinking of me as a know-it-all who manages to talk out of his ass about things he knows nothing about. I'm really a nice guy, I swear; starting a business causes even the best of us (not that I've ever professed to fall into the "best" category or anything) to slip up every now and then.

In positive developments, landlord Todd called me today and set up a time later this week to sign all the necessary papers - his only concern is that in the event of a default the bank not rip out the exhaust hood and leave a gaping hole in the restaurant (I understand completely). Also, Steve scored us a nice multi-store payroll deal with ADP. Finally, I'm just about done with my quasi-perfectly scaled 3D SketchUp of my store, inside and out. I'm in the process of getting it posted to Google Earth. I really wish I could post it only for all to tour, but I'm not sure if that's possible.

So with all this off my chest, I'll work on tying up some loose ends this week. I really should be finalizing my menu and equipment package, and lining up a second vendor for my foodstuffs. Finalizing the equipment package means hunting down a few local sources that might have a few key pieces I can use - most notably a three-compartment sink. A few phone calls in the next few days will tell me where I stand on that. More on the evolution of my equipment package over the past few months next time.