Minnesota Shutdown Halts Inspections, Strains Contractors

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. - Building homes and the state budget battle should have nothing in common. But the Minnesota government shutdown is about to force a building shutdown for electricians.

“It's hurting us right now because we can't get our inspections to keep the jobs continuing,” said Mike Peterson of Horizon Electric.

Peterson is working several sites, including a new home in Prior Lake. Portions of his work are done, but there's no state inspector to approve the job.

"We've been lucky because most our jobs have been city inspections where the city inspectors are still working,” Peterson said. “But we have about three or four jobs right now that are at a stop."

The potential work stoppage is so serious that the cities of Minneapolis, Edina and Crystal have started their own electrical inspections to keep electrical projects on schedule.

Eventually the Minnesota shutdown will affect more than just electricians. The ripple effect includes general contractors, even the customers, too. Custom home builder Brett Franz says he's stuck between hard deadlines and no inspectors.

"We're about five days away from needing the electrical inspector and then we'll be in a holding pattern after that,” Franz said. "My insulator, dry-waller, you know all the finishing people after that, they're going to be stuck with nothing to do. And also homes that are finishing, that people are going to move into, they're not going to be able to move into them because they're not going to be able to get their final electrical inspection."

All of it is a bitter consequence from a Minnesota government shutdown, on an industry already hammered from the recession.

"Everybody stops,” Peterson said. “There's no sheet-rocking there's no insulation, there's no cement pouring, there's no roofing. It comes to a stop."

Judy Rubin of the Minnesota Electrical Association says this is all affecting the work of roughly 1,700 electric contractors. And for all of those county fairs that are about to come up, there will be no electrical safety inspectors for the carnival rides. Try explaining that one to your kids.