Template: pre-inspection checklist by stage (rough, service, final)
In one paragraph
Three checklists, one per inspection, walking the items a California residential inspector looks at in the order they look: at rough, boxes, fill, support, protection, the AFCI and GFCI plan, the panel location and the grounding electrode system; at a service change, conductors, disconnects, clearances, grounding and labels; at final, devices, tamper-resistant and GFCI, breakers against wire, the directory, the alarms the state requires and the Energy Code's lighting controls. Each line has the section number so a correction can be read and answered. Beside the blank, the checklists filled in for a 200-amp service change plus a kitchen remodel, with the two items that would have been corrections caught the day before.
The rule
Permitted work remains exposed until approved (2025 CEC 89.108.4.4), and an inspection passes on the sections the checklist names: box fill (314.16), cable protection and support (300.4, 334.30), AFCI and GFCI locations (210.12, 210.8), tamper-resistant receptacles (406.12), working space (110.26), service conductors and disconnects (310.12, 230.70, 230.85), the grounding electrode system and bonding (250), breaker-to-conductor sizing (240.4(D)), the directory (408.4), the state's smoke and carbon monoxide alarm laws (H&S 13113.7, 17926) and the Energy Code lighting controls (150.0(k)).
Why it matters
A failed inspection costs a day, a reinspection fee and the customer's confidence, and nearly every correction is on this list. Walking it the afternoon before, with the code sections beside each line, is how a new contractor passes the first time and how the inspector learns your name as the one whose jobs are ready.