@Dominions Son
Why even bother including the inspector? Aren't they generally government employees? That would pretty much give them immunity on civil or criminal liability short of intentional malfeasance.
Generally, no they are not government employees. That statement tells me you've a very basic hole in your knowledge base.
While there are government building inspectors, they are not the first line of construction inspectors. The latter are usually from specialized firms as detailed in the FEED (front end engineering and design) documents and the construction contract. Sometimes on larger or more contested sites, an IACS company is used for compliance verification. While IACS main bread and butter is maritime based, in recent decades, they've branched out.
These inspectors are intended to be independent verification. In many states, they are legally mandated. The actual state inspectors end up taking their reports as evidence with only minimal inspections of their own. Some states such as California and New York, carry additional certification requirements for them. Others are required to be ICBO, ICC certified, while yet others simply take AWS CWI weld inspectors and or ACI concrete inspectors.
In all cases, they are intended to be independent. I say intended because that is not always how it works out. When the schedule slips due to failed inspection points, pressure is often applied to the inspector and or the company they are employed by.
The government keeps a degree of separation usually. That's built into the mix. Sometimes the government entities still get caught up in it.
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/01/540669701/10-years-after-bridge-collapse-america-is-still-crumbling
In the immediate aftermath of the 35W bridge collapse, the Minnesota Department of Transportation came under intense scrutiny. The interstate highway bridge had been classified as structurally deficient, meaning that it was aging and in need of repair. In fact, some repair work was going on when it fell. And the bridge was also rated as fracture critical, meaning the failure of just one vital component could cause the whole bridge to collapse.
But in fact, neither of those classifications means a bridge is necessarily dangerous. And the National Transportation Safety Board determined that it was a design flaw, and not deferred maintenance, neglect, or other problems, that caused the 35W bridge to collapse. Gusset plates that hold the bridge's huge steel beams together were only half as thick as they should have been. The NTSB also found that nearly 300 tons of construction equipment and materials stockpiled on the bridge deck for the ongoing repair work contributed to the collapse by further stressing the crucial gusset plate that failed.
Here, the MDT was implicated, and rightfully so. They knew about the fracture critical elements that were cracked. Instead of fixing them, they deferred them. When it all went tits up, the NTSB covered their arse and went to the aforementioned logic blame tree and fingered the design, thus getting both themselves and MDT out of the hot seat.
The whole mess is still in litigation. The original inspectors and their company were tossed off the job when they reported those cracks. My company was briefly consulted by the inspection company as a result. There was no fucking way we were getting in the middle of that.
As it stands, the original inspectors and company have been paid nicely after the fact. The last company that miraculously never found any cracks are now out of business and with its owners and 'inspectors' awaiting the Sword of Damocles as the shit roles down from on government high.
Call me jaded, but I couldn't stand that kind of shit anymore. The number of attempted bribes, threats, and general level of malfeasance was too much to deal with. I, nor my family, nor my company and employees needed that shit.
We all left with our integrity and honor intact. Few still in the chase can say the same.
Regarding this particular incident, follow up on it in the next few years and remember that logic tree. I'm 99.99% sure the blame will follow true to form with it.
ETA: Typo fix