Plumbing inspection wait times range from 24 hours to 4 weeks, idling $800/day crews

After completing a plumbing rough-in or top-out, the work cannot be covered (with drywall, concrete, etc.) until a municipal inspector signs off. Inspection scheduling varies wildly: Portland issues permits in 24 hours, Austin schedules within 24-48 hours, but New York City takes 2-4 weeks for permit processing alone, and many jurisdictions schedule inspections in 3-5 business day windows. The people hurt are plumbing contractors whose crews sit idle or must be redeployed to other jobs (losing continuity and efficiency), general contractors whose entire project timeline stalls waiting for the plumbing inspection before other trades can proceed, and homeowners who pay carrying costs (rent, mortgage overlap, storage) during delays. A 4-person plumbing crew costs roughly $800/day in labor alone; each day of inspection delay is pure overhead. This persists because building departments are chronically understaffed -- inspector positions pay $50-70K government salary competing against $80-120K private sector plumbing income -- and there is no market mechanism to price inspection urgency.