Books about Inspection from Amazon.com

With a New Afterword by the Author

Slaughterhouse is the first book of its kind to explore the impact that unprecedented changes in the meatpacking industry over the last twenty-five years—particularly industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulation—have had on workers, animals, and consumers. It is also the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly about what's really taking place behind the closed doors of America's slaughterhouses.

In this new paperback edition, author Gail A. Eisnitz brings the story up to date since the book's original publication. She describes the ongoing efforts by the Humane Farming Association to improve conditions in the meatpacking industry, media exposés that have prompted reforms resulting in multimillion dollar appropriations by Congress to try to enforce federal inspection laws, and a favorable decision by the Supreme Court to block construction of what was slated to be one of the largest hog factory farms in the country. Nonetheless, Eisnitz makes it clear that abuses continue and much work still needs to be done..
Price: $12.12 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Taunton's Code Check series is widely recognized as the most reliable and up-to-date code reference available. Now, the thousands of builders, remodelers, and inspectors who have relied on their Code Checks for accuracy and thoroughness will delight in this handsome new edition that combines all the codes into a single, lay-flat volume. This comprehensive manual spotlights the safety issues behind all the codes. Up-to-date and featuring more than 400 illustrations, Code Check Complete is cross-referenced to the International Residential Code, Uniform Plumbing Code, Uniform Mechanical Code, and the National Electrical Code. It is the only resource any builder or inspector needs to be completely up to code..
Price: $24.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From "designer" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2)..
Price: $14.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Mike Holmes is on a mission Now that he's helped Canadian home renovators with his mega-selling Make It Right, Canada's most trusted contractor offers his expertise and passion for excellence to anyone with plans to sell or buy a home. In The Holmes Inspection, Mike shows us how to sell smart and buy smart so there'll be no surprises when it comes to the single largest investment most of us will ever make. Homebuyers today are in a bind. Before signing on the dotted line and handing over their hard-earned cash, they need advice about the product itself: the house they've got their eye on. But to get that good advice, says Holmes, it often takes more than a single call to a "professional" home inspector. Mike tells readers what a home inspector can and can't do, and what options are open to prospective homebuyers who need to know what they're getting. Holmes deconstructs the often mystifying and downright scary process of buying and selling a house, walking readers through, into and around the average house so they can see past the tasteful, neutral decorating scheme. Using real case studies, "red flag" sidebars and hundreds of photographs, The Holmes Inspection shows readers how to spot problems that could be expensive or even catastrophic, giving them the information they need to judge a house wisely. From the mechanicals (furnace, electrical and plumbing) to the "envelope" (floors, walls, doors and windows) to issues of location and siting, this book alerts readers to the ugly realities behind the "lipstick and mascara" that many vendors use to cover up problems when selling their homes..
Price: $27.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Verticality, architectural and social, is the lofty idea at the heart of Colson Whitehead's odd, sly, and ultimately irresistible first novel. The setting is an unnamed though obviously New Yorkish high-rise city, the time less convincingly future than deliciously other, as it combines 21st-century engineering feats with 19th-century pork-barrel politics and smoky working-class pubs. Elevators are the technological expression of the vertical idea, and Lila Mae Watson, the city's first black female elevator inspector, is its embattled token of upward mobility.

Lila Mae's good ol' boy colleagues in the Department of Elevator Inspectors are understandably jealous of the flawless record that her natural intelligence and diligence have earned, and understandably delighted when Number Eleven in the newly completed Fanny Briggs Memorial Building goes into deadly free fall just hours after Lila Mae has signed off on it, using the controversial "Intuitionist" method of ascertaining elevator safety. It is, after all, an election year in the Elevator Guild, and the Empiricists would do most anything to discredit the Intuitionist faction. Everyone on both sides assumes that Number Eleven was sabotaged and Lila Mae set up to take the fall. "So complete is Number Eleven's ruin," writes Whitehead, "that there's nothing left but the sound of the crash, rising in the shaft, a fall in opposite: a soul." Lila Mae's doom seems equally irreversible.

Whitehead evokes a world so utterly involving to its own denizens that outside reality does not impinge on its perfect solipsism. We the readers are taken hostage as Lila Mae strives to exonerate herself in this urgent adventure full of government spies, underworld hit men, and seductive double agents. Behind the action, always, is the Idea. Lila Mae's quest reveals the existence of heretofore lost writings by James Fulton, father of Intuitionism, a giant of vertical thought, whose fate is mysteriously entwined with her own. If she is able to find and reveal his plan for the Black Box, the perfect, next-generation elevator, the city as it now exists will instantly be obsolescent. The social and economic implications are huge and the denouement is elegantly philosophical. Most impressive of all is the integrity of Whitehead's prose. Eschewing mere cleverness, resisting showoff word play, he somehow manages to strike a tone that's always funny, always fierce, and always entirely respectful of his characters and their world. May the god of second novels smile as broadly on him as did the god of firsts. --Joyce Thompson.
Price: $3.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Code Check: An Illustrated Guide to Building a Safe House, 5th Edition, emphasizes life-safety principles underlying building codes. Using clear language and helpful diagrams, this edition reflects the most up-to-date changes in the 2006 International Residential Code. It is also cross-referenced to the Uniform Plumbing Code, Uniform Mechanical Code and the National Electrical Code. The spiral-bound "Code Check" series is endorsed by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO). With durable laminated pages, it is designed to be used on-site for quick reference..
Price: $5.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Probably the best source available for prospective homebuyer’s to use for evaluating property, inside and out. Originally intended to be for buyers and owners, it has sufficient detail that professional home inspectors use it throughout the country. Loaded with charts, checklists, and photographs, this is a must have for anyone considering a new or used home purchase. Nearly 75,000 copies are in print..
Price: $1.05 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This pro-level guide to inspecting a house is a tool for evaluating property inside and out. It includes a discussion of current building materials, heating, electrical and plumbing systems, foundations, and more. This book can help anyone determine the soundness of a house..
Price: $6.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Code Check Electrical, 4th edition, outlines the principles behind the various accepted electrical codes and provides information on the code requirements for all types of residential electrical systems. It is cross-referenced to the most recent National Electrical Code.

The Code Check series is one of Taunton’s most successful book lines, selling over 400,000 copies. Spiral bound, with durable laminated pages, the books in this series are designed to be used on-site for quick reference, ensuring that all jobs meet the highest safety standards while drastically reducing code violation call-backs. The Code Check series is endorsed by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO)
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Price: $8.40 [Notify me when price goes down.]