They have to follow city code. Call the city, explain what you just said and have the city inspector come out if they won't listen to you.

ditto......

City code or not, that's inadequate. Best practice would use perforated PVC drain pipe with long sweeps and appropriately located cleanouts. The gravel should be protected from silting by geo fabric. It's common for projects to cut corners for this detail and is a red flag to be suspicious of details hidden behind the finishes.

We have contacted the person we have been working with. He told us that they would come out and lift the pipe.

However, later that day a worker came out from that company, and she definitely did not expect the owner to be there. She digged on the side of the pipe and told me that the rocks are under there because some of them fall under it when one is digging. I told her that just because a tiny layer falls under it when one is uncovering the pipe does not constitute it to be 2" minimum. Then she was trying to refer me to the wrong code which she admitted was not right after i pointed it out.

Then she was trying to convince me that the way they did it is the best way for consumer and that the code is wrong and does not consider different type of soil (which is not true). She also said that the City is lazy that is why they don't put an exception to it.

My husband and i took her up in the offer for them to remove everything and take it off our bill. But apperantly she was bluffing and refused to do so.

The crew came over that day and lifted the outside pipe but not the inside pipe as it would create a bump in the floor. She also says that they don't have to do anything to the inside pipe because the code does not require inside drain tile. But we paid them for both, so i think they should have both according to standards especially when the outside pipe is connected through the inside to get water to the sump pump.

Unfortunately she is the owner as we found out today and she is not going to do anything else. We argued for 3 ours with her and she made it clear that lifting outsidet pipe is all they going to do.

I did call the city and it said that it does not inspect drain tile, and that it probably would be a civil case. However, the inspector did come over the next day but we had rain that night and 10" of water, so he could not inspect it.

We did specifh that we wanted pvc originally and it is in our notes, but they delivered 4" dual perforated pipe and when i questioned where is pvc they said that 4" pipe is what they consider the best even though we specifically requested pvc.

In addition, i also now found out that they did not lay it next to the footing but rather next to the dirt. So there is footing, dirt on the side, and then the pipe. I don't think that is up to the code either. I wish the code had an image.

When you hire someone to do a job, at the minimum, you expect they will follow building codes. Hire an attorney, a letter from them may be enough to get the job done right.

The reason why the drain tile needs to be on gravel and covered with a permeable fabric sleeve is we have learned that dirt and silt will clog the openings and the drain tile will become blocked. If that happens, it will cease to be useful. Now, you have real drainage problems.

Installing a drain tile is really inexpensive in the big scheme of the total budget. But, you want to get it right the first time when it's easy. Do not let anyone fill the trench until you are satisfied. It's expensive if you have to go back, dig it out and re do it.

If this is a custom build, it's worth standing your ground. Call a foundation repair company and talk to them about best practices.