A bill allowing third-party electrical engineers to make final inspections of newly installed photovoltaic systems on Oahu got a key approval from the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday despite objections raised by city inspectors.

Bill 51 is meant to ease a huge backlog in city electrical inspections resulting from the boom in PV system installations. Zoning and Planning Chairman Ikaika Anderson, who introduced the bill, said he has received calls from more than 50 constituents complaining about how long it was taking to get final approval for their systems, delaying their ability to receive the full financial benefit of selling electrical power back to the Hawaiian Electric Co.

The bill advances to the full Council for a final vote Wednesday.

The committee also voted to end its waiver of building permit fees for people installing a photovoltaic system. The waiver was granted in 2007 as a way of encouraging PV installations but is now costing the city millions of dollars in fees.

Both bills were introduced in reaction to the dramatic increase in PV installations on Oahu houses in recent years.

Jiro Sumada, acting director for the Department of Planning and Permitting, said the number of PV permits has risen to 9,096 in 2012 from 697 in the fiscal year ending June 2009. From July 1 to Nov. 20 this year, the city issued a staggering 8,579 PV permits, a pace that will more than double last year’s total and account for more than half of all building permits issued by the city.

The volume, and backlog, of PV system inspections affects not just those homeowners putting in photovoltaic systems and wanting to get their net meters installed by HECO, but also “our ability to close out the normal permits that require electrical inspection, thereby affecting all contractors, homeowners and business owners from obtaining their certificate of occupancy,” Sumada said.

Anderson said after the meeting that he was told a wait of 90 days to obtain a final inspection is not unusual.

The permit department said there were 23,333 unclosed electrical inspections as of Thursday, compared with 18,936 on July 1, 2011.

Sumada said the department has 18 electrical inspectors “doing their darnedest to try to keep up” with what amounts to a doubling of work with no increase in staffing. The department later told the Star-Advertiser it has one vacancy and that it is in the recruitment stage.

Several city electrical inspectors testified against the bill, saying the real solution is providing more city inspectors and that private, third-party inspectors would not have the training and support network to do the job properly.

Lance Prochnow, a city inspector for 12 years and a licensed electrician for three decades, said electricians do not make good inspectors overnight.

“It takes experience. You have to know where to look and what to look for,” he said. Electricians “go out to install things,” Prochnow said. “To know what to inspect is a little different.”

Colin Lee, another city electrical inspector, said safety has been his priority for 38 years.

Many PV contractors “take a perfectly good installation system and mess it up,” Lee said. “Who’s going to train these third-party guys, and what kind of qualifications are they going to have?”

Councilwoman Ann Koba­ya­shi, who heads the Budget Committee, said the Council has tried to provide for more electrical inspectors but that the current and former administrations have refused to fill the positions, citing citywide hiring freezes.

But Ron Hooson, technical and quality director and marketing director for Smart Energy Hawaii, said that while he empathizes with the city’s electrical inspectors, third-party inspectors could do the job properly and safely.

Hooson said he’s been hired as an expert witness for court cases involving electrical work.

“It’s just the normal course of business,” he said. “You know what the code is. This is black, this is white. You go out in the field, and you certify this is black or white.”

He added, “I’ve gone along with inspectors and seen their protocol for 40 years.”

West Hawaii businessman George Grace said one possibility might be for the city to contract with one third-party vendor to handle the inspections.

A sizable number of PV installers, seeking to capitalize on the fear by some consumers that state tax credits will soon be reduced or eliminated, have risked the possibility of fines and installed systems before obtaining the permits to do so, Sumada said.

“The reason we know this is the day after we issue a (building) permit, they’re calling for a final inspection,” he said.

Sumada said his inspectors asked that the Council consider imposing fines of up to $2,000 on third-party inspectors found to have approved PV systems that are not up to code.

Anderson expressed frustration with the inspectors, saying that none had taken up his offer to meet to discuss the issue. He said he is hoping to be able to meet the inspectors, Sumada, solar system installers and other stakeholders before Wednesday’s meeting.

Anderson said that while Council members are committed to adding more inspector positions, consumers are demanding immediate relief.

“They’ve made it clear this is a priority.”

Bill 68, repealing the waiver on PV permit fees, was approved 5-0. It will be up for the second of three required votes Wednesday.

Sumada said the waiver meant lost revenue of $6 million in the last fiscal year and that the amount could rise to $13 million if current trends hold.

The fee varies from project to project. The department estimated that for a typical PV installation costing about $30,000, the permit fee would be about $570.

The exemption was first introduced in October 2007 when the PV industry was in its infancy and not the full-blown phenomenom it is today, Sumada said. No one testified against the bill.