The minimum time required in Israel for a building permit is about two years, while in many cases, like the famous Jerusalem Towers, it took ten years and complicated Jerusalem's major, chief engineer and the architects (several successive designs were submitted following the Committee's capricious demands). Some of them spent two weeks in jail suspected of offering and/or requesting bribes. The major was condemned because it was discovered that the entrepreneur had donated money to the Major's favorite philanthropy. So the Government decided to privatize the permitting process. Several engineering groups are being examined to become authorized "Examiners" (בודקים). One of these groups needed an expert in water/sewage and I was invited to join. The fruit plate was in front of me on the meeting table. The pic was taken BEFORE I started to examine it more closely.
The authorization process is managed by the Chemical Laboratories Office on the British model (they all traveled to London to learn how it works there). I easily passed the first exam. The next day we met in a 14 store apartment building complex (106 units) under construction, but when they climbed the very dangerous temporary stairs to the roof (there was no lift yet), I remembered my idol Nero Wolfe. The genius never left his office and employed young Goodwin for the dangerous footwork.
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