Mechanical Rough and Mechanical Final inspections failed 9.8% of the time in 2021 (299 failures in 3,059 graded inspections) and 22.0% of the time so far in 2026 (621 in 2,829), a more than twofold rise. The trend is steady in between: 15.3% in 2022, 20.2% in 2023, 16.4% in 2024, 19.9% in 2025. Comparing 2021 against 2025 and 2026 combined gives 9.8% versus 20.9% on 6,160 recent graded inspections, far beyond sampling noise. This is specific to mechanical work rather than a general tightening: across all 225,373 graded inspections citywide the failure rate barely moved, 15.6% in 2021 versus 16.2% in 2026. Electrical Final moved in the same direction but less sharply, 29.5% to 37.2%, while Plumbing Rough moved the other way, 22.5% to 15.8%. Volumes for the two mechanical types were stable throughout at roughly 1,400 to 2,000 of each per year, and neither type was renamed or split over the period, so the rise reflects inspection outcomes rather than a change in what is counted.