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Why Pennsylvania Needs State Licensing for Electricians

jar546

jar546

CBO
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
12,938
Location
Not where I really want to be
I’ve done a lot of inspections in two different states but I can certainly tell you that when it comes to electrical violations, Pennsylvania just seems to lead in all categories of “you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Pennsylvania lacks statewide licensing of contractors and it most definitely shows.
Therefore, I have decided to create a thread dedicated to what I find and have found in PA. Enjoy.
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Are electricians required to be licensed in Penn? Are permits required? I realize it has many "old" buildings.
 
ADAguy said:
Are electricians required to be licensed in Penn? Are permits required? I realize it has many "old" buildings.
Click to expand...
Only a few cities have competency based licensing laws, the rest of the state, over 98% have no actual licensing. They created a registration system for political reasons that excludes home-builders and commercial contractors and prohibits municipalities from having or creating licensing programs unless they already had them in place. It is completely backwards and pathetic.
 
Even with commercial work, you see the lack of workmanship and simple understanding when you place a lug plate over the top of exposed screwheads which cuts down on the surface to surface contact and leaves the plate tilted at an angle. Again, more substandard electrical work found in Pennsylvania.
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When you can't drive a ground rod in but call for inspection anyway because you figure if you bend it over, it will pass. Another example of substandard electrical work in Pennsylvania.
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How to feed a subpanel from a main panel with SE cable in Pennsylvania and then call for a final inspection. Now do you see why Pennsylvania needs competency based licensing of contractors, especially electricians that can kill people?
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In California we have licensed electrical contractors. The state maintains a list of journeymen. We let anyone do the work. From homeowners taking out permits to contractors with Home Depot crews, we deal with them equally. This tolerance on our part engenders complacency on both sides of the correction slip.

Look at this picture of a service upgrade that was done by a licensed electrical contractor. I can surmise that they knew what was wrong but took a chance that I would approve it. Why? What makes them think that it could pass an inspection. It must be complacency......they are banking on me being a lousy inspector. Such inspectors are out there. Apparently in numbers sufficient to approve lousy work.

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It is not unique to the electrical trade. The mechanical contractor that did this must not be used to thorough inspections.

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Complacency....a contractor installed a service upgrade and the person that met me was the guy that patches the stucco. He was surprised that I wanted to see inside.......because? Draw your own conclusion.

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