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Homeowners shouldn't do electrical work

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Re: Homeowners shouldn't do electrical work

How did that electric dryer work????? Didn't get very hot huh??
 
Re: Homeowners shouldn't do electrical work

What load is being served by the single pole 30 amp breaker?

Also I can't tell, but it looks like a #12 AWG conductor connected to the 30 amp breaker.

Chris
 
Re: Homeowners shouldn't do electrical work

Sorry folks but the picture is so old I can't remember the details other than to say that I promised to void their permit if they didn't hire an electrician. When I see work that is this ridiculous I don't bother to try explaining the corrections to a homeowner or the Home-Depot worker. I stop the work and make them hire a licensed electrician before somebody gets electrocuted.
 
When I bought this house I found a dryer connected to 12-2 Romex (running underground) and it had been working for years. It was long enough that when I dug out the EMT sleeve, it had turned to red dust. One of my first projects was massive rewiring to fix a number of nightmares.

OTOH

Most dryers operate at around 23-24a so it is really not overloading the wire that badly, based on 310.16 (table) but it is clearly a 240.4(D) violation.
 
The inspectors can fail the inspection and issue a stop work notice for the project but I do not believe the building official or inspector has the legal authority to say that a homeowner, working on his own home, cannot do the electrical work and has to hire a licensed contractor.

I have done electrical work on my house. There are plenty of books and other resources available to the homeowner that provide all the training needed for simple projects. The claims that you need to be a formally certified electrician do not hold water.

I am worried about inspectors or plan checkers who do not have an engineering education reviewing structural calculations or using computer programs to check designs.
 
Msradell said:
Anybody who really thinks this subject isn't controversial should go read this thread: http://www.diychatroom.com/f18/licensed-not-my-opinion-kind-long-193136/
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Electrical work, gas work, plumbing, knocking out load bearing walls. Lots of folk over there just do not think any of you inspector types should tell them what to do or point out the problems with their work in their own house. But they never stop to think about the next person who lives in the house.
 
Boils down to one thing; lack of respect for the trades. Don't know what you don't know.

I mean how hard can it be?

Brent
 
When I get those (because I know I cannot legally stop them from doing the work) I just write the NEC sections they violated....230.72 330.34 etc...no written desription, just the sections....At least then you can hope they will gain access to a code book....
 
When I was a state inspector, most of the work I inspected was done by non-licensed people (state employees)

We had park rangers, "maintenance men", volunteers and prison inmates doing the work.

I used to have to spend inordinate amounts of time explaining what the violations were and what they needed to do to get it right. In the end, I never walked away from a hazard tho.

Ironically, the best work I saw was in the prisons.
 
Prisoners have plenty of time to do it right. And motivation too because if they screw the pooch they won't be asked again.

Brent.
 
MASSDRIVER said:
Prisoners have plenty of time to do it right. And motivation too because if they screw the pooch they won't be asked again. Brent.
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And because most of the time they are contractors on the "outside"..... :)
 
Space heater overload / cooper only outlets / Possibly over fused

Was advised to contact an electrician. House had burned years ago and had 1/2 copper and 1/2 aluminum.
 
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Mark K said:
The inspectors can fail the inspection and issue a stop work notice for the project but I do not believe the building official or inspector has the legal authority to say that a homeowner, working on his own home, cannot do the electrical work and has to hire a licensed contractor.I have done electrical work on my house. There are plenty of books and other resources available to the homeowner that provide all the training needed for simple projects. The claims that you need to be a formally certified electrician do not hold water.

I am worried about inspectors or plan checkers who do not have an engineering education reviewing structural calculations or using computer programs to check designs.
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So if I issue a stop work notice because the work is just sooooo screwed up, what will it take to start the work again? Do I tell the hapless homeowner to see if his friend that did the work has any brothers? How about if I tell him that the Lowe's parking lot has a better class of electricians? You question my authority do you? I have a signature. They need my signature.

Remember that I don't get an opportunity to see every inch. This isn't plumbing. A seemingly minor mistake can have major repercussions. The times that I have voided permits, the work was beyond saving.

Have I ever mentioned the fact that we have a law in this state that people doing electrical work are required to be State certified? That includes homeowners.

You're proud that you were able to perform electrical work on your home. I'll be honest and tell you that guys like you scare me. I have been searching for a larger house to purchase. As soon as I hear that the soon to be former owner was a handyman, I need to know what Mr. Green Jeans did.

You got some kinda nerve to bitch about inspectors reviewing cacls yet an engineer can read a few Popular Science articles and rewire his house.
 
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Just because the inspector needs to sign off on the work the inspector is not god. The inspector must work within the limitations of the regulations. Some times this means there are limitations on what they can require.

The nature and intensity of your reaction says volumes.

What law are you talking about that requires homeowners be state certified to do electrical work? Give me specific references. We have laws that limit who can do work for others but do not believe this applies to doing electrical work on ones home. If what you say is true why is it not illegal to sell books on how to wire your own home?
 
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