Every now and then, a customer, or a neighbor, a friend, will ask me the same question:“You do a lot of work for yourself. Can you run some new branch circuits or install this ceiling fan, or other work related to the distribution, transmission, and consumption of electrons for doing work? I’ll even pull the permit and get it inspected. And pay you a nominal fee.
The short answer to this question is no. The longer answer is noooooo.
It’s Not About Whether I Can Do the Work
If you own your own house or property in Pennsylvania and you want to do some electrical (or plumbing, or building work) in your OWN HOUSE to fix something, install something, etc. etc., the state and most municipalities (CAVEAT: Do Your Own Fact Verification On This) will let you — as long as you get the proper permits for the work and have the work duly inspected and approved by your municipality zoning officer an/or building inspector(s). That’s what they generally call a homeowner exemption. That means you and your grubby little fingers doing all the work yourself. If you know what you’re doing and are comfortable doing it, I’m all for maximal self-sufficiency.
But the minute I were to pick up tools and start doing electrical work on someone else’s property (and lets be clear here, I’m not), the rules change and not in my or anyone else’s favor. At that point, under Pennsylvania’s laws and likely all individual municipalities in said commonwealth, I’m considered a contractor. And for electrical work, that means you need to be a licensed electrician (and, for most home improvement work, a registered home improvement contractor with the proper liability insurance and/or bonding).
I am not a licensed electrician. Nor do I have any intention of becoming one at this point.
Just pulling a building permit doesn’t magically make it okay for you to invite Uncle Joe (or me) who’s building your dining room table or dining room buffet or closet cabinetry, or what have you, into your house to monkey around with the circuitry. Unless of course Uncle Joe is a licensed electrician. Building permits and inspections and being a licensed electrician are separate requirements. You need, and want both when work is being done on your property that requires building permits and inspections and licensed tradespeople who know what they are doing.
If it’s your home and you want to do the work personally, get the proper permits and inspections, and go nuts (according to the rules and regulations of your state or commonwealth and local municipality, and in accordance with your own abilities, of course).
It’s Not Just Red Tape — It’s Liability. Lots and Lots of Liability. So Much Liability You Could Feed An Army of Attorneys Liability Soup for Years
Even if I’m good at it. Even if I’ve read every edition of the NEC dating back to the knob and tube era. Even if the work would be completed in a manner that would pass inspection with the highest flying colors. If something goes wrong a month, a year, or five years later — a receptacle arcs; a conductor overheats because its sized improperly for the load you’re cramming into it; somebody puts a 20amp receptacle and 20amp breaker on a branch circuit using 14 gauge conductors; somebody monkey-wrenches a bootleg ground into an old receptacle to fool an inspector because they don’t want to do it right; you drive a nail into a wall to hang a painting and somebody didn’t set that NM-B cable back far enough into the stud to meet the code requirements, etc. etc. etc., — your insurance company is going to ask you, “Who did the work? We want the names. Give us the names?.” You’re insurance company is going to ask the fire marshall, on the witness stand: “Sir. To the best of your knowledge and training as a fire inspector, what is your expert opinion at to the manner, means, and place in which all this here rapid and uncontrolled oxidation got going in Mr. and Mrs. Joe Public’s former residence?”
If your answer to the first question above is “Ah, I can’t remember,” or, “Some guy – that guy over there in the glasses and bad haircut without an electrician license told me it was okay because I got permits and inspections,” – that liability freight train runs straight through the property owner (you) and right on over to the person who did the unauthorizied work – Silver Streak style.. And I’m here to tell you, I ain’t taking that liability bullet for any amount of cash, jewels, stock options, or free beer you offer me. And neither should you.
Licensed electricians are professionals. They know the business end of a conductor from the hole it gets shoved into. Licensed electricians have had a lot of training to get said license. Licensed electricians carry liability insurance and bonding for exactly the reasons mentioned above.
It’s about having someone the state or municipality or insurance carrier can hold accountable if something hidden behind the drywall or cabinet turns out to be faulty and burns your house to the ground with everything and everyone in it, including the dog, cat, and goldfish. And the custom piece of furniture I slaved away for months building for you.
No thanks. So, don’t ask me to do electrical work (or plumbing, or HVAC, etc. etc.) for you as part of a furniture or cabinetry project. Not happening.
Tangential Rant
You probably have heard many people talk about doing stuff in their homes and not wanting to be bothered with getting the permits and inspections (maybe you’ve said this yourself) because “its a hassle”; “it costs money”; “I don’t want somebody telling me what I can and can’t do in my own home. This is America. I got rights. I got liberty.”; “I know more than the inspector, anyway.”
This really grinds my gears.
Don’t do it. Get the permits and get the inspections. Make a friend out of your zoning officer and building inspector and you’ll be thanking them when they catch something you didn’t do right yourself, or a shady unscrupulous contractor who was doing shoddy work cut corners and set you up for the big hurt. They are there to protect you, the homeowner and your family and guests and neighbors from mischief and catastrophe. If you can’t do the work yourself, hire professionals who can. Yeah, you may get away with it, maybe for a while. Maybe forever. But, if you go to sell your house and there’s unpermitted work, you’re going to end up in all kinds of distress. Or, if there’s an accident and something bad happens down the road, your insurance carrier is going to stop taking your phone calls and emails and refer you to their legal department as to why they are not going to cover your loss. You open yourself up to untold liability and lawsuits and financial ruin. Heck, if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to spend some quality time in a “federal pound-you-in-the-ass penitentiary.” Maybe you’re okay with that level of risk.
I’m not.
My Wheelhouse Is Wood, Not Wires
MP Woodworks builds furniture, cabinetry, and all manner of wooden objects designed to last generations. I’m happy to work alongside your licensed electrician and/or contractor if a project needs both of us on-site — say, to coordinate receptacle or lighting placements inside a custom built-in or piece of cabinetry. But I won’t cross the line into their trade because:
- I respect the work, skill, and expertise of highly trained tradespeople.
- It’s not legal without the license.
- It’s not insured without the license.
- I’d rather spend my time making things out of wood than explaining myself to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, your insurance carrier, your attorney-at-law, and my wife’s attorney-at-law when they all try to sue me into oblivion for being a helpful but misguided soul.
So if you need electrical work done, call a licensed electrician. If you need something beautiful, functional, and made of dead trees, as Blondie says, “Call Me!.” We’ll both sleep better.
