So now your telling us your unqualified to do the job you think we should do cheap.
You did not fix her problem because you do not have the skill , not because of the license. She could have got a permit for any repair she needed and the POCO would pull meter so you can do the job.
Real problem is you could not do the job.
If this wasn't so funny I'd feel sorry for you. Qualified and capable are two entirely different things. I am fully capable but I don't carry the licensing required to do the work legally. And because of MN law I am not qualified to take the test either. She could pull all the permits she wanted and the POCO can pull the meter and I still would be unlicensed and therefore unqualified to do the work.
You think a piece of paper that indicates that you have been trained proves you are qualified? That's a bunch of bull. It takes more than that. I'll give you an example.
We hired a guy with a piece of paper that said he had an EE degree from a university. He was also honorably discharged from the military where he worked on submarine torpedo electronics. Came with all kinds of credentials and documents to support them. Because of his credentials his starting pay was 20% higher than mine and I had 10 years experience with the company. But, because I don't have that piece of paper that says I have been schooled as an Electrical Engineer, I don't qualify for the same pay level. That's fine. I chose not to pursue said degree and I am living with the consequences of my choice. No problem there. Funny thing. The guy didn't last a year. He was smart as a tack in electrical theory and was a wonderful asset for me when I couldn't remember my theory. The problem was that he was unable to put all his book smarts into practice and couldn't even do the job I had been doing. But remember, I wasn't qualified.
Why do you think the law requires a minimum amount of hands-on experience before you can even take the journeyman's test? Because there is a difference between book smart and street smart. I have never understood why the state still allows EE's to take the test without any practical experience. The EE I worked with demonstrated the need to change that law.
Designing is not even close to actually being an electrician. Too much money for you to open a ligit 1 man shop but not too much for us.
It's a time issue not a money issue. It's not worth the investment time I would need to become qualified to take necessary tests for licensing.
You run a farm that supports itself but not you. Why keep it ?
Hobby, make a little extra, I enjoy it, ...
In the case of my farm, the monetary investment to go full-time would be too extreme to make it worthwhile at this late stage in my life. I'm not interested in investing that much into something I couldn't possibly pay for in my lifetime, not to mention taking on that much stress in my life now. I watched my neighbor make that choice and saw how he and his wife both aged 20 years in less than five. That doesn't interest me. If I was still in my early 40's or younger then yes, I would be seriously looking into that possibility but not now anymore.
I'm only making a suggestion that there is a hole in the system that could be filled by someone that has already made the investment and has the desire to fill it. You don't have to fill it if you don't want to but I'm suggesting that if it doesn't get filled, the problems associated with DIYer work will continue to grow.
The proof is in the pudding. Just in my rural community when I bought this farm and took on the challenge of completely remodeling it and people found out that I did all my own electrical work they came out of the woodwork looking to hire me. Two neighbors asked if I would like to wire their homes as they remodeled. Another asked me to do some wiring because he was planning on finishing his attic to add bedroom space. Another wanted me to wire a new pole building that would be used for animal housing. Another asked me to wire their bathroom remodeling project and the list goes on. Another asked me to wire the lighting in a machine shed. And still another asked me to do some wiring at a church. I didn't even advertise and I had to turn every one of them down because I was not qualified by the State of MN to do electrical work off my own premises.
Do you know what the biggest problem was for these people? It wasn't the cost, it was the contractors that didn't want the work. The guy with the pole barn waited for nearly two years to get his project done and that was after he had already been promised it done within a couple weeks. His project just wasn't big enough for the contractor to really care that it got done in due time.
The guys that remodeled their homes did their own electrical work. I spent a lot of time helping them understand the codes so they could do it right and pass inspection. But I had to let them do the work themselves. At least I managed to convince them to have it inspected. We are not required in this county to pull a permit so long as we are not changing the exterior size and/or shape of our home. In other words we can do all the work we want inside without a permit.
