When Builders Do Electrical Work

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goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
When was the last time you saw work like this ? In almost all cases I can tell whether an electrician did the electrical work or when a builder did the work in order to save a few $$. You can't get much more stupid than this and it's dangerous. In addition, when the builder did the bathroom remodel and added these two switches instead of coming off the existing lighting circuit OR the GFCI in the bathroom he tapped off the GFCI in the kitchen counter back-splash directly behind this JB. :-(
 

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And what's wrong with that? (Not serious) I see similar garbage by builders all the time. Their response will be "well the lights work so what's wrong with it?"
 
This is a big problem in NJ especially with house flippers. They get someone to sign the permits and then have their own guys do the work. An inspector in a local town had a huge problem with the electrical work on a house and went numerous times to inspect the corrections. Finally he was so frustrated that he got all of the workers together in the house and asked who did the electrical work. One guy admitted that it was him and he was the taper.
 
infinity said:
This is a big problem in NJ especially with house flippers. They get someone to sign the permits and then have their own guys do the work. An inspector in a local town had a huge problem with the electrical work on a house and went numerous times to inspect the corrections. Finally he was so frustrated that he got all of the workers together in the house and asked who did the electrical work. One guy admitted that it was him and he was the taper.
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Seen it
 
I have seen work worse than that done by an electrician. The guy was able to get 3 -10/2 nm cables in a handy box with a device.
 
Aside from the colors, I had a 10 yrar electrician pull that same garbage on me last year. I hired him to wire a kitchen remodel, and I had to redo 100% of what he did
 

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infinity said:
This is a big problem in NJ especially with house flippers. They get someone to sign the permits and then have their own guys do the work. An inspector in a local town had a huge problem with the electrical work on a house and went numerous times to inspect the corrections. Finally he was so frustrated that he got all of the workers together in the house and asked who did the electrical work. One guy admitted that it was him and he was the taper.
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This goes in conjunction with the PM I sent you several weeks ago regarding "what work needs a permit in NJ." A lot of these house flippers interpret the rules for their own benefit. I ran into one guy who completely gutted a bathroom, changed some of the structure, re-routed some of the plumbing including waste lines and water supply lines and completely rewired switches, receptacles and added light fixtures. He claimed that this was a "repair" and didn't need a permit. BTW, there was a dumpster in the driveway and no permit in the window. That's a red flag if I ever saw one !!!
 
I thought I'd post this here instead of starting a new thread. I had to change out 6 smoke alarms in a HO's house yesterday. The first JB I came upon was this 4" round remodel JB. Whoever installed it over-cut the hole and then used shims above the sheetrock to position the box. The mounting plate was attached to the JB with sheetrock screws and held the JB steady. When I asked the HO who installed these originally he said the guy was a licensed electrician but he hired kids out of a local HS to do the work. Never came back to check on the work. So, I'm thinking the kid must have made a mistake. You have to pay for your education. I would think that after you screwed up the first one you would have learned your lesson. Well, that wasn't the case. The 3 on the first floor were all done the same way, the 3 on the upper floor were done properly. Must have been a different kid :)
 

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The holes probably all got cut at the same time on each floor, and they probably didn't realize it until they went to put the boxes in. Then made an adjustment at the next floor
 
James L said:
The holes probably all got cut at the same time on each floor, and they probably didn't realize it until they went to put the boxes in. Then made an adjustment at the next floor
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You may very well be correct - but still a hack job IMHO.
 
goldstar said:
You may very well be correct - but still a hack job IMHO.
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For sure. I grabbed the wrong hole saw one time when I was moving a light fixture. I cut the hole to the same size as the outer diameter of the flange on the cut in box 😱

I had to use an after-work spreader bar
 
goldstar said:
This goes in conjunction with the PM I sent you several weeks ago regarding "what work needs a permit in NJ." A lot of these house flippers interpret the rules for their own benefit. I ran into one guy who completely gutted a bathroom, changed some of the structure, re-routed some of the plumbing including waste lines and water supply lines and completely rewired switches, receptacles and added light fixtures. He claimed that this was a "repair" and didn't need a permit. BTW, there was a dumpster in the driveway and no permit in the window. That's a red flag if I ever saw one !!!
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Here in NJ we have pretty specific code language to define what needs a permit and what does not. Now everyone tries to get around it by doing exactly what you've said, they make up their own interpretation. Part of the problem especially here were there all small towns is that the inspectors are part time. They barely have enough time to show up and look for at the job for more than 5 minutes. And no one is driving around looking for non-permitted jobs but as you've said they are blatantly obvious.
 
Impressed they grounded the switches that is a rarity. Here in West Central FL we have a huge problem with flippers. Bunch hipsters imitating those ridiculous diy shows. Unknowing people move from other parts of the country to retire, hire some BS home inspector with a check list. They close on the house and a few weeks later they call to get some lights replaced, fans hung or an outlet added and we find a farm of flying junctions in the attic. This is something they should teach in high school. Dealing with realtors, contractors, mechanics and big kid decisionsk
 
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