Helping my old man

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Triple D

Member
Location
Wilton NH
First time post. Is it ok for me (Master electrician in NH) to help my father out with a service upgrade (in VA) if i'm not licesed there but he owns and lives in the house? :confused:
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
In many peoples opinion it is better than hiring a handyman or having most owners do it themselves. The AHJ may not care who you are or what your qualifications are if you do not have proper license for their jurisdiction. I would contact the AHJ and find out. You may need to find out what local codes they may happen to have anyhow as well at which year of NEC would apply.
 
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hurk27

Senior Member
Location
Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
In most states you would be protected by what is called the "log cabin law", it allows a home owner to do work on there own home that they are going to live in for a period of 1 year or more, if your state has such a law you just have your dad go down and apply for a home owner permit, some areas wont even inspect these installs because of the liability, so don't be surprised, also you dad under this law is the responsible person and is allowed to have a person helping, the Amish have been using this law here for years, and the whole family helps, in some cases they might even have you take a simple home owners test, which you should be able to take for your dad.

Maybe some on here from Va. will chime in on Va. laws?
 
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busman

busman

Senior Member
Location
Northern Virginia
Occupation
Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
Yes. The homeowner can pull a permit in Virginia for a property that they own and live in.

Mark
 
R

rodneee

Senior Member
he is your father....it is his house... those two conditions supercede any laws/regulations in every state...
 
mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
rodneee said:
he is your father....it is his house... those two conditions supercede any laws/regulations in every state...
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Nice try, but that won't help you get a permit or inspections. There's no need to do an illegal upgrade, since the power company won't hook up to it.


Luckily fof the op, his dad can pull a homeowners permit and say he's doing the work himself. If he says a contractor is doing it, they will need state and local licensing.
 
busman

busman

Senior Member
Location
Northern Virginia
Occupation
Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
mcclary's electrical said:
Nice try, but that won't help you get a permit or inspections. There's no need to do an illegal upgrade, since the power company won't hook up to it.


Luckily fof the op, his dad can pull a homeowners permit and say he's doing the work himself. If he says a contractor is doing it, they will need state and local licensing.
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As far as I know, there is no "local licensing" in the Commonwealth of Virginia. All licensing is done by Virginia DPOR. Permits are issued locally but based on the Virginia USBC.

Mark
 
mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
busman said:
As far as I know, there is no "local licensing" in the Commonwealth of Virginia. All licensing is done by Virginia DPOR. Permits are issued locally but based on the Virginia USBC.

Mark
Click to expand...

I do business in VA, and have been for years. You are required by many jurisdictions to have their local license. MOST will accept a local license from the county your business is based out of, but some will not. Spotsylvania is one county that doesn't care where your local license is from, you still have to buy theirs to do business in that county. Louisa county is another that does not recipprocate. City of Richmond will let you pull permits under a Louisa License, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE a local license. You cannot pull a permit in the city of richmond with only DPOR Licensing, no matter how hard you try
 
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rodneee

Senior Member
mcclary's electrical said:
Nice try, but that won't help you get a permit or inspections. There's no need to do an illegal upgrade, since the power company won't hook up to it.


Luckily fof the op, his dad can pull a homeowners permit and say he's doing the work himself. If he says a contractor is doing it, they will need state and local licensing.
Click to expand...

you guys keep hurting my feelings....first i get called a loser because i splice 8/3 oven wire...now i get called a "double loser" because of my illegal service upgrade habit...i know i am sick but i can't help myself....my rule is that if you are a family member you get a service upgrade for free with no permit and worse yet no inspection...then i take a picture of the new service and forward it to their insurance company with the words...."PERMITS, WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' PERMITS"...
 
busman

busman

Senior Member
Location
Northern Virginia
Occupation
Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
mcclary's electrical said:
I do business in VA, and have been for years. You are required by many jurisdictions to have their local license. MOST will accept a local license from the county your business is based out of, but some will not. Spotsylvania is one county that doesn't care where your local license is from, you still have to buy theirs to do business in that county. Louisa county is another that does not recipprocate. City of Richmond will let you pull permits under a Louisa License, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE a local license. You cannot pull a permit in the city of richmond with only DPOR Licensing, no matter how hard you try
Click to expand...


I'm wondering if we're talking about two different things or if I just have more to learn. In my last post, I was thinking of local Tradesman/Contractor licensing. Up in Northern Virginia, you do need a local license to pull a permit, but it's a business license, not a tradesman/contractor's license. Fairfax County requires what they call a BPOL (Business, Professional and Occupational License) to pull a permit.
 
mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
busman said:
I'm wondering if we're talking about two different things or if I just have more to learn. In my last post, I was thinking of local Tradesman/Contractor licensing. Up in Northern Virginia, you do need a local license to pull a permit, but it's a business license, not a tradesman/contractor's license. Fairfax County requires what they call a BPOL (Business, Professional and Occupational License) to pull a permit.
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Yes, small miscommunication, it's a business license. But you must have it. You cannot pull a permit in Richmond, Chesterfield, or spotsylvania (just to name a few),,,,,,with JUST a tradesman master card, and a contractors license alone, you have to have a contractors license with the ELE designation (no tradesman cards accepted) and you have to have a local business license.


But you're right, there's no local trasdeman license.
 
busman

busman

Senior Member
Location
Northern Virginia
Occupation
Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
mcclary's electrical said:
Yes, small miscommunication, it's a business license. But you must have it. You cannot pull a permit in Richmond, Chesterfield, or spotsylvania (just to name a few),,,,,,with JUST a tradesman master card, and a contractors license alone, you have to have a contractors license with the ELE designation (no tradesman cards accepted) and you have to have a local business license.


But you're right, there's no local trasdeman license.
Click to expand...

Sorry for contributing to the miscommunication. I think we are in 100% agreement.

Mark
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
As long as we Virginian electricians get our percentage, we're okay with it. ;)


Since we're on the subject, where in Va? Help in person or over the phone?
 
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