8ball
New member
- Location
- Tulare County, California, USA
I recently was contacted to perform an inspection after an electrical fir to make safe for unit to be re energized.
Upon inspection I found that local fire department had been dispatched and had turned the Main Breaker off to all units (4 plex). The fire seemed to be contained to the housing of the exhaust fan in unit D, but the heat had melted the main feeder to Unit A. After inspecting the sub panel in unit D, I found the units were supplied with #6/2wg on a 100amp 240v breaker. To me that meant that the feeder was undersized, and had no ground, as well as actually carrying power on the un-insulated conductor. After making the burnt circuits safe, by capping off, and placing into a box in the attic area. I verified that indeed the receptacles we not grounded, and that the installed GFCI over the sink, was not functioning properly. , I notified the owner, and property management company of my findings, and advised them to not cover any box, as they would not be accessible after the ceiling was repaired, and that the main feeder was an issue. I then left Unit A main breaker off, and tagged it "Do Not Turn On", since the main feed had been burnt, and was capped off. All of this on a Friday afternoon.
Monday comes, and I swing buy to verify if work was to proceed, and was told that repairs had been made by another licensed electrician, and that the circuits has only been spliced into the boxes I installed, and was no longer needed for further repairs.
My question is?
Was I wrong in my assessment, and even though my invoice stated all the facts, and findings, as well as the statement of the unit being tagged. Does this present a liability to me in the future if another fire occurs?
Thank you
Upon inspection I found that local fire department had been dispatched and had turned the Main Breaker off to all units (4 plex). The fire seemed to be contained to the housing of the exhaust fan in unit D, but the heat had melted the main feeder to Unit A. After inspecting the sub panel in unit D, I found the units were supplied with #6/2wg on a 100amp 240v breaker. To me that meant that the feeder was undersized, and had no ground, as well as actually carrying power on the un-insulated conductor. After making the burnt circuits safe, by capping off, and placing into a box in the attic area. I verified that indeed the receptacles we not grounded, and that the installed GFCI over the sink, was not functioning properly. , I notified the owner, and property management company of my findings, and advised them to not cover any box, as they would not be accessible after the ceiling was repaired, and that the main feeder was an issue. I then left Unit A main breaker off, and tagged it "Do Not Turn On", since the main feed had been burnt, and was capped off. All of this on a Friday afternoon.
Monday comes, and I swing buy to verify if work was to proceed, and was told that repairs had been made by another licensed electrician, and that the circuits has only been spliced into the boxes I installed, and was no longer needed for further repairs.
My question is?
Was I wrong in my assessment, and even though my invoice stated all the facts, and findings, as well as the statement of the unit being tagged. Does this present a liability to me in the future if another fire occurs?
Thank you
