License to buy material

[cesincmd]

It is my opinion that it should be required to have a license to purchase electrical material.

do you agree?

here is why I think this
as an electrical contractor I have to have a masters license to be in business and in my area it takes 7 years in the trade just to take the test. So once you have that you must have insurance and then a county business license. If you have people working for you they are required to have a journeyman's license in which you must have four years in the trade before you can test for this license. So my problem is that anybody with a check or cash can walk into a big box store or an electrical distributor and buy all the wrong material. I see this all the time. go to a job and all mismatch material. Mismatched wire to panel or circuit breakers plastic box with MC an so on and on.
My proposal would be that you must have a license to buy panels, disconnects, wire, boxes, CB, meter cans, etc. allow items like light fixtures, devices, wall plates, light bulbs, small quantities of wire ( like under 100') and under 6 AWG to be purchased without a license. In my area you can take a easy test to do wiring in your own home. So a homeowner can take the test and purchase the material he/she would need to do wiring in there own home.
This is a really simplistic brief proposal but I see all time time people buy all the wrong material for the job. for the large majority of us who are working hard to install the correct materials in a professional manner I think it makes us look bad and unsafe when we allow anybody to buy all the wrong material.

 

[peter d]

No, I don't support such a restriction. I do plumbing and HVAC work on occasion and I sure don't want to be restricted from buying those items. Likewise, should only mechanics buy auto parts?

In regard to your licensing argument, a license is nothing more than a permission slip from the government to do certain jobs. To me, it means absolutely nothing in regard to ones capabilities and qualifications. That leads me to my next point which is the fatal flaw in your argument. Lots of hack electricians have licenses and do electrical work for a living. They are just as bad as the DIYers in some regards, but if such a restriction were in place, hacks would have full access to electrical equipment while DIYers would not. That is nonsense in my mind.

 

[electrofelon]

I have frequently joked about what the OP proposes, but I pretty much don't want anyone telling me, as an adult, what I can or cannot buy or do. Now I DO believe that electricians should be able to use the car pool lane

 

[user 100]

No, I don't support such a restriction. I do plumbing and HVAC work on occasion and I sure don't want to be restricted from buying those items. Likewise, should only mechanics buy auto parts?.

^^^^^^^
This

To the OP: Hack electrical wiring isn't the only dark horse out there- Lots of improperly installed gas valves and HW venting (both are readily available at the big orange and blue boxes) out in the DIY wilderness.......What about those?

If someone wants to work on their own home or a building they own, they should be allowed to buy what they want.

I don't believe that we need to butt in and regulate something like the sale of certain types of electrical equipment ( that are totally safe when installed properly and as Peter d alluded to, licensing isn't necessarily a prerequisite to doing a good safe job.) in order to save people from themselves. :happyno:

About others getting the wrong material- customers that offer to buy the material can simply be told that wont fly and that you will buy the material (mark up$$$) and then give them an est- they still don't agree and want to cheap out, then they can find someone else.

And there is a flaw in your plan about what would still be allowed, as everybody knows it's those 50' and 100' rolls of 14/2 that are favored by DIYs and trunk slammers.

 

[macmikeman]

It's America. Lets be free to purchase anything we have the money for. Soon as I can save up, I'm getting me six different magnetic sign's made up (big ones!) with six different company names on them. As it suits me I will change companies maybe twice or three times a day, and do the wackhackiest jobs I possibly can get away with and for the most I possibly can quotes. I'll use my Filemaker skills to make a database of all my new names I'll go by, along with the new company names and phony license numbers just to keep track of who got served what. (encrypted of course) . Direct buried NM cables. No covers on junction boxes in attics, Flying splices galore, no painting switch leg whites ever again, and of course last but least- no permits and no arc fault breakers ever. Retirement is gonna be a blast.............:thumbsup:

 

[iwire]

It is my opinion that it should be required to have a license to purchase electrical material.

do you agree?

No I do not agree and here is why. My home is mine to wire as I want.

 

[roger]

I do not agree either and I would be more concerned about the shade tree mechanic who put a car together in his back yard and is barreling at me at 80 MPH.


Roger

 

[infinity]

It is my opinion that it should be required to have a license to purchase electrical material.

do you agree?

Nope.

 

[mgookin]

I'm another no. It would only increase costs and bureaucracy. Why is an aspirin $50 at the hospital when you can buy 200 for $1 at Walgreens? Because in the hospital you need a licensed doctor to prescribe it, a licensed RN to requisition it, a licensed pharmacist to dispense it, a chain of custody until it gets to the patient and a licensed someone to hand it to you and watch you swallow it.

And you want to do that with circuit breakers? No thanks.

 

[stevenje]

It is my opinion that it should be required to have a license to purchase electrical material.

The issue is not the material you can purchase. It is the enforcement of the existing laws and licenses that are required to install electrical systems.

 

[69gp]

I do not agree with your proposal.

Need to do some work on your car. What if you had to to be ASE certified to buy a water pump to put on your truck or car. I don't think you would be to happy.
Want to put a deck on the back of your house? All Lumber stores sell to licensed builders only. I am going over the boarder to buy my wood.
What you want to spray some Roundup on the driveway to kill off a few weeds growing in the cracks. Sorry you need a pesticide application license to do that.

if its your home you should be able to do as you please if its to code.

 

[readydave8]

Bring it on, I'll make a fortune buying materials and re-selling on black market!:lol:

But seriously: No.:happysad:

I probably make more money fixing handy-man/DIY work than I would bidding original job.

 

[JoeyD74]

Have you ever bought a 2x4 or plywood to make a wall for your panel job? Should you need a builders license for that too? Why stop there let's not sell auto parts to anyone who's not a tech at a shop. I could go on but I think the government is already to restrictive and I don't want any more of it.

 

[JFletcher]

Funny,many hair care products are only available to licensed cosmetologists.

It's still a free country. If you are wiring/plumbing/framing your own place, do what you want. and call me when it doesnt work.

 

[hbiss]

I understand your rant but it's one that could be voiced by most trades and businesses. The internet and big box stores have eviscerated or destroyed many businesses.

In a few instances some manufacturers do restrict sales to their certified techs. On one of my other boards, a DIY asked about getting programming instructions for equipment he wanted to buy on the internet. It felt real good to tell him that he won't need it because they won't sell him the equipment then watch as he jumps up and down. But this joy is few and far between.

The simple truth is that manufacturers and distributors found out that they can make lots more money selling to anybody with the cash or a credit card than restricting sales to those in the trade or business. I had a real problem years ago when V/D/V material manufacturers decided to start selling to the electrical trade through supply houses. V/D/V was a separate trade then and many such businesses were hurt when work was taken away from them and given to ECs.

So to answer your question, what you wish for will never happen because there is too much money to be made.

-Hal

 

[GoldDigger]

Funny,many hair care products are only available to licensed cosmetologists.

And because of restrictive distribution arrangements that are enforceable in most states there are many DIY hair care products that you can only buy from your licensed cosmetologist.

 

[goldstar]

I say no as well. You should be able to do as much work on your own house as you want to. If you do major work you still need to pull a permit (in most areas of the country anyway). Also, any individual needs to feel confident in their ability and the work they do. So, if you're say a school teacher and never held a screwdriver or pair of pliers in your hand why would you want to install a 200 amp service at your house ? The problem arises when that same person attempts to CONTRACT electrical work with his neighbor to do some work on his house. That's where the license and business permit comes into play. In NJ it's a 4th degree felony and a $1K fine (first offense) to contract business with the public without a license and business permit. Unless you have Big Brother watching everyone every minute there's no way you can enforce a law like the one you propose.

 

[Strathead]

And another no. There are so many sarcastic, political jibes running around in my brain at this moment.

 

[JFletcher]

And because of restrictive distribution arrangements that are enforceable in most states there are many DIY hair care products that you can only buy from your licensed cosmetologist.

Many of the better items have to be applied correctly or your hair WILL break off, fall out, turn orange, etc. The $4 box of color from the drug store is unlikely to do any of that unless you really really screw up.

It's interesting to me too becuase hair care is still largely divided amongst racial lines, not because of race, but different hair types require different products.

Even if it were just distributor agreements/arrangements, I find it amusing that hair care has stuck together when nearly everyone else has gone every man for himself.

For electrical, there is nothing needed for a 250' roll of 14/2, but someone ordering a 2000A 480V switchgear is not installing that in their own home, if you get my drift.

 

[jumper]

I will agree with the "no" contingent.