new to resi work and have some questions.

new to resi work and have some questions.

  • yes, 6 pages to many

    Votes: 6 50.0%

  • no, lets beat this horse some more

    Votes: 6 50.0%
  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cisco28

Member
i have been doing commercial electrical work (mainly emt,imc,rigid and rarely any mc), and i have a friend who wants me to help him with his new home that he is having built. from what i have gathered i need afci's for all bedrooms and do i need one for the smoke dectectors (running a dec ckt for the smoke alarm)?? so i bond the grounding conductor at the meterbase or inside panel. i also have to run a grounding conductor at where the entry of the cold water pipe correct. basically any tips to keep in mind, i know this should be easy and im making it more difficult than it should. have all prints and not any diff as far as running power to everything. hes supplying all wire and has installed all boxes and canlights, its a 4000sqft home and im guessing it would take about 4to 5 -8hour days to rough in. not in it to make money but to help him out. thanks
 
Art 210 is the best place to start as far as resi codes go. Residential is quite different from commercial in a lot of ways. Not any harder or easier, just a different creature in the way plans and layouts work. Service grounding is pretty much universal (this coming from one who does sporatic commercial at best :rolleyes: :) ). Anyway, you may find a lot of answers and opinions in the post and definitely a lot of people that can send you to speciffic NEC references better than me. One question I have is your profile lists you as an apprentice. You may have the best intentions and all the qualifications, but in NC (your locations was not listed, that I saw) it is not allowed to engage in or offer to engage in any form of electrical contracting without the proper license. And getting paid or not does not matter. Make sure your generosity does not come back to haunt you.
 
Cisco,
I don't know if you are allowed to help with your friends project. It would be best to check with your AHJ.
 
resistance said:
Cisco,
I don't know if you are allowed to help with your friends project. It would be best to check with your AHJ.
Click to expand...

I might have to agree, if you are an apprentice.

In my state you would be putting your career in danger if you got caught. And the fact that the type of questions you're asking makes me hesitant to offer any advice.

If you value your freind and his safety, make sure you are qualified or don't do it.

My opinion is to stay away from it.
 
as far as permits goes, dont need one in this particular county goes just one master permit need(for all trades). i will check those articles for any other info needed. im not green by any sense but just unsure as far as any resi specific codes that i dont deal with in everyday work. same but diff work kinda like resi guy tring to bend emt or rigid. same but diff. just wanting to make sure i dont overlook anything major its been a while since i have stuck my nose in the code book need to get a refresher course. as far as the boxes goes, he got his prints redone and downsized by a friend whos does this for a living, originally prints he had purchased.
 
new to resi work and have some questions

new to resi work and have some questions

frizbeedog said:
I might have to agree, if you are an apprentice.

In my state you would be putting your career in danger if you got caught. And the fact that the type of questions you're asking makes me hesitant to offer any advice.

If you value your freind and his safety, make sure you are qualified or don't do it.

My opinion is to stay away from it.
Click to expand...

I agree
Also you need to open the NEC and study it and get your answers
There's alot of electricians here that will help you but I have found that if you take time to look it up yourself you learn more and it stays with you.
Then if you don't understand what you read someone it always there to help you
Semper Fi Buddy
 
You might even get hold of the International Residential Code that North Carolina is currently operating from. (In SC, we just went to the 2006, based off of 2005 NEC) All the electrical information is in a group of chapters and reasonably easy to follow. I will say though that they tend to abreviate things sometimes, and I have found the NEC to have a bit more detail for my odd ball questions. (or post those odd ball ones to the group and let the fun begin) :)

c2500
 
An electrician ask some basic questions regarding a section of the trade he is not involved in and some seem to think he is taking on the world.

Yet questions WAY above and beyond anything this electrician has asked are put forth everyday and without any hesitation top quality in the know tradesmen respond. Just trying to help a brother out.
 
I might have to agree, if you are an apprentice
Click to expand...
Even if you are a Licensed Electrician (Commercial, Industrial, Residential) you still can't help others install electrical on their property, without the proper Wa. State licenses.
 
brian john said:
An electrician ask some basic questions regarding a section of the trade he is not involved in and some seem to think he is taking on the world.

Yet questions WAY above and beyond anything this electrician has asked are put forth everyday and without any hesitation top quality in the know tradesmen respond. Just trying to help a brother out.
Click to expand...

In my own defense the last time I checked his profile it said apprentice. He has updated it since posting this thread.

Many may have thought that this was not a task an apprentice should take on. At least I did.

So sorry.
 
frizbeedog said:
In my own defense the last time I checked his profile it said apprentice. He has updated it since posting this thread.

Many may have thought that this was not a task an apprentice should take on. At least I did.

So sorry.
Click to expand...

Sorry about what, you are correct! The OP did have the apprentice title when he started this tread. Heck, the OP is still an apprentice (residential) if he hasn't done any work in the residential electrical trade!

I worked with commercial journeyman on a few residential homes, and they had no clue on how to rope a home, or even install a service for that matter. Some people have worked both ends, some have not! No big deal! Just be honest, so you can learn. The part that kills me, is those that aren't honest, but walk as if they have done it all----violating code with no respect or concern for the trade!

To add: A commercial electrician supersedes a residential electrician in our state. Meaning: They are allowed to work on both commercial and residential electrical. But, from my experience (For those who only done commercial electrical work) it's just that--"A license!"
 
Last edited:
As an adder any electrician embarking on a new aspect of the trade should read the approiate sections of the NEC.

Generally for an electrician (in my expierence) if he know his stuff in industrial or commercial, wring a house (after reviewing and understanding the NEC sections ) should be very basic. He may not make it pretty buy he should get it done.
 
yeah bud I think you need to step back and really evaluate what your role is going to be in all this. This is comming from me, a guy who worked his way up in the field from commercial/industrial helper to journeyman to foreman to PM and after 10 years or so I started my own company with 2 of the top guys that worked for me at my last employer. we took on our first house in our first year or set of houses, it was 4 track houses side by side. None of us had ever done any new resi and it took the 3 of us 2 weeks each to rough-in each house. There is a huge difference between running pipe/ pulling wire in a commercial building and wiring a house. trust me it was a learning curve that cost me about 6 grand. HUGE DIFFERENCE
 
tyha said:
yeah bud I think you need to step back and really evaluate what your role is going to be in all this. This is comming from me, a guy who worked his way up in the field from commercial/industrial helper to journeyman to foreman to PM and after 10 years or so I started my own company with 2 of the top guys that worked for me at my last employer. we took on our first house in our first year or set of houses, it was 4 track houses side by side. None of us had ever done any new resi and it took the 3 of us 2 weeks each to rough-in each house. There is a huge difference between running pipe/ pulling wire in a commercial building and wiring a house. trust me it was a learning curve that cost me about 6 grand. HUGE DIFFERENCE
Click to expand...

Exactly my point!

:wink:
 
Helping him is fine ,in most states he cant pay you but then dollars in cash never show.Main concern is you likely know little about romex and new codes.Are you on 08 ? check out 08 on afci.I now only do commercial and been 5 years away from residential.Its not as easy as you think but he still better off with your help.Goodluck.
 
I am not addressing local requirements for assistance or licensing, but he is not starting a company, he's helping a friend wire a house. Basic electric wiring 101.
 
brian john said:
I am not addressing local requirements for assistance or licensing, but he is not starting a company, he's helping a friend wire a house. Basic electric wiring 101.
Click to expand...

Its not as easy as that anymore.He will be visiting us here every day he helps.But still better him than his friend on his own.I vote we help him thru it.
 
brian john said:
I am not addressing local requirements for assistance or licensing, but he is not starting a company, he's helping a friend wire a house. Basic electric wiring 101.
Click to expand...
Right. Any pipe and wire guy can certainly wire a house. It ain't rocket science. The worst thing they tend to do is take 3 times longer than a resi-guy would, but that doesn't matter in this case. He'll probably get gigged on a couple things that are peculiar to resi on his inspection, but that's a small matter too and probably an enjoyable learning experience for him.
 
I'm going to assume the friend may be looking for him (the OP) to be the main source of information on his project--hoping his commercial experience will give them a smooth ride. With the OP being a starter in residential, this isn't basic wiring 101. Also, helping in any form in our state is not legal.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top