silverbk said:
In the original post I point out what is not an NEC violation. We also have in effect here the NYS Residential building code. Which specifically addresses some of what you call design issues. Not for nothing this is not a cheap house, this is a $450K home. I think I am entitled to more than bare minimum.
I detected that you thought you were "entitled" to something more than bare minimum in your 1st post. You aren't UNLESS you paid for extras, like, different outlets on switches or 3-ways in rooms with more than one door. But you didn't, did you.
I don't know where in NYS your home is, but whether you paid $450k or 450m, minimum code is minimum code, and there is no NYS residential building code that compels an electrician to go beyond minimum NEC once the value of a home goes beyond a certian amount, or the home goes beyond a certian size.
You're certian you found multiple wires under one screw. If so, I'd fix them and be done with it. I just hope you're not mistakenly describing a single wire under a screw that daisy chains to the next switch. Because cutting and making up a separate wire would actually take longer.
I looked at your photos, NONE of them show 2 wires uner one screw. They show a wire under a screw, and another wire in the parallel backstab. Welcome to residential 101.
Luckily, in the panel every neutral shown with a ground in the same terminal is right next to a vacant terminal. I wonder how dangerous a practice this really is, since you have no intention of correcting this immediately and would rather bust the EC's bells about it than spend 5 minutes with a screwdriver.
Like I said, the EC probably planned for a range hood only. You ended up with a microwave on that circuit because either you or the builder decided to add the microwave/hood combination after the rough. This is either the builder's fault, and the EC's fault or just the EC's fault. Did you check that outlet and find it is indeed on the same circuit as the lighting? It's possible it's separate but on the same phase as the kitchen lights, hence the dimming upon start. Based on how you described the 2-wires under the same screw at switch problem, I wonder if you're describing this issue as accurately.
Again an example of poor workmanship. Are you telling me that it is OK for an experienced electrician to miswire an outlet? This is one of the first things we learn in electrician school. I would expect this kind of mistake from a homeowner, not someone in the business.
Your house is wired by a residential electrician in a County with no license requirement and private inspections. What the HECK did you expect, a Cadallic job? In this instance an outlet's tab wasn't broken. Miswired? OK. Dangerous? No. Inconvenient? Yea. At least you know exactly which outlet it is - the closest one.
Did you pay for an extra 3-way?
No I paid for the house to be up to code.
Code doesn't require 3-ways in dining rooms.
Switching an outlet further away would cost more. Did you request this extra?
This is not a code violation but another example of the guy's inexperience and cheaping out. It makes no sense to switch an outlet you can reach from the door. You need to envision where the bed will be and locate the switched outlet behind it. Amazingly the telephone and TV outlets are arranged logically like this, but not the switched outlets.
I can't speak to the experience, but it sounds like this guy was experienced enough to know that in residential spec. work - not a single unnecessary thing is done. Not figuring out where the bed will be has nothing to do with experience. A 1st year apprentice would know that - the question is, will the boss allow an additional 35-50' of 14/2 in every bedroom? And the additional time to figure out the bed location? And the additional labor? According to the NEC, it makes perfect sense to switch an outlet within reach from the door - because the light from the lamp plugged in there will illuminate the room just as well as the one in the opposite corner.
When I wired houses, often there was no power to do a test, especially when the finish work is done. Many wiremen came and went, their errors which were known were corrected, but their entire job was not inspected for hidden errors in code or workmanship. Seeing as a residential wireman today isn't paid much more than I was back in the 80's, I can't imaging the pick of employees has gotten any better.
This is probably true but not an excuse. It is the electrician's responsibility to make sure the house is wired to code and safe, regardless of the labor he uses to assist him.
And a switched outlet next to the door is UNsafe? It's clear this guy did take a lot of shortcuts - notably the lack of stackers above the panel, and terminating N & G in the same, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't see anything that's really going to cause a problem. The multiple wires under a staple was common practice and permitted above a panel all the time before stackers were invented. In many states, all those homeruns enter the panel through 2 large knockouts and no clamps at all. Unheard of in NY, common in the South.
I'm not trying to excuse the guy for actual violations. I just happen to think you're making a mountain out of a molehill - it seem you're personally slighted because the EC didn't treat this install as if it was his own house. If there's a "line" somewhere, I submit that you've crossed it. You wrote:
I have an obligation to protect other consumers from this lack of quality. Any way I can jet the word out. If I have to follow this guy to every job he goes to and inform the customer personally, I will. If he's going to remain in the business and call himself an electrician he should learn this lesson as soon as possible.
I'm afraid I disagree - you do NOT have an "obligation" to warn others - and in fact, it's clear to me your motive has nothing to do with helping other customers, but rather it's to destroy the EC personally to get revenge.
There are three problems here:
1. Getting my house fixed, Which I am capable of doing
2. Protecting the public from this Hack.
3. Ensuring that this does not happen again, by inform the various AHJs.
-Fix the house.
-You can try "protecting the public" but the problem isn't your electrician, it's the looseness and lack of regulation of the industry, coupled with the lack of licensing requirements in your county that are more to blame. Even if you convince this EC to leave the trade, how are you going to protect anyone from his competition? When the standards in a business are low, a particular type of person is attracted to it.
Even if this guy is unwilling or not capable of fixing his mistakes by bringing this house up to code. I am am still going to try, because it wastes his time and creates a nuisance for him. Time is money, and if I hit him in the wallet, he might think twice about cutting these corners again.
Doubtful. He probably only runs into a problem similar to this when one of his works of art is sold to an electrician. :grin: I think you really need to rethink your motives here. Personally, I would never let this EC back in my home except to refund my money.
