Refusing to do a job

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AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
I don’t know if I have this in the right section
I have two questions for you guys!

I got called by a new potential contractor for a remodel he is doing. He had no power in east side of house. I walked in and saw a load of things wrong. They showed me two pictures they took then they took the sheet rock off. Their were wires spliced in the wall and they did the work themself to install the wires in adjacent box. 90 percent of the boxes only have one wire, with no wires in crawl space(old mobile home no attic). I told him there is a splice somewhere and I can’t find it without opening the walls to see what’s going on. Did not charge for my 2 hours and left.

he called by and said he cut a wire and feed it with a cord and everything works. Come over and feed that wire from the panel.

I don’t want to do the job it looks like a problem ready to happen.
So first question

1. How should I approach this without making him mad.

2. Do you ever just walk in and take a look around and know you don’t want any part of this.

safety and liability are my biggest concern
rather go broke from no work then get sued for a life or fire!

thank you in advance and thank you guys for helping me on my other post
 
Any repercussions if you just block the phone number and move on? There's a reason he wants YOU to feed that wire from the panel without being able to verify where all it goes.
 
Live in a small coastal town so talk travels fast just want to end it on a good note. Don’t want to burn any bridges. Even though he looks like a hack.
 
Is he new to the area? Are you? Small town talk can work in your favor if it includes people knowing why you wouldn't do it.

But it's a tricky predicament. I'm in a large urban area, and have fired many clients. Most owed me money which made it easy.
 
I would never do a job unless I did all the work myself. I don't hook up other people's electrical work to power sources. If I saw all that hack work going on, I would turn right around and walk out. In fact, I might even tell the local electrical inspector what I just saw, because obviously they don't have a permit.
 
AC\DC said:
I am new to the area only 2 moths into it.
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My guess is that’s why he called you.
The others in the area he would have or did call have already refused to do his work would be my guess...
 
Why don't you just try being straight with the guy?

If you're uncomfortable with the electrical work he's done, tell him what he needs to do to make you comfortable. If you can't tell what he did in certain areas or you need to have him remove sheetrock to verify what's behind it, tell him. Also, come up with payment terms UPFRONT you are comfortable with. If he balks at any of it, then tell him you're not the electrician for him. And good luck.

With the right circumstances and payment terms, almost any job can be done. It's just a matter of finding a compromise between what you and he wants to see if you can come to a mutual agreement. Beyond that, it's just electrical work.
 
I agree with Cow's advice. Simple truth in simple English is the best path forward. Tell him that there are proper and safe ways to install wiring, and anything less risks fire. Don't be harsh, and don't place blame. Just say you can't accept responsibility for wiring that is less than code-compliant. It is an "all or none" situation; the "all" will be expensive, and the "none" will be someone else's responsibility.
 
I just had a talk with a group of guys this morning about this. One guy turned on a system last week that equipment safeguards had been bypassed because the HO said he was okay with it. If you the licensed, certified professional touch it and someone gets hurt or property damaged, the lawyers will look at you and your company and your license first.
 
I ended up telling him I have to abandon existing wire if walls are not opened back up and rewire as needed. Price was T&M, he seemed fine with it said money not an issue. GC just scare the crap out of me think they can do all aspects of a building.
Also think I might talk to my lawyer and see what he can write up.

Thank you guys on your help.
 
AC\DC said:
He had no power in east side of house. I walked in and saw a load of things wrong. They showed me two pictures they took then they took the sheet rock off. Their were wires spliced in the wall and they did the work themself to install the wires in adjacent box. 90 percent of the boxes only have one wire, with no wires in crawl space(old mobile home no attic). I told him there is a splice somewhere and I can’t find it without opening the walls to see what’s going on.
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Actually you can use a circuit tracer to located a break in the wiring (even if it's a flying splice ). You need to determine if it's the hot or the neutral that's open and then trace the broken conductor.

I wouldn't run any new wire to the panel I would locate the break and repair it. If you replace enough wire then use an arc fault breaker or receptacle. Bill anything you do as a repair job and not as any sort of new construction.
 
AC\DC said:
I ended up telling him I have to abandon existing wire if walls are not opened back up and rewire as needed. Price was T&M, he seemed fine with it said money not an issue. GC just scare the crap out of me think they can do all aspects of a building.
Also think I might talk to my lawyer and see what he can write up.

Thank you guys on your help.
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Money is ALWAYS an issue.

Red Flag!!!

T&M - I hope you are getting paid every Friday!
 
Chamuit said:
If you the licensed, certified professional touch it and someone gets hurt or property damaged, the lawyers will look at you and your company and your license first.
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Let me just tell you, having your insurance company send an attorney to answer any and all questions asked of you, and also a team of forensic engineers, is about as bad of a feeling you ever want to have. Maybe I’ll tell that story one day (they found the cause, wasn’t us). Anyway, absolutely say no if your gut says to walk.


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brantmacga said:
Let me just tell you, having your insurance company send an attorney to answer any and all questions asked of you, and also a team of forensic engineers, is about as bad of a feeling you ever want to have. Maybe I’ll tell that story one day (they found the cause, wasn’t us). Anyway, absolutely say no if your gut says to walk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Back before I had my business, I was one of two guys on a house where all we did was relocate a receptacle and one other item. I was the one who moved the receptacle which consisted of removing a dead-ended wire from a box and pulling it back 2 studs, mounting a box and re-installing the receptacle. No sheetrock from about 30" down on the wall. Easy. The homeowner wanted some more work done so the lead guy gave him a price. Too much...he'll do it himself. So, we left. This was a Friday. On Monday morning, we get a call, the house had burned down due to an electrical fire, or so they said. We had to meet insurance adjusters, fire investigators, geez.

Found out that the homeowner, in the process of doing the electrical work himself, had started the fire. He used the receptacle I had moved. Plugged a 600-800 watt lamp in that receptacle, pointed it up the wall so he could see light from the attic. Got a phone call while he was in the attic, climbed out of the attic and drove away with the light still on. Cooked his house and two antique cars.
 
brantmacga said:
Let me just tell you, having your insurance company send an attorney to answer any and all questions asked of you, and also a team of forensic engineers, is about as bad of a feeling you ever want to have. Maybe I’ll tell that story one day (they found the cause, wasn’t us). Anyway, absolutely say no if your gut says to walk.
Click to expand...

The public lynching of OP will occur at high Noon, especially without permits or inspection.
 
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