Originally posted by petersonra:
I am a cynic about this kind of thing, so please don't get too offended about my comments.
IMO - there are two primary goals in any licensing/permitting system.
1. Keeping track of what building is going on so property taxes can be raised. This is government's primary interest.
That may be an aim for the permitting system, but I doubt it's the primary one. The whole idea behind a permit is that the work will be inspected for code compliance when it's finished. Get rid of permits, and eventually there will be almost no code compliance. I could get jobs done a lot faster if I didn't have to spend my time drilling through joists to run cable or use j-boxes when I splice wires. I can't tell you how many times I've come across code violations that likely could have been prevented if only someone had pulled a permit and done the work properly. And as someone who has to deal with these messes on a regular basis, I'd argue for more enforcement of permit/inspection rules, not less.
Just yesterday, I was doing a full-gut bathroom remodel, and I had to cut power to the existing bathroom circuit. I found the j-box in the basement, and it was cram-packed with wires to the point that the j-box couldn't even take a coverplate. That wasn't the bad part, though. When I disconnected the wires feeding the bathroom, another outlet in the house stopped working, almost certainly because someone illegally built another bathroom in the basement and buried a j-box that connects the now-dead outlet. A proper inspection probably would have prevented the bathroom from being built without first dealing with the j-boxes that would be buried inside the walls/ceiling.
2. Restricting who can work in the field to keep prices up. This is what is in it for those in the field.
There has to be some restriction. You don't want just anyone setting themselves up as an electrician, physician, lawyer, pharmacist, etc. unless they demonstrate come level of competence. If it were about keeping prices up, I doubt we'd have 450 licensed journeymen at the local IBEW out of work. Also, getting an EC license here isn't an ordeal; you just need a master electrician, liability insurance, bonding, and registration of your business name. I was able to arrange all that and get my EC license in under a week. I've heard, though, that some states/localities have a very long list of requirements to get an EC license, which may serve mainly to keep new people out of the business.
Then again, I did read not too long ago that the civil engineering profession was trying to change the rules for PE licensure to require a master's degree. They even stated that the reason they wanted to do this was to limit the number of civil PEs and thus keep their earning power higher. Not a legitimate reason in my book.
Those footing the bill gain very little from the whole thing. One can argue about safety, workmanship, etc., but the bottom line is the bottom line and it is mostly about money. Who gets it, and who pays it.
I've been called in on several occasions when homeowners were unwittingly stuck with hack work and had to pay for it to be re-done properly. Those people all told me that the big lesson learned from the experience was that they should stick with licensed professionals and insist on the work being inspected. At the very least, it means they won't have to pay to have licensed work redone if it's done wrong, as licensed contractors are bonded against this kind of thing.
