| Hiring electricians: What's normal, what's not? Homeowners seem to have a lot of questions about electrical work . Electrical work involves a good deal of follow-up, or punch list, items -- small, miscellaneous stuff that can't be done until contractor X or inspector Y does their job. Potential customers can plainly see if a carpenter installed your trim correctly, nevertheless, you can't see what's going on inside a junction box (and you wouldn't know what to look for if you could). Near the end of a project, it's normal for an electrician to pop in for a short time to fit a few receptacles or make a final connection. However, knowing a few of the characteristics of electrical work will help you to know what to expect and to realize when there may be a problem. While the science behind electrical systems is complex and can appear to extend into the mystical, the work of installing electrical equipment is uncommonly straightforward. If this is an inconvenience and/or is causing delays, you should complain about it. And it behooves you to be flexible and let your contractor stop by on his way home, etc. That said, if you get the sense that your entire job is being handled in fits and starts or most of the work is done during off hours, it's probably because you're at the bottom of the contractor's priority list. As with any contractor, an electrician should never show up at your property without calling first. This same kind of thing certainly can happen with an electrical job, but it's less likely. |
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Hiring electricians: What's normal, what's not?
