I have much more work than I can handle doing special work which hacks normally don`t  normally do which is "SERVICE UPGRADES".

In the last 40 years of working in the electrical trade I have had hundreds of complaints, from customers, about some previous supposely to be contractors or handymen who they had hired and turned out to be hacks, butcher their homes, abandoned the work completely without finishing it and a few others, most of the time, never returned once they got a substancial payment worth more than the work they had already completed or never saw them again or never got to know who they were after a downpayment was made and who disappeared! Most of the problems arise after such hacks realize that the work they bidded on is taking them 2 to 3 times as long - mainly due to lack of experience doing estimates and, obviously, lack of experience in doing the electrical work.

Other home owners were very lucky enough that their home never burned down or no one got hurt or in the case of a loss caused by such wiring the insurance never got to know the whole picture as who was responsible for the wiring code violations etc. 

Most worst scenarios have been the result of the customer hiring only one party to estimate the work or who called people who advertized only at RANDOM with some newspapers and never advertized in a more permanent telephone business directory  or never established a business properly. As per customer`s complaints, there are still many operators wiring and rewiring homes out there who don't have a licence, liability insurance or Worker`s compensation and hire non qualified labours as helpers - while most of the time the customers assumed they were all electricians! I hear about this almost every day!

To make matters worse, those particular operators do not take out wiring permits or if the customer insists on a permit they will ask the customer to take out the permit themselves in their own name - Red Flag! 

Even with a permit taken out does not mean that everything is ok or that the wiring will be safe - far from it! Most  inspectors now a days are NOT ELECTRICIANS and also are over booked. They will check for obvious code infractions IN SIGHT but seldom have all the time required to check anything wich is hidden behind walls and ceilings, inside electrical boxes etc.. An inspection is almost a formality - as far as for safety, it does not serve the public very well as I have seen it - especially in the last 5 years. 

Rewiring or replacing the knob and tube wiring in a home is the most dangerous type of electrical work. Meaning dangerous to the occupants and dangerous to the workers especially if they are not skilled as they should be. In case of a loss, the customer (if survived) may end up being responsible for the FULL Compensation of an injured or death of a worker or workers and will also still have to keep paying what is ever still owing for such a  home which no longer may even exist!

Wiring & Rewiring -  Some things customers should observe and should ASK THE ELECTRICIAN QUESTIONS!

 Who is the liability insurance Co. and how much insurance is the liability amount?

Are the workers all journeymen/women? They should be or at least one journey/person should be on site at all times and others should be at least 3th year REGISTERED aprentices with at least 2 years experience. Experience especially when replacing Knob & Tube wiring in homes. 

For Knob and Tube rewiring - Observe that the electricians are shutting off that particular K & T circuit they are replacing and should not be put back on overnight or EVER unless a Journeyman takes proper precautions to insure your safety. That particular circuit, or circuits, should be protected by an ARC FAULT circuit breaker if it is ever being re energized! Most younger electricians have never seen this type of wiring before. It is set up very diffent than modern circuits. One wrong wire cut off and the home could have 240 volts operating ALL OVER the lights and receptacles etc. The reason is that some knob & tube installations use a 3 wire - common neutral = very dangerous for amateurs.

When new cables are run, they should be run parallel to perimeter walls and not at any other angle - not like I see in new homes - obslutely ridiculous with a bunch of cables running at 45 degrees across the basement at about 11/2 inches apart (holes). Insure that new holes drilled in the basement joists are not too close to each other and that the electricians are not stapling cables too close to holes or boxes. Insure that the new cables are not STRECHED (they do it to look good) but years later the cable will even pull out of the box connectors (I see this quite often). Observe that the electricians  TWIST the wires before inserting a Marrett! Many modern electricians are EXTREMELY LAZY and don`t twist wires anymore! This is the most common problem of failure according to my service calls records. In homes, I also keep finding recent rewiring with outlet boxes very loose all over, tiny screws holding large items - even in scuring service conduit, lazyness also has to do with skinning cables after inserting them in inside boxes instead of doing it before - this method can cause damage to the wires without noticing it!.

Insure that your home is not being butchered unnecessarily. Only a few small holes here and there is normal, otherwise, it costs thousands to be repaired by a general contractor. Also beware of someone telling you that a particular receptacle is grounded. I have seen receptacles which when tested with those plug in testers shows to be grounded but it can be the opposite - no ground present and still wired with knob & tube. (The owner assumed that those receptacles were new wiring, but being extremely difficult to do, they cheated)! I just found 6 such receptacles about a month ago. That was the 2nd similar encounter in 1 1/2 years! 

June 08, 2011 - I have decide to post here a copy of an ad (below) I had on Kijiji.

WARNING: THIS IS ONLY POSTED FROM TIME TO TIME! It is not intended to be that beneficial for "ACTION ELECTRIC" mainly because there is a lack of available skilled trades/persons for hire to do residential wiring improvements, therefore, I only do ONE TYPE OF ELECTRICAL WORK which is "service upgrades to 100 or 200 amps" in homes and buildings and don't do (as of April 2011) the type of work which I am mostly referring to below. "Service Upgrades" is more difficult for HACKS or the likes of them to get involved with and less competition for me! Service Upgrades have to be FULLY 100 % CODE COMPLIANCE AND INSPECTED AND PASSED before the power is ever to be CONNECTED BACK ON by MB Hydro. The following are just a few (of many) important points of interest information. to remember, which may be useful to those who are hiring electricians, especially for the first time, who need especially OTHER than a panel/service upgrade type of electrical work in their home. Such work may be general wiring repairs, installing new light fixtures or receptacles, rewiring the home, installing a dryer receptacle, wiring an addition, a garage, a hot tub or even light electrical work in apartments or commercial establishments etc. 1. If the person you are hiring is charging less than approx. $45.00/per hour it could be already a BIG red flag! It shows ignorance about being in business and lack of overall EXPERIENCE and even a substantial weakness of being desperate.That amount or anything less per hour is absolutely a substantial loss for ANY LEGITIMATE electrical contractor in Winnipeg. Most HACKS, TRUNK SLAMMERS, HANDY/MEN, WANNABE ELECTRICIANS charge about that much. Even some carpenters and some Hydro employees are also notoriously known to do such work! However, be even more careful because a few of those unscrupulous people around may be disguised in a way to rip you off at $60 or $80 or even more per hour which is closer to the real prices legitimate contractors around are FORCED to charge.! If you are guided ONLY by the low prices, you may become a victim like many I have met over the last 30 years.  2. All electrical work, regardless of how SMALL, as per the City Bylaws, requires a wiring permit so as to be APPROVED so as to be considered SAFER and will be documented "down town" so that your insurance will SEE (LATER) such documents and then cover any losses due to an electrical fault fire and/or injuries etc. resulting from any failure of such electrical work/installation. (EX: I have seen, many times, up to 7 code violations in newly installed simple receptacles and switches by amateurs). 3. All electrical work within the City limits is required to be done by registered SPECIAL LICENCED electrical contractors who have taken out a wiring permit to do such electrical work. 4. Residential electrical work can also be accomplished by TITLE registered home owners who may be allowed to take out a permit in their "own name" and do their OWN wiring but only in their own SINGLE family home where they reside FULL time and SLEEP there over night. No one else is allowed to do electrical work under such a permit.  5. A "Non Electrical Contractor" journey/person electrician, even having a current Journeyman's Licence and also an "Inter Province Red Seal Certificate", is not authorized or allowed to take out wiring permits or to do ANY work in your own home (within the City limits) unless he/she is supervised by a legitimate electrical contractor. Further: Beware of some persons claiming to be electricians or electrical contractors advertising even almost EVERYWHERE NOW!. A few of those may be even handymen/women or a "joe six pack" master of all trades. Before you hire anyone, ask to SEE PERSONALLY their 2 (TWO) required licences - CONTRACTOR'S LICENCE and JOURNEY/PERSON'S LICENCE - (not just copies) and insure that they have Liability Insurance (ins. co. name) and have Workers Compensation coverage. You will be liable if they get hurt etc. Likely the W. Compensation will sue you for injuries to such workers. Hire some one who you have checked out properly and can trust with references from other, at least TWO reliable sources. Even with a wiring permit taken out and the work inspected, it is not fully reliable that the work is done safely! Remember that, now, most residential electrical inspectors ARE NOT ELECTRICIANS! You have to TRUST the electrician yourself. There have been scenarios of losses where the owners may have SURVIVED but are still paying a mortgage for a home which is not there anymore! No insurance anywhere covers losses due to "unapproved" electrical wiring - REGARDLESS OF HOW SMALL THE JOB WAS.

There is a lot more to come on this subject - keep in touch!  Have a nice day.  

  Contact us  981 2315