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The most recent version of the national electrical code became available in 2017 and is 874 pages. The National Fire Protective Association that is responsible for the code brings out a new version every 3 years. The next version will come out in 2020. In addition to the National Electrical Code, many municipalities have additional requirements. All this means that there are many codes that can be violated. Some code violations are very egregious and dangerous. Others are less dangerous, but nonetheless Current Electrical Contractors can assist you with any code violation correction!
How we get code violation requests?
- The homeowner wants to sell the property and there is an inspection by a home inspector
- One of our electricians in Wilmette comes across the violation while doing service work on a property
- Some municipalities do regular fire inspections of commercial buildings and sometimes they find violations
- A new homeowner wants to upgrade some portion of the new property and in the course of doing the remodeling work we discover the violations
Case #1
In case #1, where there is going to be a real estate transaction, we will do an estimate to repair the violations but we charge for the estimate. This is because so many people have called over the years making us think they may actually do the work when all they want is a negotiating tool as the buyer or seller of the property. If the homeowner does, in fact, do the work with our electricians in Wilmette we put the price of the estimate towards the work that is actually done.
Case #2
In case #2, where our electrician in Wilmette finds a problem while doing service work if the violation is not that difficult to repair our electrician will point the situation out to the customer and let them know that this should be repaired and will be an additional cost to the invoice.
Case #3
In case #3, where the municipality has done an inspection, we can normally give a detailed estimate of what the repairs will entail and the customer can decide what they want to do.
Case #4
In case #4, where our electricians are working on an estimate that has been given to the customer or a general contractor, we need to come out to the project and estimate what extra charges there will be to repair the violations. Simple violations can be very easy to repair. Changing a regular outlet that is in a wet location to a GFI outlet is simple and relatively inexpensive.
Recent Examples of Code Violations
In two recent Chicago cases, we have had a contract to do some remodeling in condominiums that had just been recently purchased. In both cases, we were just going to do some cosmetic remodeling such as add light fixtures, recessed lighting, dimmers, changing wet location outlets to GFI and add outlets for wall-hung televisions, etc. Each of these condominiums had been wired by unscrupulous general contractors who had taken advantage of the unfortunate home buyers. The electrical work was abhorrent and dangerous. We were forced to basically rewire both apartments at great expense to both homeowners. There are lawsuits in both of these situations.
If you are buying a new home, we recommend you are very wary of any electrical remodeling that was done by the homeowner or an unscrupulous general contractor who does not hire professionals.
We try to only recommend code violation repairs for violations that we feel are dangerous. There is code now that says that you need a switch at both entries to a room. We don’t see that as a dangerous situation. A dangerous situation is wiring with no ground wire for protection or non-GFI outlets near sinks or outside where people could actually get electrocuted. We consider the switch at each entry to the room as more of a convenience than a danger.
