It is kind of a risk going that route for electrical work. And speaking myself as an electrical student that has advertised on CL throughout the summer. People use me at a low price and it is supposed to be as they are doing the electrical work theirselves even thought I'm doing it for a low cost. I'm a college student and am working towards being a master electrician and follow code more than our particular area's licensed electricians (Fix their work all the time) Thats just the way Kansas city electricians are for some reason. I even know a lot of pro licensed guys that like what I'm doing and they give me jobs they don't have time to handle. While I shouldn't be working yet as I havn't became licensed yet, my referals have gone through the roof and people are ok with me being a student.

However there are a ton of handymen out there that are running extension cords through walls, splicing romex with loose wire nuts gobbed in electric tape thrown in the wall, and disasters waiting to happen. Sometimes their work still looks good on the outside and people still give good referals. It is hard telling if an unlicensed guy is going to follow the thousands of codes a real electrician must follow. Just remember installing some can lights is not nearly as big of risk as having one install a sub-panel or wire an addition. A lot of the work in can lights is the carpentry work and drywall and the electrical requirements are mainly that a good connection is made and not tapped off a counter top circuit or other places prohibited by code that handymen don't know to follow.

So even if good referals are given, they are typically not from electrical inspectors or other electricians that can spot code issues. Its kind of your call if you fell something limited to can lights can be done my a general worker. There are ways to screw it up though. Another thing to keep in mind is if a licensed electrician is charging by the hour, they can usually work a lot faster than a handyman. I know all my Craigslist clients are happy, now if I could just get a license. Well back to the books, electrician school tomorow :)

All good points. A good electrical reference only says "yes the lights turn on, no the house hasn't burned down yet"

I was working for an unlicensed home reno guy who did his own wiring and electrical, and he did some pretty hair-raising things. Did he ever do load calculations or a count of how many lights/receptacles on a given circuit (as is the rule here in BC) Nope.

It's a lottery. You might get someone really good, who isn't qualified, or you might get complete moron. With a licenced moron (there are indeed some of those) you get more protection. For the most part, licensing means some assurance of expertise and competence. SOrt of depends on what's going on in the marketplace to some extent.

Depending on where you are, paying somebody who's not qualified to do electrical work is illegal. Here in BC you and family members can do your own, with permits and inspections, but the rules are very strict and clear.

Wiring a few can lights isn't going to take all that long probably, so why not spend the extra and get a pro?

Did you ever suspect some of that money the licensed guy charges goes for more than supporting an extravagant lifestyle?

Yes, you have a choice of how much to pay. HereÂs an almost-in-control blurb on why. It may seem a bit sarcastic but then you probably havenÂt had to fix the things I have.

First, I have to charge for the time it takes to drive down town, find a parking place, walk 5 or 6 blocks to the building department, wait in the line to be security screened, wait in line to get the permit, then wait in line to pay for it (no, the biggest city in the state canÂt/wonÂt do on-line permits yet). Ah, yes. The permit. The handyman is getting one of these, right? Yeah, the handy man can do certain repairs without a permit and IÂm sure an installation of a bunch of lights and wiring can somehow be pushed into this category. Of course, when a house is for sale and a closing is on hold because a buyer is demanding proof that electrical upgrades were inspected, an electrician will drop what heÂs doing and check everything out, and maybe wait while an electrical inspector looks it over too, heÂs only gonna charge $50.00/hr for that - - I guar-an-tee.

And, of course the handyman is familiar with the fact that in some older homes the wiring canÂt be connected directly to newer fixtures and will be handling this situation correctly. He is also familiar with IC and non IC ratings on the fixtures and will be installing the correct ones, or tell you that you got the wrong ones if you bought them and delay the job while the right ones show up. He also knows that in homes with ungrounded circuits itÂs illegal to extend them and is familiar with the rules for grounding the extension and will be handling this correctly.

The handyman also probably showed you the multimillion dollar insurance policy HEÂs required to carry because he does wiring. And heÂs bondable, right?

Of course, along with all of this the guy maintains a required "handyman registration" and license for every jurisdiction in the area so people can find him when thereÂs a problem or liability issue, and is accountable to the state "handyman board" for any handyman misconduct going on. Along with this are the required classes to keep the handyman license up to date so he is familiar with any rule changes in the handyman business he didnÂt catch when he looks in the handyman code book he carries around. And he maintains books that show the correct amount of use tax was paid on the permit to cover the material purchased and can provide this when audited so the homeowner isnÂt liable for it.

Finally, if you have issues about a questionable installation they can be addressed with an "I do it that way all the time" statement that will allow you to put your fears aside and let you sleep at night knowing that a competent, licensed professional told you that ball of tape in the wall was OK.

YMMV
UNK

I'm just your average DIY guy, but no, I would never hire an unlicensed electrician to do electrical work. Licensing is no guarantee, but it's a minimum standard (and legal requirement in most places). It's one of those questions about saving money vs. having a pretty good chance that things will be done correctly and safely.

Well my guess is that if its a handyman not everything will be wired correctly because if they do know as much as an electrician, why don't they become one. My not be licensed yet is more me being 19 years old and my form of being a rebelous teenager is to do electrical work lol. However I do want to soon become licensed and do what I enjoy legally. My work is inspected regularly as the homeowners have it inspected as their own work. Hah the things people will do to save money. But if someone is 35 and is still out doing electrical work, there is problem. I heard of a business here in Kansas city, the guy is unlicensed, has 5 people working for him, charges $55 an hour residental and $65 commercial per man. Guy is advertised, does whole houses and wires businesses. Now that's scarry and can't believe he gets away with it.

Came across a lovely wire job by a handyman today. 12/3wg aluminum romex tapping knob and tube. In the wall behind a sconce with no box a junction for 2 switch loops, a feed to a gfci (using the undersized #16 green ground wire as the neutral, white as hot, red for fan, and black for light. No wire nuts just electrical tape copper to aluminum, whole connection charred from smoke. and then rapped in a giant ball of melted duck tape packed into the wall. Well the gfci looked updated, the lights even had a dimmer! wow, and the vent fan had a seperate switch. And it even had already burned in the past, suprised it didn't burn the house down. (The melted duck tape held the flames in)

Spencer, you're making me glad my 'handyman' boss fired me - after that, I've decided if I take another building type job, I don't want to work for anybody who isn't qualified - what's the point of learning, if you don't learn from somebody who knows what you're doing?

I had to hook up a hanging lamp that had plastic screw lampholders, you know, there's a brass recessed contact in them. Wire was figure 8, separate ground and I wanted to double check how I was to do them - after living in Australia for many years, where lights are bayonet fitting like car tail lights, you can't go too far wrong with active and neutral, but a little voice in my head was reminding me 'screw thread neutral' (cause of those uninsulated lamps, right?" and I asked him straight out - "centre of bulb contact is active?" and he looked at me like I had two heads. I guess when he was fitting colour coded fittings he was ok but he obviously didn't have a clue. I ran out and got my multimeter and made sure I'd hooked lamp up the right way.

Don't think he liked me questioning how he did things,even though he did say "feel free to ask questions and make suggestions"

I would only use an unlicensed handyman if a)I knew how to do the work myself and b)I had references from someone I knew. I've completely rewired the two worst rooms in a house, a large bathroom and kitchen, but hired an electrician to change out the service from 100 amp to 200 amp (which he did "hot"). Either a licensed electrician or I'm gonna supervise.

As a licenced builder/renovator I've found so many handymen/homeowner wiring horrors in old homes, I'd advise against ever using handymen instead of licenced electricians. My favourites: duplex receptacles fed by lampcord buried in the wall and then over the switch/receptacle box from which it was fed; basement renos where all the receptacles were wired by 14 ga. directly into the 60 or 100 amp main. No blown fuses there!

Bravo for itsunclebill, couldn't have said it better myself. Would you trust your family's safety on a long road trip to a Yugo? C'mon folks...Poor electrical wiring methods = People Die!

B

Not only do you need to be concerned with the quality of the work but you also need to understand that if you allow illegal work on your house, your insuracnce company can and will refuse to pay for damage, including a total, if it is due to that bad work.

Additioanlly, when a home is sold, a permit better show up for permit required work or that work may very well be required to be removed.

Dozer, I have straight from a veteran insurance person, that your first sentence is very much false. Yet this myth is perpetuated all the time.
Do you have confirmation to support this? Do you know anyone this has happened to?

Insurance companies are bound by law to pay for damages including "mistakes". The only way they could get out of it is if they could prove the damages were intential.

Of course after the payout they could refuse you future coverage, and they could go after the "contractor" to recover the damages.

It is the same if you are in a car accident while DWI. They still have to pay, but they don't have to continue your coverage.

I stand corrected.

The insurer could exclude liability for such situations by the verbiage of the policy but as others have posted, without that inclusion, they would have to pay.
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joefixit2: It is the same if you are in a car accident while DWI. They still have to pay, but they don't have to continue your coverage.
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exactly. if one had a non drinkers policy, the insurance could deny liability due to this but unless non-drinking was part of the policy, they would have to pay as policy requires.
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I do stand by the second portion of my post though. The local powers that be can require any reno's, repairs, or additions to be inspected (including requiring demo to allow this), the alterations can be required to be removed (generally not done) and/or the homeowner can be fined (usually in form of requiring permits for the work and some additioanl penalty)