ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area need to vent...

My next door neighbor approached me several weeks ago to ask if I would be interested in handling the electrical portion of his basement finish. Being the neighborly type I said no problem. He said the carpenter contractor across the street would handle the framing. I said, "Let me know when you framed and I will get the rough-in done right away."

Well, the neighbor approaches me the other day to tell me that his sister, the carpenter/electrican handled the framing and pulled all of the NM cable BUT she doesn't want to terminate the cable in the panel.

He wants me to examine what she has done, terminate the panel and trim out all of the devices.

BTW, NM cable is not code in my area.

I am pissed off. If she wants to play electrican than hats off but don't pick which part of being an electrican you want to be. If you aren't comfortable terminating the panel maybe you should be doing something else.

I guess I am good enough to finish the job BUT not worthy enough to handle the job from start to finish.

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to do any work in his house because of this situation but he is my next door neighbor.

The only thing that they will remember or care about will be wether or not you finsh the job. Even when you tell them you can't do it because it would put your license and therefore your ability to earn a living in jeopardy. What they'll be hearing is ahole neighbor blew us off.

I'd rather lose a neighbor than my license.

Are you holding a permit for this job? You have two choices, gently explain to them that you will need to "Start over" and why, or cancel your permit and explain your "Non-responsability" to the AHJ.

Take deep breaths....

Actually, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. What did you do wrong? You're not the bad guy here by any stretch, don't let them make you feel that way. You're a professional and your neighbor should've known better, but decided to save money using family for the majority of the work and decided to use you only where he has to.
You can always use the ole "My insurance company would dump me in a heartbeat if I connected someone else's work!" line. BTW, don't loan this neighbor any yard tools.
Andy

"You can always use the ole "My insurance company would dump me in a heartbeat if I connected someone else's work!"

That is a fact not an ole line, I had a situation where they rocked the walls, then called me, and asked for a tie in, They thought they were slick, but when the city made them gut everything, they got the idea.

[This message has been edited by LK (edited 11-10-2005).]

If it is not going to be code conforming (the Romex)he simply can't touch it and still protect his license.
He can offer to start over but other than that I don't see an option.
The only other option would be to look over the work and red tag the mistakes, just as a friend, but that may still have his neck out.

Florida makes it pretty serious for a licensed person to get involved with unlicensed/unpermitted activity. A totally unlicensed person, even if they are selling their work, is actually in less trouble.

There is no permit.....

You're not stuck at all. You agreed to do the whole job, not a part of it. Tell them the NM isn't allowed & has to be removed. It'll be an extra charge if you have to remove it. If they push, say you won't be involved unless they pull a permit. The inspection covers you as well as them.

In this part of the country removal of NM isn't just a job, it's an adventure!

Dave

Come on sparky - Do the neighborly thing. Tell them you need to inspect what she did and if it's acceptable, finish the job! Of course you'll charge them for the inspection. Do you really want to be the "jerk neighbor?" Pick your fights, this doesn't seem to be the right one. (Especially if these are friendly neighbors)

Just re-read... Rx is not code?? what is? MC? Pipe? MIC?