Hello,
Just started a rough aon a new house. The clients are buying a lot of items from Europe, electrical and plumbing etc. One item in particular is a pre manufactured closet that come pre wired with flourescents and a door jamb switch from Italy (actually 3 of these are to be installed) i am just supposed to supply a whip to hard wire it.
no cuts are available says the client so im quessing no u.l. listing as well as a probable voltage issue.( i am researching to try and find some cuts) i want to get the ahj involved for his opinion but i dont want to open a can of worms. Has anyone here been involved in a situation like this before

No info no wiring. Let them do the legwork. You can't convince me that these things are coming out of thin air. Somebody is building them. When they get you the info check for some sort of listing. If there is none the AHJ can still accept the equipment.

An initial suspicion if they're coming from Europe is that they're designed for 220V 50Hz. If that's the case, it's going to be a prbblem.

[This message has been edited by SolarPowered (edited 02-09-2005).]

I often get things from Europe that the customer has ordered, and most that ship over-seas through distributors will have thought things through. (Listing etc.) However, when customers are involved, and having things shipped on thier own, you get problems. They have no idea that it was made for a different market, and wiring. They just think "electricity gets hooked up there to the do-dad." I have had Euro-phile clients before that have brought items back on their own before. Not pretty when you tell them you can't hook it up at all, or it will cost three times as much to do it right. (I should say "Our way")

And not trying to bag on the Italians, but they have never hooked one of these items up to our semi-standardized boxes and fittings. So half the time nothing matches up mechanically. I have not had a fixture from Itally that did not have to be field modified. I have thought of sending the stuff back with a 3/0 mud ring sometimes.

Now.... the big question. A Pre-made closet - pre-wired? Sounds strange!

I'm sure some of the gents in the Non-US forum could tell you if the Itlians even use race-ways or cables, for that matter boxes too. Some of those countries over-there don't. Some just put a nail on the fixture after they splice it to open wiring buried in the wall - done.

Bottom line here is un-fortunately, is that you wont know until the stuff shows up. Nor can you talk to your Inspector about it until then, as it is all speculation until its on site. If you can get cuts, or better yet pictures from Italy reguarding it, you'd be wasting time and energy. I would just warn your customers about the issue, and firmly up front. Tell them you'll keep an open mind about it, that it might be an inspection issue later when it shows. Then just sit back and wait.

[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 02-09-2005).]