Just went out to price a job to hook up a new A/C unit for a HVAC contractor that I have worked with for years. I was to contact the "builder" and give him the price to hook up. Got to the house and found that this builder apparently had put in a panel or built a new wall such that the panel cover would not go on without cutting the side down about an inch which would put a portion of the cover in the wall and only two screws on the right side to secure it. Whoever had done the electrical remodel certainly wasn't an electrician. Anyway, I really don't like coming in behind someone like that because when I do hook up the unit, I will end up trying to get this thing back up to code. Obviously no permit was pulled and no inspection was done for the remodel. I shot the owner a high bid...and the problem is he took it. Dang the bad luck. Anyway, how do you guys handle this type of situation? I guess I could have just told him I didn't want to do it, but the HVAC Company is a good source of work for me and has been over the years since I started on my own. Looking forward to ya'lls input.

Bob

Fix it all and add 30% higher than normal rate for the aggrevation.

If he doesn't go for it, I'd walk away.


Dnk........

A lot of my work is repairing or tearing out work done by people who have lots of "confidence" but no training or skill.

I know what you're going through. You bid the job, and they accept the bid. Now you have to do the work. Don't you wish they'd just send the check and forget about the work?

Dave

If it is your opinion that this was the work of some penny-pinching property manager, who just hired some unlicensed gypsy to circumvent the rules....pull it all out, take a permit, install it right....and charge him prime rate! Having to pay three times for the job might make him think twice the next time he takes a short cut.

As for your buddy the other contractor- explain to him that you put your butt on the line for no one, and that you are RUNNING away from such work, if you can't get it done right. For all you know, your buddy was the one taking the short-cuts.

It also is worth considering getting some money up front. You work for pay, not argument.

I would try to stick only to your scope and don't touch anything else. I don't know of any code or law that requires we police what other people do (I may be wrong). If the local law allows, leave all permitting up to the owner/builder, make sure what you touch is done correctly, and if the panel is in violation, either give him a price to correct it, or leave the wires AC unhooked and tell him it needs to be corrected by the other contractor before it gets connected (return trip is extra),

I just had an inspection fail because I did not correct something that a hack had done. I wired an addition and it was failed because someone had changed the panel to 200a and left it on 2/0 Al SE. The inspector said I had to fix it before he would pass the addition. Lesson: always check panel and insist on doing any necessary repairs. The strange thing is that it had a 200a meter base.

Ever deal with a customer who wants to trim half his own house, hoping to whittle some cash off the bill?

Encountered that recently, that was kinda wierd.

Talk to the local AHJ before starting the work. If possible have the inspector come out to the job site before starting todo what you gave a price to do. Then get permit forand do only what you gave a price to do. Let the GC take the hit for any others hack work. After the inspector writes up any other work give the GC a hefty price to fix it. Just make sure that any work you do is not part of any write up.
Most inspectors will work with you if you give them a heads up and let them see the hack work before you touch it. They will also let you know if and what they may require you to fix before passing your work.
Good Lck

Electrical work here in Colorado is loosing very hard.The GC's that require no license at all here can get your EC # and pull permits "If they even have too" and do the work themselves. I caught them... I will now charge min... 100.00 for a bid. and it WILL be added to the proposed price one way or another. This state has to get it together very fast !!! I can no longer take this... what the hell is licensing all about with no inforcement ! I am sick of this crap and will make a big stink of it all the way back to Seattle..."and name names and private inspection companies here"
Combo inspectors ??? icc ???? what a joke.... bunch of CRAP !!!!! If you are a REAL electrician reading this then you should be able to understand.

Venting Hard !, Gary

sorry about spelling... very mad....

The only time I caught a so called GC pulling a permit in my name, I sued the S.O.B. for fraud.
I think that anyone who pulls a permit in some one else's name should be sent to prison and fined at least 5 times the cost of the whole job the contracted for.

Thanks for all the input and "venting." I did the job and the people are safe at least for the work I did. I found out that the the house was a rental property for the contractors father and he was the one who got one of his friends to do the wiring. I talked to the father one afternoon when I was finishing up and he said his friend had been a Journeyman electrician for about 15 years and he couldn't understand why so much was wrong. It seems that one of the contractors guys...not an electrician by any stretch of the imagination had made the hook ups for the wiring. The fathers friend had just pulled the wire for the father and left it coiled in the attic while the rest of the remodel was going on. Then the contractors guy said he was told to hook everything up. He also was the one who ran the #6-3 to the new dryer location out the back of the panel into the closet (no connector in the panel) to an outside wall up to and on the underside of the eve, back into the garage and along the wall to the dryer plug. Then he landed it on a 70A 2-pole breaker!!! He was also the one who went to hook up the 30A wire to the A/C unit and made the connections to the low voltage wiring and fried the board. Anyway it has all been taken care of. I charged the contractor about $1400 and just got the check yesterday.
Sure don't like coming in after some yokel tries to show how little he knows about electrical.

"Yesterday, I koodent spell Elektision...today I r one!!!"

I sure wish those kinda guys would just stand on their hind legs and tell "whomever" that they don't know what they are doing and to go get a licensed electrician. It sure would have been a lot cheaper for the contractor and a whole lot easier on the new homeowners. By the way, I think the contractor fired the guy he told to do the hook-ups...CYA!

Thanks ya'll...and have a nice day