[This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 08-02-2005).]

Is it just my eyes & monitor or is the socket also scorched around the holes?

Sven, your eyes are fine- but those are not scorch marks, either. This location is where trucks are prepared for painting, or minor amounts of touch-up painting is done. The "smudges" you see are a mixture of paint and other dusts.

John,
Is that recept crooked or is it the cut-out that makes it look that way?.
If there is anything that I've got stuck into Apprentices about in the past, is leaving switches and socket-outlets out of square.
Workmanship is workmanship.

It's probably out-of-plumb. Considering the folks that use it, though, it could very well have been shifted while in use.
As I suggested earlier, don't let the drywall fool you; this is in a rather high-abuse industrial location- and probably should have been done in a different style.

I took this pic as an example of a violation of NEC 314.21, which limits the gaps to the sides of the mud ring to 1/8".
If you saw the entire job site- trust me on this one- you would quickly realise that this is the least of his NEC and OSHA problems!

I won't trash this customer, however. I get called from time to time to fix things he THOUGHT he could do himself. He is learning that it's better to pay to have it done right the first time.