Oh, and one other thing. It would appear that this guy took the existing black 10/2 for the water heater and created this sub panel contraption. Notice that there are only single-pole breakers in the panels. My guess is that he's managed to pass this circuit through to the piece of 12/2 feeding the water heater. All of the breakers and other wiring are "branch" wiring feeding from these "sub panels".
What also concerns me is what appears to be a run of yellow CSST for gas that's flopping in the breeze in the background. That's supposed to be a product that is restricted to licensed and certified installers, but we all know how that goes.
One thing we know for sure: This guy walked out of the big box store proud as a peacock with a whole shopping cart full of fittings. He probably had his wife and kids along and had them convinced that he knows what he's doing. His wife probably bragged to her friends about how "handy" her husband is. I'm sure he's one of those who "doesn't need any assistance" at the store. I have to bite my lip every time that I see these jokers in the store.
Wow, this one is truly a classic. What's scary is that there is one of these installations on every street corner in America. In my fairly new, yet tiny neighborhood of 21 homes, I've seen the wiring done by the "professional" basement finishing contractors. Yellow Romex for lighting circuits is usually the first clue; they think that by using larger wire than is required makes it "better".
