Hi Doug,
Please do NOT throw the CEC out if you get asked to do so. I never did that at all.
Sometimes we lost a bit of business because we wouldn't do so but it was business I didn't want to do anyways. I was always proud of the fact that we did the stuff that was safe, particularly above and beyond the Canadian Electrical Code requirements anyways.
If something goes wrong the lawyers will try to blame you when the place either burns up or someone gets electrocuted.
We had one guy here in Edmonton that got his ass sued off and he lost his whole business with having to pay out about $1,000,000 because he took a shortcut that was outside the CEC. The lawyers got him in civil court. To make it worse, his insurance company abandoned him as well, since he deliberately went against the normal CEC rules. I don't know how long it's going to take him to make up and pay for that "shortcut".
After I talked to the guy when it was all over, he told me that he really regretted making what he said was a "stupid and dumb" decision.
All I can say is - stay with the Code and you are probably off the liable hook.
