No offense taken. I do renovations and remodeling mostly, but would do complete installs on new construction if I could get the job. The permits are handled by the individual towns and villages. Find out what town they live in, call the building dept. Show them proof of insurance, give them a drawing of what I plan on doing. I bid a job for a 1600sq. ft. commercial buildout where I had a licensed electrician bid the electrical. Didn't get the job though, two guys bid half what I did. Just about what materials would have cost me in fact.
I hesitate when people ask me to classify myself. I'm not a diy by any stretch. I'm not a hack, but I'm also not a licensed electrician. Where you guys would recite the code for a problem, I have to go look it up. Following Trumpy's question though, I fall into the group that are "allowed to do the work of an Electrician, without having served the time we did?". But this is exactly why I like it this way. I know enough electrical to do residential, and I didn't have to dig ditches for a few years. I don't pretend that this is a substitute for an aprentice program, but I did study physics in college. Not your typical handyman, but not a licensed electrician either.
