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RANT: Can't legally do electrical work in my home

W

WhiteKnight

Platinum Member
Argh, I just found out that in order to do any electrical work in a home in Baltimore, beyond replacing broken outlets and such, you need to have a permit. However, to get a permit you have to be an electrician. All I want to do is install a new outlet on an existing circuit. I could understand needing a professional for bigger jobs, but I can't believe that legally I have to hire someone to do this. It's going to drive the cost up from the $8 it would cost me in parts to who knows how much for a pro.
 
Screw that. Another law written to support a certain lobbying group. That's like in VA, how my contact lense prescription is only good for ONE YEAR. Never mind the fact that I don't need a new prescription; but to order more contact lenses I need to get an exam every year? F that!

Just do it yourself. No one is going to be checking.
 
Well, that's the thing. I did it already (last night) because it didn't even occur to me that I wouldn't be allowed to do something so simple myself. The only reason I found out about the permit is because I happened to read someone else's thread on a DIY forum.
 
You should be able to do it yourself.

You will need a permit (and I believe it requires inspection), but you can do it.

My parents built an entire addition to their first house (doubled its size) & did EVERYTHING themselves. Plumbing, wiring, everything.

It was all done legally (and inspected).

State of Oregon, BTW, but I can't imagine it's that unusual.

Viper GTS
 
Permits are there for a reason. They don't want you doing something stupid and taking out the entire block.

You are getting a service from them, and you must go by their rules.

On the other hand... I would do it myself. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
You should be able to do it yourself.

You will need a permit (and I believe it requires inspection), but you can do it.

My parents built an entire addition to their first house (doubled its size) & did EVERYTHING themselves. Plumbing, wiring, everything.

It was all done legally (and inspected).

State of Oregon, BTW, but I can't imagine it's that unusual.

Viper GTS
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I called up the county this morning and was told that to do any "new wiring" work you need a permit. But, to get a permit, you have to have an electrician's license.
 
Fvck the county. If the difference isn't obvious from the street as you drive by the place, do it yourself and they'll never know. Out here in California where permits to build houses and make additions are really expensive, people generally don't get them for anything that's interior-only, regardless of whether or not they're required, although I'm pretty sure you can legally install one electrical outlet yourself, w/o a permit anyway.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Fvck the county. If the difference isn't obvious from the street as you drive by the place, do it yourself and they'll never know. Out here in California where permits to build houses and make additions are really expensive, people generally don't get them for anything that's interior-only, regardless of whether or not they're required, although I'm pretty sure you can legally install one electrical outlet yourself, w/o a permit anyway.
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:thumbsup: I like that idea. Also be mindful that inexperience could lead to an entry in Darwin's award.

I remember I had my next door came over to install porch lights for me after I purchased them at Lowe's. He told me that he couldn't do them unless they're the low-voltage type because of the permit thing. I had to return the lights and get the low voltage version.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Fvck the county. If the difference isn't obvious from the street as you drive by the place, do it yourself and they'll never know. Out here in California where permits to build houses and make additions are really expensive, people generally don't get them for anything that's interior-only, regardless of whether or not they're required, although I'm pretty sure you can legally install one electrical outlet yourself, w/o a permit anyway.
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Ahh yes. Now I agree with you but there is a caveat, your home owners insurance. Say you do something to your house that requires a permit but you do not take out a permit. Later on, your house burns down/floods/etc. due to a problem with the work that you did. Investigation shows that what ever was done was not done properly (let us use for example a new gas hot water heater installation) and caused the explosion/fire/flood etc.

Do you think the insurance company is going to pay the claim? I doubt it, and then you are SOL big time.

 
Originally posted by: Sundog
Originally posted by: notfred
Fvck the county. If the difference isn't obvious from the street as you drive by the place, do it yourself and they'll never know. Out here in California where permits to build houses and make additions are really expensive, people generally don't get them for anything that's interior-only, regardless of whether or not they're required, although I'm pretty sure you can legally install one electrical outlet yourself, w/o a permit anyway.
Click to expand...



Ahh yes. Now I agree with you but there is a caveat, your home owners insurance. Say you do something to your house that requires a permit but you do not take out a permit. Later on, your house burns down/floods/etc. due to a problem with the work that you did. Investigation shows that what ever was done was not done properly (let us use for example a new gas hot water heater installation) and caused the explosion/fire/flood etc.

Do you think the insurance company is going to pay the claim? I doubt it, and then you are SOL big time.
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Whether that's a risk or not depends on what you're doing. I don't think I'd do work myself if I wasn't confident that it was safe. Also, there's very little risk from some projects. My dad knocked a hole in a wall between the kitchen and the living room in our old house. It opened up the house a bit, and made it possible to watch TV while cooking 🙂. There wasn't any wiring or gas or anything dangerous involved in that project.
 
I'm not worried about doing something wrong. I know what I'm doing and I'm careful about it. I am a grad student in mechanical engineering with a BS in electrical engineering. I work with 3-phase 240V power on a daily basis and we've done a bunch of the wiring in my lab ourselves (under the guidance of our much more experienced advisor of course). I am sure that I can handle one 120V outlet by myself.
 
just the opposite here....the homeowner can do electrical/plumbing/mechanical without a license but if you hire someone they must be licensed.
 
Because it needs to be safe, just pay an electician to obtain the permit for you and you should be able to do the work yourself. Same with building a house, it may require an architect to submit the plans but as long as you follow code you can do the work yourself. (as long as its your house)

 
Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Because it needs to be safe, just pay an electician to obtain the permit for you and you should be able to do the work yourself. Same with building a house, it may require an architect to submit the plans but as long as you follow code you can do the work yourself. (as long as its your house)
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No honest electrician will pull the permit for you and allow you to do the work completely. If anything happens afterwords, he is SOL.

You may be able to get one that will allow you to help and/or inspect the work afterwards.

 
Temporarily, I wired my 22o hot tub up in my garage so i could use it while I was waiting to rebuild my back deck. The deck will be done the first of november, and I'm going to wire it using flexible conduit, a heavy duty gfci, and the same wiring I used in my garage (That is currently snaked all over the floor of my garage)

Is it up to code? NO.

Do I care? No.. When I am done, it will be safe and will look good and its easy enough to do myself.

 
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