Homeowner electrical repairs


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Old 04-01-12, 12:23 PM
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Homeowner electrical repairs

An earlier thread raised an interesting point. I know the NEC allows homeowners to do electric work on their own residence and that it prohibits tenants from doing the same. Can a landlord perform electrical repairs in a property they rent?

What about situations where a homeowner rents a room in their residence to a tenant or maybe an apartment over a garage? Can the homeowner do electrical work in the rest of the house or in the garage under the apartment but not in the rented room or apartment?

If I have a roomate who shares rent and common areas in my home (a tenant) can I still do electrical repairs?
 
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Old 04-01-12, 12:44 PM
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Others may have differing views, but IMO the NEC would have less to say about it than would the insurer of the property. Poorly made repairs/remodels could lead to uninsured losses if the insurance company balked at it. Plus, non permitted work would also have bearing on it. Repairs.....that would be one thing. "Electrical work" I would construe to mean remodeling of some sort, or at least adding circuits, etc.
 
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Old 04-01-12, 12:57 PM
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I know the NEC allows homeowners to do electric work on their own residence and that it prohibits tenants from doing the same.
I don't think you'll find anything in the NEC about who may perform electrical work. I would expect that regulation to come from local ordinance.
 
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Old 04-01-12, 03:44 PM
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As others have pointed out, it is up to the state, county, or city of who can do electrical work where.

In my state (which is who makes and enforces the rules), unless your a homeowner doing work on your own residence (or 2nd home), the work is required to be done by a licensed electrical contractor. Minor repairs are likely excluded.

The situations you mention about renting a room or space in your home is kind of a gray area to me. I would suspect that if you can get a permit to do the work, and it is OK with the inspector, than your good to go.
 
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Old 04-01-12, 07:40 PM
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Here is the absolute truth. NONE of the "model codes", electrical, building, mechanical, plumbing etc have ANY force of law by themselves. It is ONLY when a model code is adopted by a political subdivision (city, county, state, etc.) that the enabling legislation makes the code enforceable by law. The enabling legislation may add to or delete from the model code as seen fit by the panel enacting the legislation.

In other words, the ONLY code provisions that matter are those in the codes enforced in your own jurisdiction.
 
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Old 04-03-12, 06:13 AM
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To second Tolyn, around here is the same. The municipal law states that you need an electrican to do any electrical work... UNLESS you are the homeowner living in the house you are working on. You still need to pull permits and such.

There are some areas though that only licensed electricians can do work. Mostly bigger cities... but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some small towns around with similar rules still on the books.

To be certain, call your town or city building/electrical inspector.
 
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Old 04-03-12, 12:48 PM
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In suburban Milwaukee homeowners are allowed to do some work but there is a list of exceptions requiring a licensed electrician, even in your own house.

One notable point is that a homeowner living in a duplex may do electrical work in the unit they occupy.

Last time I checked, the City of Milwaukee required a licensed electrician for any electrical work.

Local or state codes define "rooming house" which must usually be licensed as a rooming house. If there's a shared bathroom and the only exclusive space is the bedroom, as a practical matter it wouldn't make a lot of sense to say you could do electrical work in the entire house except that one bedroom, but crazier things have happened.
 
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Old 04-03-12, 04:25 PM
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To second Tolyn, around here is the same. The municipal law states that you need an electrican to do any electrical work... UNLESS you are the homeowner living in the house you are working on. You still need to pull permits and such.
It's similar here except.......the homeowner must take and pass a proficiency test before he can take out a permit and do his own electrical work in his home. The work still must be inspected. From what I hear, the inspectors look pretty hard at homeowner performed electrical work, it must be exactly right.
 
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Old 04-03-12, 04:47 PM
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It's similar here except.......the homeowner must take and pass a proficiency test before he can take out a permit and do his own electrical work in his home. The work still must be inspected. From what I hear, the inspectors look pretty hard at homeowner performed electrical work, it must be exactly right.
That's the way it was in Nashville when I rewired the old house we'd bought. And it was no snap of a test either!
 
 

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