electrical anything

[From public blog]
We close on our new home at [deleted for privacy] soon and I am looking for a recommendation for an electrician. Does anyone know of a reputable, honest, and fair priced electrician that we can call for a few misc. items around the house?

Thanks,

G.
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When is an electrician an electrician?
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Hi
I am an electrician.
I am licensed.
Philadelphia electrician website
I encourage you to look for a licensed electrician.
See the Philadelphia L&I site and their list of LICENSED electricians:
Philadelphia L&I

Granted, REAL electricians [as recognized by licensure] cost more, but at least we have had to prove to someone, somewhere that we know something about what we say we can do, and have to carry insurance, and can be found next week ...

Who can you complain to for relief if you break the rules yourself?

Best of luck

Bob Wilber
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Hey Bob!
I agree.
Today, the consumer cannot become aware of the complex manner about how electricity should be hooked up. Its too complex. And faulty wiring is still a huge cause of house fires and death.

The city itself falls down with their inspection system. The electrical inspectors are not city employees, but are employed by private inspection firms. So there's still lots of corruption and payoffs from job to job.

With today's current building mania the construction inspection itself is nothing more than a rubber stamp of what others have already done. So who holds the line on safe, affordable, electricity?

Its you guys, the union electricians and of course your boss, Johnny Doc.

Thanks for bringing reality to an arena that should never allow public corruption in the first place.

J.
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Sorry to disappoint.

I am NOT a Union electrician.

I WAS many years ago ...

My experience was that you only get IN if you know somebody [or like me, through a series of unusual events] and only work if you're "one of the boys"

None the less, most Union electricians are more or less competent [there is a great training system], though not particularly likely to be efficient or interested in the business' welfare [or the consumer's]. It is a useful system for providing quantities of acceptably skilled technicians on short notice. Period.

The most common expression heard on construction sites [outside of the usual profanity] is "You can't see it from MY house!"

Inspectors are licensed third party agents, who are required to be knowledgeable of the electrical codes and subject to unique licensure. I personally hold an inactive Philadelphia inspector license. They get paid very little for the great responsibility they undertake.

If you think inspectors get paid off, you are living in the wrong century! These people have careers and licenses to protect, and a lot of continual training and education on the line! Visit the Electrical inspectors' association website!


Most electricians who work as private contractors, and that are licensed, are non-union. This is because:
1] They can't get in the Union [most wouldn't want to]
2] They wouldn't be allowed to "work with the tools" [as the expression goes] if they were and they "own" the business
3] They would NEVER get any work if they charged Union rates [keep in mind that the pay and benefits package for a Union electrician is as much or more than most private contractors charge per hour!] People cry about licensed contractor rates, but homeowners would choke if they had to pay the rates needed to pay Union wages!

I am just like most guys with a skill and the ambition to work for myself because I think I can do a better job than the next guy.
It's the American way.
It's God's way.
I provide my skills to others, for a fee, to feed my family.
I agree to provide my services according to certain standards.
I am subject to all sorts of regulation, and submit to it willingly.
It is up to the consumer to make sure the people they use follow the rules.
I just suggest that if a guy won't bother to be licensed, he won't bother to be insured [probably uninsurable in an illegal business anyway]
And he won't worry about doing the job properly [even if he KNOWS how]
Why bother? He has nobody to answer to anyway ...

I admit I want a slice of the pie, even if it isn't as big as Donald Trump's slice!
Isn't that why we work?