Planning on DIY Electrics – Is It Even Legal?

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Planning on DIY Electrics Is It Even Legal?
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Introduction

• DIY is ranked as the No 1 money saving hobby,
  which shouldnt be surprising because most
  hobbies are expensive. Nonetheless DIY can save
  on many household upgrades and repairs like
  laying new flooring, wallpapering the living
  room, fitting a new kitchen or in an extreme
  cases building a new patio. Indeed DIY hobbyists
  thrive on the challenge of learning new skills
  and techniques - the more difficult the task, the
  greater the challenge.
• This can-do attitude is of course an important
  ingredient in the DIY hobbyists DNA something
  sadly lacking in us mere mortals that baulk at
  the sight of flat pack furniture. After all to
  the DIY hobbyist the learning and developing of
  the necessary skills while on the job is not just
  part of the pleasure it is practically the whole
  point. But even to the most experienced and
  accomplished DIY hobbyist some household tasks
  should be considered out-of-bounds and
  electrical work tops the list. This is not just
  because unlike tiling a bathroom or painting a
  bedroom meddling with electricity is downright
  dangerous. Of course that isnt likely to temper
  the enthusiasm of the hobbyist it may actually
  make it all the more appealing. But what should
  certainly cool their ardor is that it is probably
  not legal.

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Table of Contents

• Is DIY electrical work legal?
• Variations in Regulation in Canada.
• The Insurance companies make their own rules.
• Insurance is a two-way contract.
• Legally, what you can and cannot do.
• You must be the owner-occupier.
• Only the permit holder can carry out the work.
• Types of work that dont need a permit.
• Why you should get an Approved Electrical
  Contractor.
• What to look for in an Electrical Contractor.

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Is DIY electrical work legal?

• There is no straight answer to that question as
  regulations vary with regards nations, states,
  provinces and even cities. However the variations
  are merely minor deviations from a common theme
  the need for permits to undertake any work and
  inspections after work is completed. As an
  example of how regulations and laws are dependent
  on local interpretation lets look at Canada.

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We can demonstrate how different perspectives
around a common legal issue arrive at vastly
different regulatory requirements by considering
Vancouver, Ontario and Quebec. In Vancouver the
regulators have taken an accommodating position
towards home-owners doing DIY electrical work.
Most likely they have taken the view that the
homeowners are likely to do the work with or
without a permit if the regulations are too
strict. As a result Vancouver actually runs
training course to assist the homeowners with
their electrical projects so that they can get
their permits and then do the work themselves.
Quebec on the other hand takes a completely
different view to homeowners performing DIY
electrical work. Their stance on DIY, while
reflecting on the same principle of law, is that
homeowners shouldnt be allowed near any
electrical wiring. Ontario occupies the middle
ground where it allows homeowners to undertake
some minor electrical work without training but
with the required permits.

• Variations in Regulation in Canada

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The effectiveness of these different reflections
on the law is difficult to gauge as far more
electrical wiring, sockets and equipment is
purchased in DIY stores across Vancouver than the
number of training courses being undertaken.
Similarly, in Ontario where minor electrical work
is permitted with a permit but no inspection the
number of light switches sold far exceeds the
number of permits issued. Indeed in Ontario
because there are no inspections carried out on
the minor electrical work allowed by the permit
the scheme is considered by homeowners as
pointless. Quebecs very rigid stance of
forbidding any DIY on electrical wiring on the
other hand could only have working if they had
managed to push through a law forbidding the sale
of electrical wiring, switches and other
electrical infrastructure equipment to consumers
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Quebec failed in court to suppress the sales to
only registered professional electricians and DIY
home stores were allowed to continue selling
electrical wiring, switches, fuse-boxes and all
other electrical infrastructure goods directly
over the counter to the homeowner. The problem
now was that because Quebec had no legal concept
of homeowner electrical DIY there were no permits
or inspections. Just like in Vancouver and
Ontario sales of electrical DIY equipment
flourished but the homeowner was left with a
predicament. If they went down the DIY route they
couldnt get a legal certificate for the work
carried out. This was a big problem because it
was primarily the pressure applied by home
insurance companies that had forced Quebec
regulators to take the heavy handed stance in the
first place. This effectively meant that any DIY
electrical work because it could not get a
permit or certificate would invalidate the home
insurance in the case of a fire.
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The Insurance Companies Make their Own Rules

• Insurance companies exist to make money just like
  any other business. They do not exist to
  recompense you for any foolhardy endeavour that
  results in your home burning down. Indeed the
  insurance companies got so fed up with the number
  of payments that they were making to homeowners
  for fire insurance that in many countries and
  states they have applied pressure to tighten up
  the laws regarding DIY. To understand the view
  point of the insurance underwriters expert
  studies were showing that almost a quarter of
  house fires were due to faulty electric wiring
  and almost all of them were avoidable. As a
  result there may be other countries, states,
  provinces or municipalities with regulations as
  strict as Quebec. But insurance companies dont
  just have to rely on the law they can write their
  own rules.

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Insurance is a two-way contract

• An important thing to understand is that your
  home insurance is a two-way contract between you
  and the insurance company and they make the rules
  and then hide them in the contract. Therefore
  before you head to the DIY electrical store check
  out the clauses in the contract and make sure
  there are no restrictions on performing any DIY
  electrical work there most certainly will be.
  There is also likely to be requirements for any
  work to be undertaken by qualified electricians,
  working with permits and for subsequent
  inspections and certifications. However even if
  there isnt any clauses forbidding DIY electrical
  work they can still wriggle their way out of
  paying in the event your house burns down. So
  make sure you are carrying out work that is legal
  for your municipality remember the difference
  between the legal regulations in Vancouver,
  Ontario and Quebec and dont just take the word
  of the electrician next-door you need for check
  yourself.

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As we have seen every municipality can differ in
their interpretations of national laws and you
must find out which regulations apply to you. But
if we take Ontario as an example of a middle
ground then we can identify some of the ground
rules that are common.

• Legally, what you can and cannot do

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One of the first important things to understand
is that the rules applying to a homeowner
performing DIY only apply to an owner-occupier
and not to any work carried out on property that
has been rented out or is multi-dwelling. For
example it is easy enough to get a permit for
some minor electrical work in your own dwelling
where you are the only family. But you will not
qualify for a permit for DIY work carried on say
a renovated basement you are renting out. As a
result almost all regulators will require that
you are the owner-occupier of the property.

• You must be the owner-occupier

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Permits are granted to the person or the
electrical contractor undertaking the work and
most regulators are very strict about this.
Therefore as an owner-occupier that wished to
carry out your own DIY electrical work you must
apply for your own permit and you invalidate the
permit if you get someone else to do the work.
There are a couple of reasons behind this logic
the first being that the application for the
permit has a questionnaire that allows the
regulator to evaluate whether the applicant has
knowledge and experience of working to the
required local standards and codes. The second is
that it aims to try to clamp down on unqualified
tradesmen passing themselves of as qualified
electrical contractors. The way it works is that
any unqualified tradesman would have to get the
owner-occupier to apply for the permit on their
behalf or they couldnt get the work inspected
and certified. Any company requesting the
owner-occupier to apply for such a permit should
be an obvious red flag that they are not
qualified to be undertaking the work. A genuine
certified electrical contractor will always apply
for their own permit as they can do their own
inspection and certification though they may
undergo random checks. Consequently there should
never be a need for a qualified electrical
contractor to ask the owner-occupier to apply on
their behalf.

• Only the Permit Holder can Carry out the Work

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In general if you are an owner-occupier carrying
out any electrical work in your own property you
will require a permit. However there are some
common exceptions where the risks and the
required levels of skill are deemed to be
sufficiently low as to not require a permit. The
typical exceptions are when changing
like-for-like 2-wire to 2-wire swap, for example
when replacing a light switch or a new lighting
fixture. Just about everything else requires a
permit.

• Types of work that dont need a permit

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If you are still not convinced - after reading
about permits, insurance, inspections and
certifications as well as potential future
liability - that the DIY approach to electrical
work is not a good idea. Then lets consider some
other reasons you might want to employ a
qualified electrical contractor. These are less
profound but still relevant reasons for calling
in a professional.1. Electrical work is
dangerous and around 30 of all deaths caused by
electrical work in the home are associated with
installing, maintaining, repairing and
renovating. 2. Professional contractors have
all the necessary safety equipment, test
equipmentand tools for the job.3. Professional
contractors are expert on the local electrical
standards, codes and best practices and be
knowledgeable through training and experience of
all the common defects that result in failed
inspections.

• Why you should get an Approved Electrical
  Contractor

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4. Professional contractors will be expert on
local safety codes of practice for example the
Ontario Electrical Safety Code, came into effect
as regulation on May 5, 2016 with about 200
changes and updates. 5. Running cables down
the inside of walls and wriggle underneath
floorboards is not as easy as it seems and
finishing around sockets and switches can require
a lot of skilled finishing work.6. A little
knowledge can be a dangerous think in the case
of electricity it can be deadly. Electrical
contractors may be expensive but funeral
directors dont come cheap either.
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What to look for in an Electrical Contractor

• First and foremost check that they are licensed
  Electrical Contractors by the local authority to
  undertake the electrical work. You should also
  make sure that they have suitable insurance and
  references. In addition you should check that
  they have a good local reputation for employing
  qualified licensed electricians that are
  customer-focused, professional, meticulous and
  diligent in keeping to estimates and deadlines.
  After all you are paying for their services so
  you should expect a highly professional job done
  to the highest standards, quality and timeliness.

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• An example of such an electrical contractor
  company that covers the Greater Toronto Area in
  Ontario is GSC Electric. Their mission is to
  provide their clients big or small with
  dependable licensed electrical services. In the
  residential sector they can undertake work that
  meets the clients expectations and budgets in a
  wide array of specialty wiring and lighting as
  well as other electrical projects such as
  rewiring and renovation, fuse-box to breaker
  conversions, pot-light installation and many
  other services. However they also cover a wide
  range of commercial electrical services such as
  splitter-box installation, retrofit lighting and
  many others. Also whether it is residential or
  commercial GSC Electrics skilled electrical
  specialists have a deep knowledge of local
  jurisdictions codes and regulations. The prospect
  of working with an honest, reputable, dependable,
  professional and diligent licensed electrical
  contractor will surely put to bed any ideas of
  DIY.

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The End

• Find out more, Please Visit- https//csgelectric.
  ca/