<VV> HELP!! (garage lighting info) (Permitting)

[Steven J. Serenska]

> Where I live the owner can supposedly do their own wiring.  It just has to be the owner and not anyone else.  On existing service the electric company doesn't care.
[This is going to be one of those "DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER" posts.  
It's long.  Skip it if you're busy or sick of reading this thread.]

I'm not sure I've seen this mentioned earlier, but I have read a couple 
of comments in this thread that have concerned me.

Yes, it is your property.  Yes, if you're a competent electrician, or 
even just handy, you can get it done.  Yes, you have the right to do it, 
and if it's a single-family dwelling, no one will ever know. No, the 
electric company won't care.  All they want to do is sell you 
electricity.  Their responsibility and liability stops at the meter.

However....

You should at least be aware of city codes and ordinances concerning 
what you need to do to bring the wiring up to code.  The reason is that, 
in the event of a loss due to fire, you can be sure that your insurance 
carrier will do a thorough examination of the property to identify the 
source of the damage.  If it is determined that the loss occurred due to 
substandard -- and maybe just undocumented/uninspected wiring -- the 
carrier may have the cause it needs not to pay the claim.  If you don't 
believe me, please review the terms and conditions of your policy which 
is really just a contract between you and your carrier.  If you've paid 
even one premium installment, you've already agreed to those terms.

If you self insure, then these comments don't apply to you.  If you do 
the work yourself, but get the town inspector to approve your work (in 
writing), then this doesn't apply to you.  If you just don't care, then 
it doesn't apply to you.  But if you pay good money for insurance 
premiums, you wouldn't want to forego being reimbursed for a claim 
because you've unknowingly violated the terms of your contract with your 
carrier.  Again, don't shoot the messenger, just check your contract.

I had a tenant burn herself out of an apartment because she was a 
careless boob.  (She put a load of fried chicken on the electric stove 
and then went outside to play with her kids.  When the hot oil boiled 
over and was ignited by the burner, the kitchen went up.) The first 
people on the scene were from the fire department.  The VERY NEXT GUY on 
the scene was the electrical inspector from the town.  His first job was 
to ensure that all power to the building was shut down to lessen the 
risk of further problems due to an exposed live feed.  WHILE HE WAS 
THERE, however, he did a detailed review of the wiring to the unit that 
had burned.  When the walls are burned down to the studs, it's pretty 
easy to see what kind of wiring is there.  In the end, I was ok because 
the wiring was up to code and everyone was satisfied that it was a "food 
fire", so that's the way the Fire Report was written up.  However, the 
order in which people arrived and the steps they took made a big 
impression on me.

Finally, I should also mention that a number of my clients are insurance 
carriers.  I know that, regardless of the type of risk covered, they 
examine everything forwards and backwards before paying any claim.  
Their (and the courts') perspective is that when you pay that first 
premium check, you implicitly accept the terms of your policy contract.

Am I saying that anyone who does their own wiring is a hack and/or an 
accident waiting to happen?  Absolutely not.  I am saying, however, 
please read the terms of your fire policy carefully before finalizing 
your course of action.

Parting thought: I received a claim check for $36,000 in that fire. It 
covered the damage and I got rid of a problem tenant.  However, I'd give 
it all back in a second to avoid the 
stress/heartache/annoyance/nuisance/work that comes from a fire. FWIW, 
my Corsa Coupe was in the detached garage of the same property at the time.

HTH.

Steven J. Serenska