yourvoice

I would like to commend you on the best designed and run trade oriented website that it has ever been my pleasure to behold. Simple, easy to view, with a real BC flair and extremely interesting. You obviously have a thorough command of the trade and are taking great pains to educate anyone
viewing your site. The rest of us can only admire the efforts of your labour. A truly outstanding site that should be compulsory viewing for anyone in the trade. With warmest regards,

David N. Shavalier
President
The Electrical Inspectors' Association of British Columbia
www.eiabc.org

Wow...Thank you... That is like getting kissed by the pope!

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Hi BC Electrician:

Why in hell do I have to change my service mast if I want to upgrade my service? I have a 2" rigid conduit, and it is all nice and neat. It has been there for years, through many wind and snow storms and is still straight as an arrow, I have some electric heat, but I want to go to a 125 amp service so I have the power to add a hot tub. I can get from the panel to the meter base with #2 copper in the existing 1 1/4" EMT conduit, but if I do that the inspector requires the mast to be changed and installed on the outside of my house, with a 2 ½" conduit, or an approved mast kit? 2" Rigid conduit is more than big enough to handle 3# 2 copper x-link wires, and there are a million of them installed and ?????
M.C...Trail

Hi MC.
Yup….Here we go….
Not all law makers are tradesmen. I think that whoever it was that introduced this rule must have been some guy with a whole bunch of stupid ideas, and the smarter guys finally let him have his way just to shut him up! Many houses are out there that have exceeded their demand because they don't want to mess up the look of their house, or endure the cost of installing a completely new service and have another hole in their roof. Instead of allowing the re-use of existing masts that every province except B.C. allows, we get maxed out services, and a lot of work done without permits. Homeowners look at the contractors as if they are nuts when they tell them what the Code requires, and then they get their brother in law to hook things up. .…Sigh…Don't Blame the inspectors or contractors though...they are only following the rules, ….they didn't write them either…...

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I wrote the exam about 7 years ago and at that time there was a heavy emphasis ( about half) on the Electrical Safety Act and its rules. The exam you have on the site doesn't.
Is that the way the tests are these days, or is it that you are just concentrating on the CEC?
Enjoy your site...... Chris

Hi Chris:
Yes, you are correct that there are a lot of questions dealing with the safety acts. I did not put them in for a couple of reasons, first that they are all very simple questions with all the answers in the acts that you bring into the exam room with you, and mostly because everything was changing or under review when i did it all. (It is still changing as everything has not been written in stone yet).
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Hi BC Electrician
I recently went to Carrier in Kelowna to purchase a Carrier Air conditioner to install as a favor for a disabled mother with 2 kids, and was told they will not sell directly to Electrical Contractors? Have you ever found similar situations with other Distributors and Wholesalers?
Thanks …Kelowna Contractor

Hi Kelowna Contractor:
You reminded me of another issue, which is Permits. I will get to that later.
No, I have not ever heard of any electrical contractors having this problem, and in fact i have found it is usually quite the opposite in that trades have an unspoken commradery . Could it be something that only Carrier has initiated? The biggest problem I see here is if they will not sell to Electricians, then what do we do if we need their parts for repairs or maintenance down the road. (I will Call Carrier and find out their policy). If this is the case, I will be sure to mention it to all Electrical Contractors that parts issues may arise later if they choose to use Carrier products, and will also include this story in the next newsletter to all BC Electrical contractors.

Of Course, if Carrier is the only one refusing to sell directly to Electrical Contractors, there are many others to choose from:
Adams, Aire-Flo , Amana , American Standard, Arcoaire, Armstrong , Bryant (owned by Carrier) , Burnham ,Clare , Coleman , Columbia , DeLonghi , DMO Industries , Dornback , Ducane , Dunkirk , Emerson , Evcon , Fedders , Friedrich , Frigidaire , Fulton , General Electric , Gibson , Goldstar , Goodman , Haier, Heil , Janitrol , Kenmore , Lennox , Luxaire , Maytag , Olsen / Airco , Oneida Royal , Parker , Payne , Peerless , Rheem , Ruud , Samsung , Sanyo , Sears , Sharp , Spartan , Tempstar ,Thermo Pride , Trane , Utica , Weatherking , Weil-McLain , Whirlpool York

Click for more info on HVAC Units (CLICK)

This Email was sent on May 24 at 2:05 pm..
Hi: I am with www.bcelectrician.com. Do you sell your products and parts to licensed Electrical Contractors. We recently had a question that originated in Kelowna, B.C.and we have posted it on the "Your Voice" page at www.bcelectrician.com . If this was just a misunderstanding, i will contact the originator and remove it from the website. If it is your policy, i will expand on it with your policy, and send it to all Contractors in my database. I will wait for a reply until May 27/2005
Thank - You... admin@bcelectrician.com

Reply from Carrier Wed May 25th 1:38 pm
Thank you for contacting Carrier. The Carrier distributor for your area is in the best position to advise you. They may be contacted as follows: CARRIER CANADA (Pacific)
Pacific Region, 20350 Langley Bypass Langley, British Columbia Canada V3A 5E7
DIRECTORY (Home page) (800) 663-4385 (from British Columbia only)
Regards, Lisa Customer Relations

Now, as for the permits…. Many (Usually) (Almost Always) the HVAC people who install new units in projects do so under our electrical permits. According to the B.C. codes, they need a permit to install and test anything electrical. Since we always have a permit open which covers all this, they usually just slide it in under our permit, and it is inspected as if we did the work, and life goes on. We do not have to allow this. We can write in the permit comments area that all HVAC connections and testing not done by us is not covered by our permits. Of course, that will mean that the HVAC people will be required to take out their own permits, and be required to have their own inspections, which will unfortunately all add time, cost and co-ordination to the job. Also, many HVAC people only have the restricted license to do this and may then need to hire an Electrical Contractor to finish their work, especially when it is on larger projects or in buildings with 3 phase or higher than 200 amp services.
This also applies to other installations such as fire alarms, sound systems, LV lighting, Pools, alarms, signs, awnings etc. If it is on your permit, (or not excluded so the inspector knows) you as the permit holding FSR are responsible to ensure it is done to code and your standards.

If anyone is restricting access to their products, parts, workmanship etc, and still expecting to be covered under my permits, I will certainly be discussing the possibility of excluding them from my permits with the builders.

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What is the correct way to Determine the ratio of Apprentices/Helpers to Journeymen?. Is it by the PERMIT, Or by the SCOPE of work? At the Kelowna Trade Show they told us it was by the Permit, But now at the BCSA Meeting we were told its by the Scope of Work. Which is it??

Provincial Safety Manager Rick May informed me of Directive (Click here for D-E3 041112 7) issued on Nov 4, 2004 regarding this! There also an addendum to the rule issued on Dec 9th to clarify it further! (Click for D-E3 0411127A)

C ticket individuals - 4 helpers/labourers/ do not have to be employed by "C"contractor - could be off street.

B & A ticketed contractor - a max. of two individual who must be in a apprenticeship & must be employed by contractor.

The decision is made depending on the main service size. If the main service is greater than 200 amps or 3 phase or more than 150 volts to ground, then you must use apprentices (max 2) or journeymen and can NOT use helpers. If it is class "C" you may use up to 4 workers.
( This is an Excellent Clarification Rick! ) Also thanks to Chuck for clarifacation!

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This was sent from an Okanagan contractor:
As an electrician for over 30 years I do not agree with the idea of 4 helpers to one journeyman.These helpers when laid off could erode our trade immensely.They would not have any rules to follow. As apprentices they would know that they should follow the electrical code rules. I could understand 4 apprentices to one journeyman and maybe we could get some new tradesmen out of this. I have seen the helper senario and do not agree with it.Lets not let the helper senario happen.
For those who are not up to date, he is talking about the safety authority rules that allow up to 4 workers on any "C" class work. The rules state that these workers dont have to be an apprentice or anything else. Just for the record, i agree with him completely, and feel we are breeding a bunch of future "HANDYMAN" prospects!
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My Question at the Kamloops safety authority meeting was:
Would they consider a public awareness program informing the public that all homeowner work requires a permit and would they somehow inform the public that handymen and reno carpenters are not qualified to charge for electrical renovations or do the work. They said that they were more concerned about policing us in a matter of fact way.

Hi Kamloops Guy: We asked the same question at the Kelowna meeting, and by the contractor response, it was worth asking. We were told that if we see any "Handyman" ads with Electrical, to inform the inspector. He (Our Local inspector) had just finished going out and having a stern talk with one of the ads in our local paper. Personally, I agree that it should be a public awareness program.
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At the Kelowna Safety Authority meeting, when we asked who we could contact about changes, they (The Safety Authority) kept dancing around the issue saying "We Just Enforce The Rules...We didnt make them" So Who do we contact??

bcelectrician.com is looking into this and I will post the answer as soon as i get their address.
UPDATE:
Phone Toll free 1-866-566-7233
You can email the Public Education Coordinator: Dulce.Dolor@safetyauthority.ca and she will help you.
You can contact Rick May. This guy is a straight shooter and easy to talk to who will get the answers you need! He is the Provincial Electrical Safety Manager. 1-866-566-7233
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Our Contractors Insurance (Liability) costs over $1000 per year. On some of the USA Forums they say its as low as $275 per year. Are we being ripped off??

bcelectrician.com will check into this!
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Arc Fault plugs???
The Following was sent to Hubbell and Lutron and Leviton
Hi: Do you have any plans now or in the future of manufacturing an Arc Fault Receptacle with a feed through circuit similar to the Ground fault receptacles?. It would serve a need in the trade, especially with the cost of Arc Fault Breakers.
Thanks..... Les@bcelectrician.com

In answer to your question, unfortunately Leviton does not have any plans at the moment nor in a near future to produce an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter receptacle since the electrical code at this time states protection on the circuit to be provided by an Arc Fault breaker.An eventual change in the electrical code could and most likely cause a re-evaluation ofthe situation, but it does not seem to be very close. Hoping this is to your satisfaction and that you will not hesitate to contact us for other questions. Best regards, Marc Malboeuf

Hubbell in looking into a Arc-Fault Device. But at this time we can not say if or when we will manufacture it. Have a good day.Customer Service Dept.Hubbell Wiring Device

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Why is it that plumbers charge more than us for service calls and hourly work?

Thats easy...DUH!!! They are Smarter, and They have to go to school longer, and They have to constantly upgrade, and They know a lot more stuff, and They have much stricter codes, and its more Dangerous work, and Public Safety.....and.....oh....uh.... wait.......Ignore That ........ It's because they're Smarter...

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