questions on electric wiring?

[betty]

I was just wondering if I was to replace insulation & paneling with dry wall... can I have a non- electrician replace all the wiring while I have the wall open? I was told from someone you can't, you HAVE to have it installed & inspected from an actual professional electrician; due to liability?? Is that true?? Thanks.

[ponch37300]

Different municipalities have different rules. The only way to get a for sure answer would be to call the building department and ask the inspector.

The inspection part is to protect the home owner from hiring a non licensed guy to run wires and him not doing things right and your home ends up burning down.

[HouseMedic]

I would also say check with your local building department. Here in Delaware we are allowed to do our own electrical work on our own home as long as it is our full time residence and we don't rent it out and we get a permit and inspections before covering up anything with drywall.

Ron

[calderhill]

Ponch is 100% correct. There are areas where homeowners may legally do anything to their home. There are areas that are not covered by any rules. But you have to ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky today?". That's what it amounts to if you or a non-licensed person does the work.

[Greg]

Check with your codes department, they can give you the answers you need. As was said, every location is different.

Greg

[countrydan]

replace what is there and attach it to the studs and use typical residential boxes and outlets which is an upgrade from the mobile types..If you don't know what you are doing you should hire a licensed electrician to complete the project...

[JD]

In the posts above, the provision to allow a homeowner to do his own work on their home (which I think is should be a right), does not eliminate the need for permits and inspections. As soon as you hire an unlicensed person to do the work, there is the rub. You should also consider that if you pull a permit saying you did do the work that an unlicensed guy did, there would be no responsibility on the unlicensed guy's part. Well, in a worse case scenario I guess their would be, but for minor problems, you would not have a contractor license board, bond or BBB to back you up.

Personally, I would only replace the wire (considering the walls will be open) if it were aluminum wire or the old cloth covered wire. If the walls were not opened, I would handle aluminum wire with pigtails performed by a licensed electrician.