4 Reasons You Should Hire a Licensed Electrician
Would you let your car mechanic fill your tooth cavity? Would you let your dentist install new plumbing for your renovated bathroom? Would you let your plumber do your taxes? The answers to these questions are quite obvious.
Licensed Electrician – Mike!
How about this one: Would you hire an unlicensed electrician to rewire your home? While the obvious answer is NO, there are still those few people that do hire unlicensed electricians to “save on costs”. This is the BIGGEST mistake someone can make when hiring an electrician to do electrical work in their home or business. Not only does it NOT save on costs, but it isn’t safe! When needing any type of electrical work done, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HIRE A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN! Here is why:
Education, Training, Experience, and Testing
A licensed electrician is required to go through extensive training and testing to become certified with the state to be granted with a license. In some cases like PA, an electrician becomes licensed through cities and municipalities. Regardless if through the state or a city/township, a licensed electrician knows the state codes and safety protocol for electrical work, which means your electrical work will be done with an assurance of quality.
This also means that a licensed electrician is trained for a certain number of hours, which provides them with the experience and education needed to perform the work correctly and efficiently. Being licensed also means continuing education. Continuing education for any professional is very important, especially for an electrician. Codes and regulations change over the years, and learning these things through continuing education keeps your home up to code for passing inspections and safety.
Licensed Electricians are Insured
A licensed electrician in the state of Pennsylvania is required to carry liability insurance. When you hire a licensed electrician, they are responsible for personal injury or property damage due to any type of negligence. When you hire an unlicensed electrician, they may not be insured. In this case, if an unlicensed electrician damages your property because of faulty wiring, or someone gets hurt due to negligence, you (the homeowner or business owner) would be responsible for medical bills or costly home repairs. Bottom line: a licensed electrician is required to have insurance, while an unlicensed electrician is not. Would you take that risk when hiring someone who isn’t licensed?
Licensed Electricians Save You Money
Hiring a licensed electrician for your home or business will save you money. Few people might beg to differ, and believe that because they aren’t licensed, they charge less. While this may sometimes be true, think about it this way. The unlicensed electrician may have less experience in the field, and may do the work as he sees fit (not up to code standards or regulations). Because of this, the electrical work may be done incorrectly, inefficiently, and can cost you in repairs. This is especially true when something needs to pass inspection, and the unlicensed electrician you hired months ago didn’t wire something correctly. So you end up paying for an amateur electrician do his work, and then a licensed electrician to fix his work. This smells like a lot of money! Don’t waste your hard earned cash hiring someone who isn’t fit for the job. A licensed electrician is fit for the job, and will get the work done right the first time.
Licensed Electricians Think Safety First
A licensed electrician always has you and your home’s safety in mind. This means you won’t find anything rigged up to work semi-properly that could damage wiring, cause fires, or cause injury. Proper safety protocol is ensured with a licensed electrician the moment he or she steps on your front porch. Knowing the correct procedures to do electrical work with precision and safety in mind will keep your mind at ease. Don’t trust someone who isn’t licensed to wire your home, or install those needed GFCI outlets. Improper grounding is one of many things we see that amateur electricians love to try and get away with. Improper grounding is a safety hazard that can cause potentially fatal electric shock, as well as damage to your appliances. Again, trust someone who is licensed that knows what they are doing!
Conclusion
Would you want someone who has the training, experience, and knowledge doing your electrical work, or someone who has less experience, training, and knowledge doing your electrical work? A license is like an award. When you put in that hard work, are tested, and then apply what you learned, you earn an award (license). This award (license) shows what you are capable of, giving a homeowner confidence that he or she is fit for the job. Makes you wonder what the guy without the license is really capable of, doesn’t it? Trust a licensed electrician for accuracy, safety, and money savings. In the end, you could be shelling out thousands for a mistake an amateur made that causes electrical damage to your home or appliances.
I like what this article mentions about licensed electricians thinking safety first. Safety is one of my biggest concerns when it comes to my home so I want to make sure the electrical is done properly. Having an experienced professional electrician do the work could not only save me money, but also the save me from stressing the safety of it. Thanks for sharing!
Love your points.. Hit everyone in good detail! But you had me laughing with the image of my auto mechanic working on my teeth!
I couldn’t agree more. Too often are people rushing to have a friend or a part-time electrician work on their most expensive investment (their home) to fix minor issues. Fact it, this is where we get at least 1/4 of our electrical work. A professional contractor is knowledgable and safety-focused which is the best way to approach any job you need an electrician to work on.
Great article. Keep it up!
I like what this article mentions about a good technician having gone through training and testing to make sure their skills are where they need to be. It makes sense that it could be beneficial as they would be able to handle problems they might not have expected as they might’ve seen them before. It’s something I’ll need to keep in mind when looking to have an electrician do some repairs at my home.
You stated that a licensed electrician in the state of Pennsylvania is required to carry liability insurance. Do most states require this of their licensed electricians? My wife called me at work today because all of the outlets in our master bathroom don’t work. Finding a licensed electrician might be our best option.
I would never try to DIY electronic things. Like you said, a professional electrician has the education, training, and experience to fix problems quickly and safely. If I tried to do it myself, something would break.