Sorry you feel that upgrading houses with electrical service that is unsafe, according to the current national standards, is unreasonable.
I assume that you are an electrician. Don’t you want more business?
In any case, no one has said that local governments are reasonable, usually just the opposite.
If people choose to get unprofessional people to do the work, or do it themselves, they are the ones who will suffer from it.
I just love it when people do their own work or hire unqualified workers to do the work, than b**ch to the City when their house burns down or they have other problems. They want to see ‘tyhe nanny state’ take care of a problem by going after these non-quailified contractors, legally, but won’t accept any responsibility for thier own stupidity.
I see it all the time during inspections. The roof has 3 layers and us a real c**p job, but they complain to me, “Hey, I just had that new roof put on!”. I ask if the work was done by a state licensed roofer (required in Illinois), but they tell me that this ‘guy’ did it for 1/2 of what the roofer would charge.
The local AHJs can set rules, and try to enforce the rules, and have the rules reflect what the people want (safety), but then the people do everyting they can to avoid the monitary cost of the rules that they want.
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not trying to defend the citys. I am just pointing out the absurdity of the problem.
I did a house, last week. Was selling for about 1.7 Mil. Built in 1915 and totally remodeled and added to (from 1,300 SF to about 3,200 SF) in 1999. Looked good, cosmetically and the inside was beautiful.
But the EIFS siding was water logged, the attic had NO vents and there was mold and 60% moisture readings in the plywood decking and 1/2 the receptacles had reverse polarity. The work was obviously done by non-qualified people and the place was ‘inspected’ by the locak AHJ. Still, the place was a mess (the deal fell through).
Who is responsible?
Not the AHJ (they NEVER accept any liability).
The ‘contractor’? He was just earning a living (and hiring illegals).
Of course, the owner was at fault. But she and her Realtor laid it all at my feet. “The village said it was OK. Who are you to disagree with the Village inspectors?”
I just showed them the results, the readings from my meters and the mold in the attic and hehind the EIFS.
Told them not to argue with me, but with their own eyes.
Please, don’t complain to me about the AHJ rules or codes or your belief that they are ‘unreasonable’. I have a duty to represent my client and,as far as I can, keep them from making the same mistakes that the seller did.