2 ms·

Rarely true, you can almost always work on your own house. You can't work on anyone else's. And you should still pull permits, though it seems like most peopl

Rarely true, you can almost always work on your own house. You can't work on anyone else's. And you should still pull permits, though it seems like most people skip it, especially for small stuff.

quesera 4y ago
This very much varies by municipality. In the coastal big cities where I've lived, you cannot pull electrical permits without a license. And you cannot do electrical work without a permit. Same for plumbing, which is even less justifiable, I think.
- mikeyouse 4y ago
  I think the only restriction I've seen in the coastal cities I've lived in is the type of structure.. if you have a detached single-family home, you can almost always do you own electrical as long as it's inspected. It's either that strict or les so for SF (https://sf.gov/apply-electrical-permit https://sf.gov/apply-electrical-permit), Seattle (https://www.seattle.gov/sdci/permits/permits-we-issue-(a-z)/electrical-permit https://www.seattle.gov/sdci/permits/permits-we-issue-(a-z)/...), Portland (https://www.portland.gov/bds/residential-permitting/residential-electrical-permits https://www.portland.gov/bds/residential-permitting/resident...), etc.
  - quesera 4y ago
    Ah good point. On the west coast, I've been thwarted by class of building (and this is reasonable I guess). On the east coast (New England), many cities and towns don't even make an exception for owner-occupied, detached SFH buildings. Thou absolutely shalt not. My favorite permitting office experience was in another, shall we say lower-density, part of the country. I wanted to put a subpanel in the barn for a workshop. "Would I need a license for that?" The guy behind the desk asked me how big of a panel I wanted, what size and type of wire I was going to use, distance from the existing service, size of existing service. He was satisfied with my answers and said "Nah. You're good. Give me a call if you want me to swing by and take a look when you're done, but it sounds like you're fine.". I was in and out of there in like three minutes.

Rarely true, you can almost always work on your own house. You can't work on anyone else's. And you should still pull permits, though it seems like most people skip it, especially for small stuff.

quesera 4y ago

This very much varies by municipality. In the coastal big cities where I've lived, you cannot pull electrical permits without a license. And you cannot do electrical work without a permit. Same for plumbing, which is even less justifiable, I think.

mikeyouse 4y ago
I think the only restriction I've seen in the coastal cities I've lived in is the type of structure.. if you have a detached single-family home, you can almost always do you own electrical as long as it's inspected. It's either that strict or les so for SF (https://sf.gov/apply-electrical-permit https://sf.gov/apply-electrical-permit), Seattle (https://www.seattle.gov/sdci/permits/permits-we-issue-(a-z)/electrical-permit https://www.seattle.gov/sdci/permits/permits-we-issue-(a-z)/...), Portland (https://www.portland.gov/bds/residential-permitting/residential-electrical-permits https://www.portland.gov/bds/residential-permitting/resident...), etc.
- quesera 4y ago
  Ah good point. On the west coast, I've been thwarted by class of building (and this is reasonable I guess). On the east coast (New England), many cities and towns don't even make an exception for owner-occupied, detached SFH buildings. Thou absolutely shalt not. My favorite permitting office experience was in another, shall we say lower-density, part of the country. I wanted to put a subpanel in the barn for a workshop. "Would I need a license for that?" The guy behind the desk asked me how big of a panel I wanted, what size and type of wire I was going to use, distance from the existing service, size of existing service. He was satisfied with my answers and said "Nah. You're good. Give me a call if you want me to swing by and take a look when you're done, but it sounds like you're fine.". I was in and out of there in like three minutes.