hot side of switch?

| The new system for home electrical work approval is going to be | expensive - many times the cost of the materials for many jobs. This is

This will be a serious problem. The high expense to get approval will break the system. Here, no engineering approval is needed for home type work. One just files for a permit with the basic plans, which usually don't even require drawings (just list what you're putting in). If you do include drawings they may look it over for you to check for obvious code violations. Otherwise the inspector should catch most errors at the first rough-in check.

The likely cause of the problem is high engineering insurance costs. The engineer approving the design could be held liable for all losses if there is a problem. To fix this, the law needs to say that it only needs a certain limited amount of basic checking for compliance with the code, and that the engineer is not liable at all unless he flagrantly is not doing the job (e.g. signing without ever looking). This isn't about making sure everything is perfect; it's about making sure people are on the right track.

That may be true in the UK but it is not true in the US. Advice given freely without expectation of payment is worth exactly what you paid for it under US law. YMMV.

To put it another way Quality can be illustrated by the purchase of oats If you want nice clean fresh oats you must pay a fair price. I you can be content with oats that have already been through the horse you can pay slightly less.

-- Tom H

Tort liability can arise where there is no contract. A professional who does or who reasonably ought to realise that some party(ies) may rely on the professional's special skill and judgment, owes a duty of care to the party(ies). If the professional fails in the duty of care (gives advice which does not meet the standard of a competent professional in the area of expertise of the advice) and damages or financial losses occur, the professional may be found responsible. Disclaimers are a very effective way for limiting liability along these lines. I'm sure there would be a lot of contentious issues in trying to sue over a failed duty of care, arising from an internet posting. But the way the world is going, nothing would surprise me. From Palidrome's post, it sounds like something has been going on in this vein already. I'm not familiar with it (links??).

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 03:08:23 GMT, Lloyd put forth the notion that...

Usually, but not always. If the switch is getting the hot looped down from the light outlet then back up again, you will still have hot wires in the box, although the one going to the light won't be hot. Having said that, never take anything for granted. Buy a voltage tester and use it. You can get a cheapo tester using a neon light for just a few bucks... or, turn off the main breaker.