Electrical Evaluations

Electrical Evaluations

Below you will find miscellaneous articles on how to successfully sell Electrical Evaluations. It's very important how you phrase these, because some States require an inspectors license for you to perform an official " Inspection ".

In addition, when you offer someone your professional opinion (especially when they pay you for it), you may be responsible for what they do with that information.

For example, you inspect the wiring in a house for a prospective buyer, and you give it an OK. They, in turn, buy the house which then has an electrical fire. Can you guess who they're going to sue? Now your contract should have all sorts of liability waivers, but that won't stop them and their attorney from trying to sue you.

So to protect yourself, you should have an errors and omissions policy because your liability insurance most of the time won't cover this. Double check with your insurance broker!

Electrical Evaluation Reports

Over the years we have been asked to give thousands of work estimates.

Most of the time, the estimate is fairly simple to perform, and is free of charge to the customer.

Many times though, we have come across cases where in order to give an estimate, we must repair (troubleshoot) or physically inspect and test the circuits in question.

In these cases the customer typically is charged on a time and materials basis and then given an estimate for any necessary repairs or upgrades.

Many calls have also come from homeowners or a buyer/seller who want to investigate further something that may have shown up in the home owner's inspection report or perhaps something that is in obvious need of repair or upgrade.

In these cases, if the estimate involved a detailed inspection, repair or troubleshooting along a written estimate, then again there was a time-based fee charged to the customers.

The problem we found with this time-based fee was that it was open-ended and the customers were always concerned about the total amount of time / cost involved, just to evaluate the problem.

In real estate transactions, sometimes this unknown factor even turned out to be a deal breaker.

For this reason we started offering a comprehensive Electrical Evaluation Report & Estimate for which we charge a flat fee, based on approximate square footage of the residence & several other simple factors.

This allows the home owner or buyer / seller to get a written detailed professional assessment of the electrical systems, for a predetermined amount and an estimate for repairs / upgrades.

Electrical Evaluation / Inspection / Estimate

You may be wondering what's the difference between an Electrical Inspection & an Electrical Evaluation. Actually there is a pretty significant one.

An Electrical Inspection is primarily concerned with your electrical systems meeting the National Electrical Code standards. These are "Minimum" standards that do not take into account real world practicality.

An Electrical Evaluation on the other hand takes into account not only current codes, but also looks at your entire electrical / lighting systems and realistically assesses them.

For instance, an N.E.C. code may allow 10 receptacles on a single circuit. This would pass an Electrical Inspection and yet fail an Electrical Evaluation.

Why? Anyone who's plugged one too many things into an outlet understands why.

Electrical codes are constantly being added and modified, primarily with safety in mind, and although you cannot be forced to correct existing code violations unless you are making additions or modification to the circuit in question, homeowners should be proactive in the upgrading of their old electrical systems, and to bring their properties into code compliance.

Additionally, many people don't realize that electrical wiring & electrical systems (panel, receptacles, switches, sockets, etc.) deteriorate with time & use and can become irreparably damaged when overloaded or improperly used.

Whether you already own a house or are in the process of buying / selling one, take a minute to go through some of the sample questions below.

Is your home more than 10 years old & have you added any major appliances over the last ten years?
Have you added additional outlets & lighting (inside or outside)?
Have you renovated an existing room or perhaps added an additional room?
Are your computers & other electronic equipment plugged into existing outlets, and are they properly grounded?
Do you have problems with circuit breakers tripping frequently or perhaps never having tripped at all?
Do you have Federal Pacific circuit breakers or fuses?
Is your electrical service large enough to safely accommodate all your power requirements?
Is your hot water heater & water meter properly grounded (and bypassed)?
Are your lights dimming when you turn on the dish washer or some other appliance?
Does your hair blower keep tripping the breaker?
Do you have more than one item plugged into an extension cord?
Do you have GFCI receptacles everywhere they are required by code (kitchens, bathrooms, unfinished basements, outside...etc.)?
Do you see a spark when you flip a switch on or off?
Do you smell smoke, plastic burning or ozone from an outlet or light?
Do you feel a tingling sensation when you touch a metal pipe or faucet?
Do you have any exposed or worn electrical wires, or any open splice boxes (without cover plates)?
Do you have any aluminum or knob & tube wiring?
Is your sump pump plugged into a single non-gfci receptacle on a dedicated line?

If you answered "yes" to one or more of the above questions, or you would just like to be proactive (safe) in repairing / upgrading your electrical wiring & systems, then you should have a detailed electrical evaluation performed.

Our Evaluation Reports are always accompanied by estimates for any recommended repairs or upgrades. Part of the cost for the Evaluation Report can be deducted from the estimated cost (of the repairs / upgrades) if you select us to perform the work. For further information and a free sample of an actual report, you can reach us at 888-555-5555, or to schedule an estimate or service just click on the link below and follow the instructions.

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