Insurance

When hiring an electrician, it is important to do your due diligence and make sure you hire a licensed electrician. It is very important when you have electrical work done to make sure you have any necessary permits and have all the work done up to city, county, township, or other municipal codes. If you do not do everything up to code, it could be difficult in the future to sell the home without having to redo the electrical work.

It is also important to make sure the electrician is insured and bonded. Hiring a backyard mechanic to do electrical work in your house is a terrible idea. If something goes wrong, homeowners insurance is not necessarily going to cover the damages from using a non-licensed and non-insured mechanic.

When selecting an electrician to hire, it is important to spell out how he is to be compensated in the beginning. If it is a bigger job, determine if he will get paid prior to completion for a partial amount. I recommend against paying up front for the electrical work. I also had a friend have a really bad experience with this type of situation. If the electrician cannot do the job and get the materials without being prepaid, it is time to find a different electrician!

Another important step in hiring an electrician is to determine if there will be other contractors necessary for the job and decide who is in charge of the other contractors. If there is going to be a painter or a drywaller, do not assume anything with the electrician and clearly define who is going to take care of that part of the job. If it is something as simple as fixing a doorbell then it is not as important to take this step.

It is also a good idea to know how your electrical system works or at least have a small conceptual grasp of this. Most residential homes have a line coming in from outside that the electric company takes care of. From that metered box it comes into a panel in your home where all the circuits are. Some circuits in your home are for carrying 240 volt wiring and tend to be for bigger appliances like an oven or water heater. The other circuits are 120 volts and are for the smaller things like microwaves or computers.

Having an idea what type of voltage you will need, how big or small the project is, and if the electrician is licensed and insured are all things you need to know ahead of time before hiring an electrician.