When you hire an electrician, you have to trust that they will follow all electrical safety codes. There is nothing our Master Electrician, Doug G., dislikes more than finding hazardous electrical work in customer’s homes so he is sharing with us the four most common electrical safety mistakes for homeowners to look out for.
1. Not using a junction box
Behind every light fixture and light switch there is a junction box. The j box protects the electrical connections, protects you from electrical shock and protects your home from electrical fires.
2. Burying a junction box or open splice behind sheet rock
Concealing a junction box full of live or exposed wires is against all electrical building codes. Short circuits or wiring issues could easily cause a spark and catch the interior of the home’s wall on fire before anyone could ever notice.
3. Not leaving the proper length of wires for splicing or attaching to a device.
Wires that are cut too short make wire connections difficult which is dangerous and increases the chances of a poor electrical connection.
4. Not providing ground fault protection when required
Ground fault circuit breakers will shut off electric power when it senses an imbalance between the outgoing and incoming current. We all know that water and electricity don’t mix, so all kitchens, bathrooms, garages and the exterior of houses need ground faults for protection against an electrical shock.
