HomeMy WebLinkAboutA005 - Memo from City Manager to City Council, response to Inquiry by Mr. Markley aMemo
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TO: Sharon Wirth, City Council Yj
FROM: Steven L. Schainker, City Manager
DATE: January 7, 1999
SUBJECT: Response to Citizen Inquiry
This is in response to the inquiry you received from Mr. Markley regarding whether or not the proposed
changes to the Electrical Code would preclude an unlicensed homeowner from doing electrical work within
his/her own home. According to Jeff Pearson, the answer is "No."
Our current codes allow the owner of a single family, owner-occupied home to do electrical and plumbing
work, even though the homeowner is not a licensed electrician or plumber. However, the homeowner still
needs to take out permits and have the work inspected. This provision will not be changed in the revised
Electrical Code.
However, I was informed that there recently has been a change in interpretation of the codes. Staff had
traditionally applied this homeowner's exemption to individuals who wanted to construct their own new
home from the ground up, and who would do the electrical and/or plumbing work themselves. The City
Attorney recently advised Inspections staff that this is an incorrect interpretation of the codes, since a "not-
yet-constructed home" cannot be "owner occupied."
Last year, Inspections staff had told two individuals that they could do this work in their new homes, and
then had to reverse that ruling after consulting with the City Attorney. It could be that you heard about this
situation. Any frustration or disappointment is understandable. However, Inspections feels duty-bound to
enforce the Code according to our most current legal interpretation.
Aside from the legalities involved, one practical problem with the previous interpretation was that individual
contractors would sometimes build themselves a new home without licensed electricians and/or plumbers,
and then ivould turn around and sell the home to another party soon thereafter. Let me know if you have any
more questions on this.
\sls
c: Mayor and City Council
Bob Kindred, Assistant City Manager