ᐅ Poor Electrical Installation in New Construction

Don’t you have an independent expert you can bring along?

There are horizontal and vertical installation zones for the electrical rough-in. In the first picture, these do not appear to be followed.

The site manager arranged for the electrician to attend the appointment today, as some of the chases are being redone. We went through every cable in the house and discussed additional minor repairs (including those for the roller shutter power supply). I feel better now. :-)

And what explanation did the electrician give for this sloppy workmanship?

If you expect the electrician to mark the chases beforehand using a level, you also have to be willing to pay for that.
This is just a lot of fuss over nothing.

Yes, there are installation zones that are mostly observed. For a venetian blind, you have to bend the cable horizontally at the height of the motor—what else can you do?
Running cables along the floor is standard and not prohibited.

And if a triple combination of switches and sockets is installed at an angle, it’s not a big deal. Often, it can’t be done any other way.

Take pictures, measure it yourself. If you want to cover the entire wall with pictures, you probably shouldn’t have planned any electrical devices there in the first place.

Completely exaggerated fuss, typically German. “It says 87°, but I measured 88.3°.”

The electrician will probably cut corners elsewhere now, on things that will matter a lot more to you in the end... but you asked for it 😉

xMisterDx schrieb:

Anyone expecting the electrician to mark their chases beforehand using a spirit level must also be prepared to pay for it.
This is just a lot of fuss over nothing.

Yes, there are installation zones that have been mostly followed. For a roller shutter, you have to bend the cable horizontally at the height of the motor – what else can you do?
Running cables along the floor is standard practice and not prohibited.

And if a triple combo of switches and sockets is installed slightly askew, that’s not a big deal. Often, there’s no other way.

Take photos, measure it yourself. If you want to cover the entire wall with pictures, then you shouldn’t have planned electrical fixtures there in the first place.

Completely overblown drama, typically German. "It says 87°, I measured 88.3°."

The electrician is probably cutting corners elsewhere now, in ways that will be much more important to you later… but hey, you asked for it 😉

You’re usually the one who insists that as a layperson, you best don’t touch sockets at all. Here, a professional company was hired to install proper and compliant electrical work – and the guy didn’t just fail to use his spirit level, he didn’t even rely on a rough visual estimate. The guidelines on how to run cables exist for a reason because in just two or three years, no one will remember where the cables run, or the house changes ownership and then you need to figure out where the outlets are so you can safely hang pictures or mount shelves. And no one will ever think that in a newly built house the electrical installation was done as if the guy had been at the fair the night before and didn’t sleep at all.

Today I was looking for the wiring inside our walls from a 6-year-old installation because we’re getting new interior plaster and I want to mark the cables for the plasterers. I’m grateful that most of them got the horizontal and vertical positioning right because I wouldn’t want to be searching all over the walls – after so few years, I already don’t remember exactly where anything is.