Today the husband of a coworker came and looked at my house. He said for my house a replacement 100a unit would likely be sufficient. (Is this ok for house with gas heating and limited electronic use?) He said that to replace the panel without getting a permit he would do it for 1k. I told him that I would want to get permits just to be on the safe side. I didn't do this with the water heater but this seems more necessary. He said it would be a few hundred more to do this way. Why the huge discrepancy here?
Because proper permits are expensive, silly; it's a tax. You can pull a permit yourself, as a homeowner; but then you are also responsible for paying for the inspection as well, which is likely not included in the price of the permit itself. This is likely what he means by "without getting a permit"; i.e., it's not him getting the permit. In some cases, a homeowners' permit is cheaper; but if you do it that way, you're your own general contractor, and he is simply an employee, and not responsible for a screw-up. A whole lot of 'side-work' gets done this way, I've done plenty of it this way myself, but it's not quite kosher to a lot of people. And you still need to have a general idea of how this kind of work goes. If you're a plumber pulling an electrical permit for an electrician buddy you know, odds are you have enough experience around electricians to spot a fake. If you sit in a corporate office & work by sending emails all day, odds are good you shouldn't assume you could spot a handyman in over his head.
Absolutely. It's gray area. I had a very experienced old crusty plumber I loved that worked this way. He'd explain in no uncertain terms that he hated going downtown, standing in lines and then having someone that knew less about plumbing than he did inspecting his work. He was happy to do it either way, but you were paying for the permit, the inspection and his time -- AND if he "got caught" and there was a fine, it was on me to pay for it, too.
I had an existing relationship with him and trusted him fully. I never made him pull a permit. (He was the plumber version of the guy index spoke of: Old guy in a clean white truck in spotless overalls that worked for himself.)
