New outlets, lights and circuits are licensed work: a licensed electrician, a permit and inspections. A wiring mistake hides in the wall until it overheats or shocks someone. Panel and service work also involves the utility. A few places let the owner of a single-family home wire the house they live in under a permit — ask your building department before you touch a wire.
Hire this out: licensed work with a permit.
How it goes
4 stages
1
Hire a licensed electrician
Compare quotes; check the license. The electrician pulls the permit.
2
Rough-in
Boxes and cable run with walls open, then inspected.
3
Close up
Drywall after the rough inspection passes.
4
Trim-out
Devices, fixtures, final inspection.
What you can do yourself
Once the pros are done, these parts are DIY. Each has a Sheet: the materials counted, the tools and the steps.
These are the general rules. Your state, province or town may add its own: check with your local building department before you start.
Licenses and registration
Hire an electrician licensed for your area — by the state, or in some places the city or county — who pulls the electrical permit from your local building department. A home improvement contractor’s registration doesn’t cover electrical work. Some places let the owner of a single-family home do their own wiring under a homeowner permit — ask your building department before you start. Rules change — your building department has the last word.
How to hire a licensed electrician
This is licensed work: only a licensed electrician should do it. Ask these questions and check the license before you sign.
Ask before you hire
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Your license number? Look it up on your state’s (or city’s) licensing board website before you sign.
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Will you pull the permit in your name and be there for the inspections?
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Can I have the price and the scope in writing, with the license number on it?
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Do you patch the holes you cut, or is that on me?
Check the license
Look the license up with your state or local licensing board before you sign.
Permit and inspections
The electrician pulls the electrical permit from your local building department. Walls stay open until the rough-wiring inspection passes; the final inspection comes once the devices and fixtures are in. Keep the approval with your house papers — buyers and insurers ask for it.
Get quotes from local pros
Quotes from local pros need the online version
StudSheet sends quote requests to verified local pros through your account, so it needs the online version at app.studsheet.com. For now, copy this page and send it to a contractor you trust.
After the work
Painters can patch and paint the holes the work leaves. Never the licensed work itself.