I didn't say I did.

But those contractors that are building those condo's, resurfacing the roads etc...they're there, doing their thing for who ever put in the lowest bid for whatever project the contractor is working on and he's able to make those low rates work because he isn't paying bonded, certified people....

I'd rate anyone trained on 220/415 over anyone in the USA.

Always amuses me how peoples perception of risk relates to reality.

US Sparks are very likely to be working on 460. If only they would stop with those damn wire nuts though. The electrical contractor we use is one guy with an E1 licence, a couple of guys with an E2 and a whole group of day labor latino guys.

The majority of their work is garbage.

Bob's initial impression was that he'd just hire anybody off the street to do his electrical work, who might be untrained in any electrical. That was what, ahem, shocked me. He then clarified it to somebody under the supervision of a contractor which changes things for the better... slightly.

I understand that there are people doing things they probably shouldn't be doing, but I would place more trust in one that had some sort of qualification than none at all.

No, I never said I'd hire someone off the street.

I just said that a lot of people who are uncertified work under the table, hanging around a hardware store and wait to get picked up and work that way.

And I never said you said that, just that you gave that impression.

Yeah, they make my skin crawl.

Every house I have owned has wiring that is some combination of unusual, non-code, and dangerous.

My house in London had the emersion heater wired into the back of a 13A socket on the landing that got noticeably warm (until I rewired the IH, a few days after I found out what had been done, with its own fuse) when the IH was turned on, .... and was wired into the lighting circuit!

I currently have three "regular" light switches that are fed with 37V for who-knows-what reason, but which turn absolutely nothing on or off, and yet if I remove them the well pump (which is, per usual, powered at 220V) stops working. I consulted my usual electrician who had never seen anything like it, nor could he provide an explanation.