Electrician vs. Handyman

Let me start by saying handymen are not all bad. That being said, can a handyman do electrical work around your house? No. Unless the Handyman is a Master electrician or a Journeyman electrician doing the work for a company holding a Minnesota Masters license They legally cannot do electrical work in Minnesota. 

• Electricians need to hold a license, even apprentices need to be registered with the state. This among other things is a way for the state to guarantee that all electricians are getting continuing education and learning new code changes to keep their license active.
• Anyone doing electrical work on your home should be insured to do that work. In the unfortunate case something happens and the work was done without a permit and the handyman is not licensed to do electrical, you could be left in a bad position with your insurance.​

This was the work of a sheetrock "handyman" adding a light fixture to a bedroom can be an easy project but not only when he left did it not work correctly but how he did left a very unsafe situation for the homeowners.
- exposed wires create a fire hazard
- disconnecting the metal flex removes the electrical systems path to ground. 

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Installed by an "electrician" who gave the customer a great "cash only" price and no inspection. after the inspector on our project noticed it from the basement the customer unfortunately had to pay again to have it fixed and inspected. 
- exposed wires
- not properly grounded and the wires are not supported

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 Adding recessed cans to the first floor of this house was a great idea, how the handyman did it..not so much.
Attics are a common place for corners to be cut in workmanship because it's rare for a homeowner to go up and check the work.
- the open splices laying in the insulation creates a huge fir risk 

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 changing an outlet is another easy project but done wrong can be very dangerous. This was done by an "electrician" from Craigslist. when installing the new outlet he didn't tighten the screws down creating an arc between the wires and outlet. over time the arcing creating heat and as you can see from the picture eventually a fire. Luckily this customer noticed his alarm clock and phone charger were acting up and turned the breaker off after noticing a burning plastic smell.

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