Working with electrical wiring is a complex, intricate, and hazardous task. A qualified and professional electrician is necessary for any job involving your home’s electricity. It’s essential to verify that the electrician you are considering hiring has the qualities that ensure you get high-quality work performed on your electrical system.
Qualifications and Licenses
Learning to effectively and safely work with electrical wiring and other appliances requires extensive training and schooling. Each state has different requirements for obtaining an electrician’s license, but you should always ensure that anyone you hire has a valid license. There are two official levels of mastery for solo electrician licenses, but an electrician can achieve three levels of skill.
Apprentice
Apprentice electricians are technicians who are currently in vocational school or have already completed their schooling. They cannot hold electrician licenses to work on their own, but they do have apprentice licenses or certificates. An apprenticeship allows aspiring electricians to work under journeyman or master electricians to gain the required training hours to reach journeyman status.
While apprentices have the least amount of experience, they usually work under the direct supervision of fully licensed electricians to get each job done correctly.
Journeyman
A journeyman electrician has full certification to work alone. An apprentice has to accumulate at least 8000 hours of experience and pass an exam to obtain a journeyman license.
Master
The highest level an electrician can achieve is master. To obtain a master electrician license, you need to have at least 2000 hours of experience as a journeyman and pass an exam. Master electricians have additional training and experience that qualifies them to install electrical systems, draw up blueprints, and mentor journeyman electricians as they attempt to achieve master status.
Safety Oriented
A careless or inexperienced electrician may accidentally create electrocution or fire hazards around your home. Never assume that an electrician will be focused on safety above all else just because they’re experienced.
Ask any electrician you plan on hiring what their typical safety practices are when they’re performing electrical work. Any safety-conscious electrician will be able to give you a comprehensive explanation of the safety precautions they put in place while working. Additionally, ensure that they follow any electrical and building codes when working on your home.
Respectful
A high-quality and professional electrician will never disrespect a customer. Having respect for your customers is a basic courtesy that ensures both the customer and the electrician have a positive experience during the job.
Don’t settle for a disrespectful electrician, even if they seem experienced and skilled. There are always other options you can explore to find someone skilled, experienced, and respectful.
Good Communication Skills
Electricians need to exhibit strong communication skills to ensure that their business runs smoothly and have a positive relationship with clients. Their communication skills are extremely beneficial to you as a client in numerous ways.
For instance, if your electrical problem is an emergency, you’ll need someone who will respond to your call and get you scheduled for service as quickly as possible. Even if your electrical problem isn’t an emergency, you shouldn’t be left waiting for a return phone call or email for days or weeks. It’s an inconvenience to you and a sign of disrespect.
Good communication skills also prevent you from being overcharged or misled about the amount of time a job will take. A professional electrician will listen to every detail you have to convey about your problem and clearly explain the plan for fixing it.
Effective Time Management
Most electrical jobs are performed independently. Each electrician needs to learn to manage their time effectively on every job to maintain a reasonable schedule. You don’t want to waste your valuable time waiting for an electrician who didn’t properly schedule their jobs or underestimated how much time other client’s projects would take. In some circumstances, clients wind up wasting days off from work because their electrician needs to reschedule the appointment due to poor time management.
Reliable
An electrician is only as good as they are reliable. Unreliable electricians avoid calls, ignore emails, forget appointments, give poor estimates, and do shoddy work. Even if they finish the job, their lack of care in their work may result in the issue recurring or a new problem developing.
One of the worst aspects of an unreliable electrician is that they frequently don’t want to return to fix problems they caused. Many people wind up having to spend even more money and time hiring another electrician to fix the issue. Always check third-party review websites on electricians to see if they’re reliable and trustworthy before you hire them.
Transparent With Pricing
It’s not uncommon for final bills to be slightly off from the price that was estimated for the client. However, some electricians are sloppy when calculating estimates. Others may even deceive you about how much a job costs during the estimate phase of the project. Later, they add hidden fees or higher prices that weren’t discussed before the work started. The client has no choice but to pay what is owed.
A responsible and professional electrician is honest and as transparent with pricing as possible. Instead of estimates, professional electricians provide quotes for many of their jobs. Quotes are written breakdowns of estimated costs for a job. A thorough quote should take numerous factors into account, such as current prices of parts, taxes, cost of labor, and other fees commonly included in the task.
Unlike an estimate, a quote is legally binding when finalized and agreed upon by both parties. The price quoted is the price you pay in the end, even if something changes in the job along the way.
If you need high-quality electrical work performed on your home, you can rely on our skilled electricians at AJ Danboise Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical to provide you with the best service. Our electrical services include electrical wiring, electrical panels, ceiling fans, generators, lights, outlets, and whole-house surge protectors.
In addition to electrical work, we also offer repair and replacements for air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, water heaters, garbage disposals, air purifiers, water filtration systems, and more. To learn more about any of the services we provide to the areas in and around Farmington Hills, Michigan, contact us at AJ Danboise Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical today.
