When it comes to improving your business or home, there are scenarios where it sometimes makes sense to take the DIY approach or reach out to a friend who can undertake minor repairs and renovations.
For example, if a small crack in the cement floor of your garage seems to be getting bigger by the year, then you can probably head to your favourite home improvement store and get the products and instructions you need to repair the crack yourself.
However, there are other situations where trying to improve or fix something yourself — or hiring unlicensed amateurs to do the job — is an extremely bad idea that could end up in disaster. And the clearest example of this is when the problem or project you need to tackle involves anything to do with your home’s electrical system.
There are two fundamental reasons why you must always hire licensed residential or commercial electricians in Toronto or the surrounding areas to complete your electrical work.
- It’s the law
As noted on the Electrical Safety Authority’s website, licensed electricians are the only people who can legally do electrical work in your home. If you hire unlicensed residential or commercial electricians in Toronto, then you are not just putting your home, family, and neighbours at risk (more on this below), but you are breaking the law. You could also breach your home insurance policy.
If you think this is just a ‘scare tactic’ used by the ESA and licensed electricians in Toronto to drum up business, then think again. In 2017, a business owner in Mississauga hired an unlicensed contractor who he found on Kijiji. The electrician was electrocuted after making a critical mistake and died due to his injuries. The business owner was subsequently convicted and fined $18,750 — and must live with the fact that, albeit unintentionally, he played a role in someone’s death. Hiring an unlicensed electrician is against the law and for a very good reason.
- It’s absolutely not worth the risk.
Returning to the example in the introduction: if a mistake is made trying to fill a crack in a cement garage floor, the “worst case scenario” is that the problem will continue and you’ll have to hire someone else to take care of it.
However, when it comes to a business’s or home’s electrical system, everything is connected — which means that unsolved problems present a major safety risk; not just to you, but to your neighbours as well. Simply put: even if it were legal (which it isn’t!), trying to save a little money by hiring unlicensed residential or commercial electricians in Toronto is absolutely not worth the risk.
The Bottom Line
While there was a time when unlicensed residential or commercial electricians in Toronto could perform electrical work, we now know better. To ensure that you, your family, and your home are safe, you must work with certified residential or commercial electricians in Toronto. Hiring only qualified professionals to undertake your electrical work will help save your property and potentially people’s lives.
Learn More
To learn more, contact Langstaff & Sloan today at 416.503.2033. Discover why we are one of the most trusted and respected residential and commercial electricians in Toronto and throughout the GTA.