Ooo! Burn! I had to look up “quisling” on the internet. Whatever… your sentence is so poorly structured and incomprehensible as to render it meaningless anyway.

And there’s at least one 1%er or quisling, you.

@79 – Because teams of inspectors are expensive, and you only need to find a single problem on any given block anyway. Insurance is a statistical industry. /Your/ house might be fine, but if one house a few doors along has dodgy wiring, you’re just as much a risk for insurance.

Hope this is an incentive for Americans to do all they can to avoid and evade their government at federal, state, and local levels.

That was me at #68 that said “Oh Noes!…” not croaker.

As to serial markings per foot, That’s an excellent idea! They already use digital printing in the manufacturing process. Adding the sequential number as part of that wouldn’t be too huge a burden.

It’s true that there are some things you really can’t inspect for once the drywall goes up, and that’s one of them. But serious hazards like using 18 ga speaker wire would be easy to spot. (LOL! That made me laugh!) Can you imagine taking the cover off the Load Center and seeing it totally wired with 18 ga speaker wire? “I think I found the problem!”

One thing which would help, but I don’t think wire manufacturers do it, would be to have each foot of wire labeled with a unique sequential serial number, with large gaps incidating any manufactured cuts. If an outlet is supposed to be fed from a breaker with a straight 37′ run of cable, the numbers at the breaker and outlet should be consistent with that. Otherwise there’s no way of knowing whether someone spliced wires in the middle of a wall.

Is there any reason insurance companies wouldn’t be able to have their own teams of inspectors? If you want to live in a house where the wiring consists of nothing but sections of 18ga zip cord that are twisted and taped together, fine, but don’t expect insurance companies to insure it.

@47 – “If you are in a position where your neighbor’s decisions could impact the safety of your home, the free market already has that covered.”

Yes, it would. Only the rich would be able to afford insurance, you’re fucked if it happens otherwise. You’re welcome, 99%!

You mean like the area I live? With absolutely no inspections or licensing requirements at all? And yet, Insurance companies insure people just fine, and houses are safely occupied. Rest assured, not too many of those “1 percenters” live around here!

Electrical wiring isn’t some “magic” that requires a rare, government sanctioned genius to perform. It’s simple enough that any person of average intelligence can do it easily and safely.

Operating a Chain Saw is far more dangerous. Should I need a license to do that, too? I cut down a tree yesterday, Horrors! I didn’t have a permit, and the site wasn’t inspected by safety inspectors! I didn’t even file an Environmental Impact Report! There could have been rare bugs living in that tree! It could have been too close to a power line! How would I know any of these things? I don’t have a license!

What about burning a pile of wood on my property? Oh Noes! I might start a Forest Fire, then those old guys in the Volunteer Fire Dept. will have to come out! I should need a comprehensive education, complete with Student Loans, and then a rigorous licensing process before I should be able to do that!

Let’s make it nearly impossible for anyone to do anything. Then when a simple task needs to be done, we’ll all stand around like idiots because none of us are “licensed” to do it.

Yes, your post really IS that stupid, so why did you make it?

Yes, it would. Only the rich would be able to afford insurance, you’re fucked if it happens otherwise. You’re welcome, 99%!

My brother works for the best electrician outfit in the area. He reports what I expected. They are all drunks, many if not all are drunk on the job. Most are incompetent to some degree. One who is competent does the worst work. As a rule everything passes inspection, except for things that don’t matter sometimes fail inspection. The fire stations, police stations, and homes of inspectors and their cronies are all except from all codes and often have very dangerous installations.

And again – this is the best in the area, one of the best in the state. The same goes for every other state regulated industry – the best are content to stop at mediocrity because there is no need to be any better.

…is there anybody here that thinks that working as a rocket designer/scientist should require a license from the government?

No, I do not.

Quetion back to you: do you believe that all it would’ve taken to prevent the Challenger & Columbia catastrophes or the Apollo 1 pad fire is that all those physicists and engineers on the job had been sanctioned by the state to do rocket science? Again, no. See my comment at $58 re: teachers.

Ever been in a disgusting bathroom in a resturant that you know has been sanctioned by the Health Dept as safe? In that case, I imagine market force – if people really care about sanitation – word will get out and people will simply stop eating there.

I believe that _all_ teachers – and, perhaps I’m biased but, epecially in STEM fields – should all have been preapared in this way.

Unfortunately, the goal of the education system is not to educate but, rather, to graduate. Just like with licensing. If you’ve got a HS diploma, you must be good enough. Or something.