David Herres - The Homeowners DIY Guide to Electrical Wiring

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David Herres, Master Electrician, is the owner and operator of a residential and commercial construction company. He is the author of 2011 National Electrical CodeChapter-by-Chapter, Troubleshooting and Repairing Commercial Electrical Equipment, and The Electricians Trade Demystified, all published by McGraw-Hill Education. Mr. Herres has written more than 150 articles for construction and electronics magazines, including Electrical Construction and Maintenance, Cabling Business, Nuts and Volts, Solar Connection, Fine Homebuilding, and others.

I wish to thank all those at McGraw-Hill Education whose diligent work in producing this book helped to make it a reality. Thanks to Roger Stewart, my editor in San Francisco, who was with the project from start to finish, and to Judy Bass, in New York, who provided initial inspiration and guidance. Their colleague, Amy Stonebraker, brings new meaning to the word competence.

David Herres

F or a long time, the best advice seemed to be hire a professional and get it done right. Depending on the task contemplated and the individuals level of expertise, this notion may or may not be valid. You have to assess the situation and decide what will work for you. Even if you hire out all the work, electrical knowledge and expertise, as conveyed in this book, will be of value in completing your building project and maintaining it in the future.

It is a fact that nowadays homeowners are far more active in their construction projects, whether new building or remodeling. If professionals are hired, the owners still may play a prominent role in planning and moving forward with the job. Often the homeowner is the builder. In some cases, though, a professional is hired as a designer-advisor and, in jurisdictions where there is oversight, interfaces with the inspector and, if necessary, signs off on the job.

All of this is especially true in the area of electrical work. Some home crafters draw a line in the sawdust, avoiding electrical work altogether. Others set the boxes, drill studs, and pull cable, leaving all terminations to the electrician. The extreme case is to do everything including the service without hiring a professional at all. This approach will maximize the monetary savings for the homeowner, and of course there is immense satisfaction in doing it all. If this is too great a leap into the unknown at this time, it might be something to aim for down the road.

Electrical work is very exacting and presupposes accurate knowledge (on an open-book basis) of the National Electrical Code (NEC). This document is applicable in the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, and certain other countries. In Canada, it is the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC), and in Europe it is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Australia and New Zealand recognize the Australian/New Zealand Standard for Wiring Rules