"Toller" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Generally, yes, with the exception of natural gas work, I believe. I
have no licenses, but have done electrical, framing and plumbing with
the blessings of inspectors and permits to show in the future when we
sell.

I had no problem with natural gas work. Permits, inspection, lots of
advice from
inspector, no problem.

In my town anyone can do gas plumbing, but firms must be licensed to do
water plumbing. Can't explain that, except maybe gas pressure is so much
lower that almost anything is good enough; but the cost of an error seems
rather higher...
I "believe" that individuals do not have to be licensed to do water
plumbing, but I have never specifically asked.


The variations of what you (as an owner/builder) can and can't do are often
politically motivated. Lobbying groups (especially local unions and some
funded by private contractors) work very hard to keep jobs in the hands of
their membership even when it infringes (IMO) on the rites of the property
owners to do their own work. These reasons are often cloaked in otherwise
rational reasonings like "we feel there is a need to protect the city water
supply from non compliant hookups" or "an error in this type of work can
effect poeple not on your property" (you'll find that at the root of many
restrictions)

In reality, if you screw up and cause harm, you'll be sued or arrested for
negligance and held accountable. This fear keeps most reasonable people
from trying things well beyond their capability. I suppose some forms of
negligence go unidentified until long after the jackass has left the scene.

WRT how much work or limitations on the extent of work, this is often based
on the city's desire to control growth whether that be expansion or
gentrification. A city's income is largely based on these types of zoning
descisions as they specifically determine the permit costs and the impact on
the tax assessmsnt for each property permitted.

As you can imagine, anything so political would be highly regionalized.