"SteveB" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, a team of aliens (Martian, I believe) came and started to
sheetrock my new addition. They worked 1.5 hours, since they had trouble
locating my house and didn't get there until 3.

After they left, I noticed that they had sheetrocked over outlet boxes,
and
rotozipped around and in boxes, cutting the insulation of wiring in 6
boxes.
They cut the tv and phone cable in two inside the boxes.

When I called the owner, he had an attitude and said that was the way its
done today in the State of Utah, and that they go back and find the box
and
cut it out. He also said that it was common practice for the electrician
to
fix the wires, and since it was electrical, it was his responsibility to
make sure it was right before heating up the wires.

Is this common practice today?


Unfortunately it is. I miss the old days when they would measure and cut
the holes before the drywall went up. I always make sure to push my wires
deep into the box and I try to avoid using shallow boxes as much as I can.
A few manufacturers produce temporary cover plates to put over electrical
boxes for this part of the construction. They should be using the Rotozip
tool around the EXTERIOR of the box which shouldn't cause damage to the
wires. If they are going inside the box the hole will not be the proper
size and the wires will get chewed up. Most of the time they make the hole
before all of the nails or screws are installed so the drywall board will
not be damaged and it is not firmly held against the electrical box. Sounds
like you got a low bid contractor. It is a good idea to make a mark on the
floor at the location of each switch and outlet box. Almost always one or
two get covered up and the electrician has to find them.

I don't like the drywall contractor's response. He sounds careless and has
no respect for other's work. I suppose if the electrician had to chop up
the drywall to get access to the covered boxes it would be acceptable to him
to have to come back and repair the damaged walls. The guy is right that it
will be the final responsibility of the electrician to make things right.
However excessive repairs could result in additional charges which the
drywall contractor could be held responsible for. Hold back a small
percentage of his final payment until the wiring is repaired.