SteveB wrote:
(snip)

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.

It's common to use a router to cut the holes around outlet boxes, HVAC
registers, lighting cans, and even door and window openings. It's not
really a matter of going back to "find" the outlets -- the locations are
noted before hanging the wallboard. You hang with just enough screws to
hold the sheet securely and then route the holes.

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.

He's correct. The drywall contractor is not licensed to do that work so
the electrician will have to fix it. The drywall contractor is, however,
responsible for the damage and should pay for at least some percentage
of the repairs. There's no excuse for the hangers having cut that many
wires. Accidentally nicking the occasional wire I could understand, but
not the situation you've described.

It's not that hard to avoid hitting the wires when routing. Very little
(1/4") of the cutting portion of the bit has to penetrate the wallboard
and it's easy to see when wires are too close to the face of the box. If
the hangers didn't check the wires then they're incompetent. If they saw
the wires were vulnerable and routed anyway then they're negligent.


Is this common practice today?

Routing? Yes. Damaging wires? Definitely not.