Rich. wrote:


It is not regular practice to inform the owner, unless something is found to
be wrong. Having 245v in the building is not normal, and there is a lot of
equipment out there that does not have taps. Equipment without taps could be
damaged by this higher than usual voltage.


Where, no one will say where this is. As for the voltage, here in Israel
230 volts is normal, 245 is not. In the UK, 240 is the "nominal voltage",
245 is less than 3% high and well with the accuracy of a random voltmeter.

In the US, the nominal line voltage is around 127 volts, specified to be
120, BUT the system almost everywhere is a 240 volt 2 phase system, with
one phase to ground being "120" volts and the voltage between them being
"240" volts.


It is the responsibility of the electrician to make sure the equipment he is
wiring can correctly run on the power being supplied. IMO the electrician
did not do his job correctly.


Only if the electrician is hired to hook up the equipment to the power line
and adjust the equipment as needed. If an electrician is hired to run some
conduit with a connection to a panel at one end and an outlet at the other
than there is no responsability for the equipment that may be plugged into
it, or the actual voltage.

Since there was no electrician here, just an unlicensed "handyman", there is
even less liability.

The original poster asked what was reasonable and customary. The answer to that
is:

1. Hire a licensed electrician to run the wire and make sure the outlets are
up to spec according to the applicable law.

2. Hire a technican authorized by the manufacturer of the equipment to
properly pack it up, unpack it after moving and hook it up, making any
adjustments as needed.

For the first, nothing else is legal, and therefore anything else (except
inspection by a licensed electrician) is reasonable.

The second is a little more fluid, but the manufacturer would argue that
using someone who is not authorized to make connections, modify the equipment,
etc voids their warranty, so one can argue that is the customary practice.

I guess you can argue that it is customary to cheat on the license for small
electrical jobs, and the certification of technicians for repairs, etc, but
that custom also carries the burden of accepting responsability for any
damaged caused by the people who do the work.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM