SteveB wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 10:40 am, "SteveB" wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in message

Agree with John and Bob. I would also say the contractor is not
responsible for this. As others have pointed out, wiring is supposed
to be run far enough back that a finishing nail from molding can't
reach it or else have a metal plate covering it.

Yep. Even if you had a contract, and the contract was any good,
there'd be a clause in there about "latent and concealed conditions".
The contractor doesn't have X-ray vision, and can't determine what is
behind a wall. He has a reasonable expectation to believe that there
aren't wires too close to the surface.

If the contractor was using unnecessarily long nails - say 3" to
attach some trim - then there's some responsibility there, but it's
basically the owner's.


Say WHAT?

I don't know what that is supposed to mean. If you have a question,
ask it.

R

Your statement that the owner would bear the responsibility for this
act befuddles me. The fact is that no matter what the location of
the wire, the wire was in good shape before the contractor did
whatever he did. At the least, he should have offered to open up a
small area just to be safe. He did not even do that, and gave the
person, a layman, advice from an expert professional that nothing was
wrong, and it was safe, which may or may not be the case. In my
opinion, that was not a professional thing to do, and a reasonable
person would have cause to be concerned.
To the OP: Call your local Contractor's Board and the Fire
Department and see what they say. Find out if this man is in fact a
licensed contractor. I believe in your original question, you stated
he was. If he is, they will mediate, and bring on a fair solution. If
someone else has to fix this and open it up for inspection, it
goes on him or his surety bond. They may be interested in the
hijinks of this fellow, who may or may not be licensed. I, like you,
would be concerned until I had a final impartial 100% sure answer. What
you got was not the actions and behavior of a "professional
contractor." And now you are living under stress from a potentially
deadly situation.
Steve, a retired contractor

It's said that the entire corpus of contract law theory can be mastered by
studying: The Fence, The Bull, and The Pit.

Here, we have a case of "The Pit," that is, a hidden hazard.

Some would argue that it is the responsibility of the owner to know, and
inform others, about this sort of thing. While a person with access may
exercise normal diligence, he cannot be expected to know all the problems.
If, for example, a visitor fell though a rotten porch step, liability would
lie with the owner of the porch. If, in this case, the carpenter shot a nail
into a live wire and was electrocuted, most, if not all, of the fault would
with the homeowner.

Admittedly, arguments can be made on either side. If I were on a jury,
however, I'd vote with the carpenter.