Consultation with ESA

[Tarheel Slim]

Tomorrow morning i have a consultation with an ESA inspector,it will cost 172.00 on top of the permit,and im wondering what is involved during the consultation? anyone have one before,i feel its a good idea to fully understand everything before i start to run wire,i have never done electrical work before and this is a full garage i have to wire and figure out with some sort of plan,i want 60 amp service in the garage coming from 200 amp service in house,im using aluminum wire,#2 3 conductor ACWU,about 110 ft run.Going with armoursheild for the plugs and lights,i will be asking lots of questions real soon....

 

[3rdgen]

I deal with esa pretty much every day and they are a pain in the ***. Write down your questions before hand. They wont tell you what to do but if you have questions they will give you some insight. It may be a little different with a homeowner but most arnt to bad to deal with.

 

[Tarheel Slim]

Thanks 3rdgen,i had too many questions this morning for the inspector so he said to get a consultation,i have lots of questions for him but im sure im forgetting something,i will just have to listen to what he says, and go from there, hope i get 172.00 worth of consultation tomorrow,money is scarce these days and its about to become more scarce bringing power to the garage.

 

[Tarheel Slim]

ESA consultation went well,they seem easy to deal with at this point,i had alot of questions for them,and still have a few more questions,im going to at least get the wire in the ground and back filled this weekend,im also running some conduit in the same trench for TV cable etc...will post a few pics,here is one of the trench.

 

[sberry]

What is ESA?

 

[Norcal]

What is ESA?

Electrical Safety Authority in Canukistan.

 

[tfi racing]

Electrical Safety Authority in Canukistan.

Province of Ontario actually,each province has its own safety authority.ESA is perhaps the most overbearing,restrictive and persecution happy out of all of them.Sounds like the OP got grifted for $172.00...

 

[Tarheel Slim]

Yes may sound like i got grifted but i now have a better idea what they want to see in order to pass rough and final inspection,cant really say it was worth the fee.

 

[Jess]

In BC, there may be a similar fee, but over the years, I've had inspectors drop in to look at whatever I had questions about. Has made some choices much easier and never paid anything for their time. Never went hours either and was always when they were 'going by' anyway. Most inspectors I've dealt with in building, electrical or plumbing have been helpful and pretty good to work with.

 

[LXCam]

So you have your regular electrical inspector and a CSA agent? Is the CSA a required deal or an entity that you can just pay for the consultation?