Electricians in Chester County, PA: inspections, newer homes and checks
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
What should you know before hiring an electrician in Chester County?
Three things stand out. Electricity is the main heating fuel in nearly a third of the county's homes, a large share of the housing is recent, and in at least part of the county the town that issues your electrical permit does not inspect the work itself. The licensing question, as everywhere in Pennsylvania, belongs to your municipality: the state has no electrician license, and Labor and Industry says local rules can only be obtained from the municipality where the work will be done.
Who inspects electrical work in West Chester?
Not the borough. The Borough of West Chester's electrical code says the borough and its code officials do not perform electrical inspections and rely instead on an approved electrical inspection agent, which it defines as one licensed and certified by the Commonwealth. The chapter sets out what that means on a job:
- No electrical work may be covered up until the agent has inspected and approved it, and the agent makes a final inspection when the work is done.
- Inspections are to take place within five days of the request from whoever is doing the work.
- If the agent or the code official finds existing wiring defective and unsafe, the unsafe part must be taken out of use until it is corrected, with written notice to the owner.
- Violations are summary offenses with fines of $100 to $1,000 a day.
The borough is one of six Chester County municipalities in the West Chester Area Council of Governments, which shares a board of appeals. Other townships set their own arrangements, so ask your code office two questions: who inspects electrical work, and who pays for it. Labor and Industry's municipal table gives each municipality's building code official.
How new is Chester County's housing?
Newer than most of the state's. The Census Bureau estimates that 10.7 percent of the county's 212,491 housing units were built since 2010, against 6.1 percent for Pennsylvania, and that 12.6 percent were first built in 1939 or earlier, about half the state's 25.0 percent.
A newer house still needs checking. The Electrical Safety Foundation says the National Electrical Code has called for arc-fault protection on almost every circuit since its 2008 edition, and that the 2008 code also required tamper-resistant receptacles in new homes. Whether a particular house got them depends on the code edition its municipality enforced when it was built and on how the work was done, which no page read for this guide records. The breaker labels and the outlets themselves will tell an electrician quickly.
For the 12.6 percent built before 1940, the foundation dates knob-and-tube wiring to the 1800s through the 1930s and says it is now considered a fire hazard because it is not grounded and is easily damaged by age and by later renovations.
Why does heating matter to an electrician here?
Because electricity heats more Chester County homes than the state average. The Census Bureau puts electricity as the main heating fuel in 31.1 percent of the county's 204,774 occupied homes, against 25.3 percent statewide, with fuel oil at 18.3 percent. In those homes the heating system already draws on the same electrical service as everything else, so capacity is the first question before adding anything large. The Department of Energy says some homes do not have enough capacity for a Level 2 car charger and that an electrician can tell you whether yours does, or add circuits to make room.
The foundation also says the 2020 edition of the code requires outdoor emergency disconnects for new construction and for homes having their service replaced. Ask your code office which edition it enforces before a service upgrade is priced.
How do you check a contractor in Chester County?
For the state registration, the Attorney General says electrical contractors working on homes must register for jobs over $500, and its contractor search can be filtered to Chester County and to electrical work. No county consumer protection office for Chester County turned up in the research for these guides, so the place to take a complaint is the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Most households here deal with contractors on their own account: the Census Bureau counts 75.1 percent of occupied homes as owner-occupied.
PECO lists Chester among the counties it serves, though its page does not say it serves every address, so check your bill before calling about a service line or meter.
What Pennsylvania requires of electricians explains the state rules, and electricians serving the county are on the Chester County electricians page.
Sources
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- Chapter 54: Electrical Standards, Borough of West Chester (eCode360)
- Contractor Licensing, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
- Municipal Elections and Contact Information, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
- Understanding Your Home Electrical System, Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI)
- Home Safety Devices - Renovate Your Home to Code, Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI)
- Charging Electric Vehicles at Home, U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center
- Home Improvement Contractor Search, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
- Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
- Company Information, PECO