As with any trade, electrical work can produce damages.

It happened in a lawyer’s office, where two lawyers shared an office, and each had a pretty good desk.   And lawyers, by the way, have some mighty fine desks, some of which are very expensive,

The lawyers’ office decided to put in a fire protection sprinkler system.  The two lawyers moved out of their office for the day, in order to allow room for the plumbers to work at installing the sprinkler piping.  One of them had to come back into his office to retrieve some paperwork.  Imagine his consternation when he entered and both plumbers, with their heavy work boots, were standing atop his desk.

I believe that was the same office where we were called in to re-hang an 8 foot fluorescent light fixture.  One end of the fixture had fallen free from the ceiling and it was swinging.  It wasn’t swinging free.  However it did have somewhat of a pendulum action going.  The swing was regularly interrupted by the pass over the top of the desk where it was doing a fine job of scratching the desk.

I imagine that some insurance company had to cover the cost of those damages.

Thank goodness for insurance.

One insurance agent told me that electricians rarely have to use their business liability insurance.  Maybe, if they trample someone’s landscaping.

One time I went up to a Dentist’s office.  A patient had been in the middle of a procedure; probably doing a close examination of the ceiling.  The light fixture above her head let loose and dropped about 4 inches and was caught by the electrical wires entering the fixture.

I was told she left in a hurry and never came back.  Uh, oh, a lost client.

In another instance, in a large auditorium, a number of people were sitting in the audience when one end of a light fixture came down and was swinging “like a pendulum do.”  The auditorium had a sloped seating area, and the fixture came loose near the front so that the length of the fixture was still held above head height where it came loose.

Two older ladies had been sitting just below the fixture, but had gotten up and left their seats just before the fixture came down.

We went through the entire auditorium and refastened all the fixtures into roof trusses.  Amazing as it sounds, the inspectors would allow hanging fixtures from sheet rock with toggle bolts at that time.

It makes me question why some people will work without license, permit, or insurance.

I guess they have to be ready to leave town at a moments notice.