Electrical Contractor Magazine Uncovers The "Disaster After The Disaster" For New Orleans Homeowners

Water-Damaged Electrical Parts, Waived City Inspections Pose Public Safety Hazards

(HIT) - A new investigative report in the May issue of Electrical Contractor magazine is the first to expose a potential public safety hazard in the Katrina aftermath. Titled "Disaster After the Disaster," the article uncovers the risks of an emergency ordinance that now lets New Orleans homeowners waive electrical inspections by a city or parish inspector. Approved by the city council and signed by Mayor Ray Nagin in January, the ordinance allows homeowners to authorize licensed electricians to certify that residential systems are safe to activate. Reporter Jeff Griffin discovered the practice through a source while researching his January Electrical Contractor story on the risks of the resale of flood-damaged electrical equipment.

"My sources emphasized the serious risks of waiving inspections by city inspectors while reconnecting power with previously submerged, cleaned and dried equipment that could result in serious hazards," said Griffin, an Oklahoma City construction and tools writer who developed both articles with Electrical Contractor Editor Andrea Klee. "Are there hundreds or thousands of structures in storm-affected areas that will suddenly go up in flames when water-damaged wiring shorts out and faulty breakers fail to shut off power?" poses the article.

As Griffin reports, safety is the reason for electrical inspections. The long-established and accepted practice is for inspections to be conducted by qualified professionals representing the jurisdiction in which properties are located. While waived city inspections can help speed service to power-starved homeowners, the story said the practice now raises several concerns:

• The emergency ordinance in New Orleans provides the opportunity for numerous abuses such as compromising the inspection process, which could lead to serious safety issues.
• Buildings in other areas previously inspected under other emergency procedures may have been reconnected to power even though electrical components were damaged by floodwater and should have been replaced.
• For contractors making inspections, there is the risk of liability should failures occur in properties they inspected.
• Unconfirmed reports recently surfaced that buildings in other south Louisiana jurisdictions are being reconnected to power without replacement of water-damaged electrical components.

"As the leading publication representing the electrical contracting industry, Jeff’s story will hopefully drive change in a practice that presents long-term, hazardous implications," said Electrical Contractor Publisher John Maisel.

Griffin references the National Electrical Code (NEC), stating that equipment cannot be exposed to agents including fumes, vapors and liquids that can deteriorate the equipment.

During initial clean up, a volunteer reported that some Gulf property owners, volunteers and hired workers cleaned debris from electrical components and flushed them with water, exposing them to further damage and creating a false sense of security. The cleaned and dried equipment has showed no evidence of exposure to flood water, and inspections by inexperienced or disinterested personnel would not identify that they needed replacement.

Griffin found that the neighboring Jefferson Parish never waived inspections. According to electrical inspectors in Gulfport, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, Miss., all electrical inspections are currently being made by city inspectors.

He reports that City of New Orleans Chief Electrical Inspector Larry Chan said the city requires replacement of all electrical components that were previously submerged, and there are currently only three city electrical inspectors including himself as of May 1. Chan said that about half of the residential inspections are now being made by contractors through the affidavit and certification program. He said that some relief in the inspection workload is coming from a city contract providing third-party inspectors, many of whom are former city inspectors working under his control. He said the city is searching for solutions for these problems.

The Resident Affidavit and Request for Electrical Service Connection and the accompanying Electrical Inspection Certification may be found on the City of New Orleans web site at http://secure.cityofno.com/Resources/Portal37/electrical_affidavit.pdf.
The article is available at http://www.lhprmc.com/PDFs/EC.disaster.story.swf.

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Published by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Bethesda, Md., Electrical Contractor magazine delivers 85,000+ electrical contractors and more than 65,900 electrical contracting locations, more than any other industry publication. Telephone: (301) 657-3110. Web site: www.ecmag.com.