Complaint Review: Barcelo Electric LLC - Tucson Arizona

Barcelo electric was hired by the General Destruction CONtractor to run the electrical wire in a new build house. Pendejo the owner charged me for extra for EMT (Electrical Metal Tubing) to extend the power from the Main Panel to the Secondary Panel. and for four outlets that were to be the only outlets on the circuit. Pendejo used plastic mixed with metal conduit from the main panel to the secondary panel and the the Tubing was not grounded and could not be due to the platic mixed in, which is a Safety Code Violation. The other outlets that were to be stand alone circuits I paid separately for were put on circuits with other outlets. This is Fraudulent. I paid an extra fee to the County for a 400Amp panel to be installed instead of 200 amp Panel. A 400 amp panel was never added to the Plans even though I had told the Architect that I wasnted 400 amp service and not 200 amp service. The Main Panel is a 400amp panel with 40 Circuit Slots. Only 19 slots were utilized.

The Secondary Panel that was installed by Pendejo was a 30 /40 Circuit Panel which was completely filled with no slots available. The Secondary Panel that Pendejo installed should have also been a 40 circuit panel. . Electrical service, panels and feeder system were not built in accordance with the approved plans. The plans indicate a 200A, 120/240V, single phase, 3-wire electric service using a single meter/panel type service for all circuits in the house. The actually observed system is a 400A meter/panel which has (2) 200A main circuit breakers. One main breaker feeding the panel built-into the meter/panel unit and the other main breaker feeding a 200A sub-panel located in the Laundry room. The fact that the observed equipment does not match the approved plans is a violation of IRC section R106.4. Section R106.4 requires that any deviations from the approved construction plans be resubmitted for approval as an amended set of construction documents.

While technically a violation, the actual design of the service, feeder and panels is compliant with the IRC electrical requirements and provides additional spare capacity in the electrical system. 2. In garage, it was observed that (12) 100W recessed can lights, (2) exterior lights and (2) garage door operators are all connected to a single 15A branch circuit. The total load is in excess of the 1800VA capacity of the 15A circuit which is a violation of IRC Section E3601.2 which requires branch circuits to be rated not less than the maximum load to be served. The electrical plans indicate (12) can lights and (2) garage door openers, but not the exterior lights all to be on one 15A circuit which is still overloaded. This should have been addressed in the plan review by Pima County Developement Services. 3. The ceiling mounted receptacles for the garage door openers are not GFCI protected type outlets. This condition is compliant with the IRC because the receptacles are not readily accessible. (Refer to IRC definition of Accessible, Readily in Section 3401, Definitions, and IRC Section E3802.2, Exception 1 which exempts receptacles that are not Readily Accessible from the GFCI requirement.)

4. At the main panel at the service entrance and Laundry sub-panel, the branch circuit breakers are not identified properly to describe the loads served in violation of IRC Section E3606.2 5. At both HVAC system’s outdoor condensing unit and at the air handler in the Garage, the flex conduit supplying the equipment is installed without proper support or straps as required by IRC Table E3702.1. Flexible conduit in lengths over 3’ is required to be strapped within 12” of the conduit terminations and at 4.5’ intervals. 6. At the air handler in the Garage, the humidifier is presently plugged into an extension cord for power because there is no permanent receptacle outlet within reach of the humidifier power cord. This violated IRC section E3801.5 which requires receptacle outlets to be within 6’ of the appliance.

7. It was observed that all (14) exterior window motorized shutters are all connected to a single 15A branch circuit which is fed-thru a GFCI receptacle device located in the Laundry room above the work countertop. The shutters are rated 1.6A each for a total load of 22.4A and it is not possible to operate most or all of the shutters at one time. This installation is in violation of several IRC rules including E3601.2 which requires the circuit to have adequate capacity and E3603.3 which requires that circuits supplying receptacle outlets in the Laundry have no other outlets. 8. At the Laundry work counter top there are two additional GFCI receptacle outlets, each fed by a 20A branch circuit, and having thru-feed loads connected. One of these supplies receptacle outlets in all of the bathrooms in the house and the other supplies the exterior receptacle outlets. . Again, several rule violations of the IRC exist which include E3603.3 which requires circuits supplying receptacle outlets in the Laundry to have no other outlets and E3603.4 which requires bathroom receptacle outlets to be on 20A circuit which have no other outlets.

Aside from the Code Violations, putting all of the bathroom receptacle outlets in the house on a single 20A circuit is poor practice because it is likely that heavy loads such as portable heaters, hair dryers or curling irons will be in use simultaneously in both bathrooms (for example one such appliance in-use in the master bathroom, while another appliance is in-use in the guest bathroom) which would make circuit breaker tripping likely. This condition is not acceptable in a custom home. 9. In the Kitchen, the 1/2-switched receptacle outlet for the disposer and dishwasher is located in the dishwasher compartment. This is in violation of IRC section E4001.5 which requires receptacle outlets for appliance connection to be accessible. This receptacle should have been located in the accessible cabinet space below the kitchen sink. 10. In the Master Bathroom several issues were observed: a. Receptacle outlets at the television location and in the adjacent closet space are connected to the load side of the GFCI protectors which are supplying the Jacuzzi pump motors. This is in violation of IRC section 3602.5 which requires that fastened in place appliances cannot exceed 50% of the branch circuit rating when other outlets are also supplied. In this case the Jacuzzi circuits are rated 15A and the Jacuzzi motors are rated 8.5A. b. Light switches are located in the tub space and are not part of a listed tub or shower assembly so are therefore in violation of IRC section E3901.7. c. The light switch for the lighting in the adjacent closet is located in the bathroom rather than in the normal switch location inside the closet. While not a violation of the IRC, this is a poor layout because the switch is not at the normal, expected location for a switch. 11. The Owner opened up the light switch boxes in the bedrooms and showed where there is both 12 gage and 14 gage wire used for the bedroom branch circuit wiring. Apparently, the homeruns and connection to unswitched receptacle outlets are wired with 12 gage wiring and the switched circuits running to the ceiling lights and ceiling fans use 14 gage wiring. These are all protected with 20A AFCI type circuit breakers. The 14 gage wiring is not protected by the 20A rated breaker. Installation is not compliant with IRC section E3605.5 and Table E3605.5.3. This condition exists at all 4 bedrooms.

12. At porch outside of the living room, the high-on-wall receptacle outlets intended for televisions are not GFCI protected. These are wired to the living room receptacle outlet circuit. Not compliant with IRC section E3802.3 which requires GFCI protection for all outdoor receptacles. 13. An exterior receptacle outlet was taken apart by the Owner and showed evidence of noncompliance with several IRC requirements. The Owner indicates that this receptacle installation is typical for all of the exterior receptacles which are flush mounted in the masonary exterior walls. Violations include too small of a recessed box for the number of conductor installed, no bushing or clamp on the cables running to the box and ground wires not connected together using approved means (they are just twisted together without a clamp or mechanical splice). IRC table E3805.12..1, table E3702.1 and section E3808.13, respectively address these installation defects. 14. The Owner reports, and it was observed in this observation session in those boxes that were opened, that throughout the house equipment ground wires are terminated in outlet and switch boxes just by being twisted together and without using wire connector or splicing means that is listed for the purpose. This is in violation of IRC sections E3306.10 and E3808.13. 15.

It was observed that in the living room, the receptacle outlet located at the A/V equipment location is powered through the thru-feed terminals of the GFCI receptacle which is located near the wet bar sink. While not a violation of the IRC, this is poor practice because tripping of the GFCI device which may occur from time to time will then cause power loss to the A/V equipment requiring reprogramming of pre-sets, etc. This is a serious inconvenience in a custom home. 16. In the kitchen, it was observed that at one location between the range and kitchen sink there are insufficient receptacle outlets above the countertop to comply with the spacing requirements of IRC section E3801.4.1. 17. The Owner reports that (2) hallway receptacles, dining room wall receptacles and the receptacles on the south and west walls of the living room are all connected to one 20A branch circuit. This is in violation of IRC section E3801.3.1 which requires those outlets in the dining room to be on Small Appliance branch circuits and the hall and living room outlets are prohibited from being on those circuits.

18. At the main service panel, it was observed that the feeder cables running to supply the Laundry sub-panel are installed through the back of the panel and through the exterior masonry wall as individual conductors not in an approved raceway. The Owner also provided me with a photograph taken during construction showing a conduit run for this feeder circuit in the garage area. This photograph shows a portion of the run being EMT raceway which is interrupted with a red colored non-metallic raceway that I do not recognize as being an approved wiring method. After looking at the termination at the main service panel and the photograph, it is evident that this feeder is improperly installed. The raceway system is required to be continuous from box to box, with no more than 360 degrees of bends between pulling points so that the conductors may be withdrawn while the raceway remains in place. Additionally, it is improper for metallic raceway to be interrupted with a portion of non-metallic raceway without the metallic portions of the run being bonded together for grounding continuity. IRC section E3804 and its sub-sections apply to this condition.

19. It was noted that the low voltage wiring for the garage door remote control buttons, door bells, and similar was done with 24 gage category 5 data cable rather than 18 gage doorbell wire as is customarily used for such purposes. In the case of the garage dooer openers, the manufacturer’s instructions indicate that 18 gage wiring should be used for this purpose, so the installation is deficient on that point. The small gage conductor may result in poor performance of the door bell system due to excessive voltage drop. These are Class 2 low voltage systems and as such the presently installed wiring is not a Code violation, but it is poor practice. 20. In the attic area one of the wires is lying on a steel stud whic is also a code violation.