The breaker that controls outlets in the master bedroom, bathroom, and closet keeps blowing.

If by outlet, you mean receptacle, then the electrician has more to fix than just a bad AFCI: the bathroom receptacle must not be shared by any outlets outside of the bathroom (other than a receptacle in another bathroom).
As far as the AFCI problems, I would have him check for a bad connection somewhere on that circuit.

This can also be caused by a fault in the wiring in the walls such as a metal staple being driven in too tight.
An arc fault that trips is a *symptom* of a serious *problem*. I would insist that the *problem* be identified and repaired. Just replacing the arc fault with a regular breaker would only cure the symptom and leave your house vulnerable to a fire, which your fire insurance may not cover due to your house not being code compliant.
Jim

The problem could also be caused by a neutral (white) wire comng into contact with the equipment ground (bare wire). The vast majority of the time when an AFCI trips, there is a problem of some sort in the wiring system, not in the breaker.

Call him back as many times as needed until it is fixed.

Not to overmake a point, I'd still check my lamps and plug-ins first and try to eliminate them as the problem.

Keep in mind that your lamps may have worked fine in your old house--on a non-AFCI circuit before they were jostled around in a move. The reason I say this is because if it's a lamp cord, it's "your fault". If it's a wiring problem, it's "his fault". Depending on the nature of the electrical subcontract, this may influence who pays for the follow-up work.

Otherwise, I agree 100% with joed.

As for the purported issue of voiding your insurance, I seriously doubt this is a problem. If all the work was done by an electrician, it is exceedingly unlikely that an insurance company could stiff you in the event of a fire. Oh, the insurance company could ostensibly go after the electrician after-the-fact to recoup a damages pay-out, but there is no actionable negligence when a homeowner follows the advice of an electrician, whether the ultimate result complies with code or not.

I would certainly question the credentials of an "electrician" who incorrectly wired an AFCI circuit and then suggests removing that AFCI "because lots of people have trouble with them tripping". Maybe it's just ones he installed.

Who built your home? Was there a GC? If yes, contact him/her about your problem and that you need a competent electrician. IF you acted as your own GC, find a different electrician, one who is a licensed master.

Sorry but I have to disagree with TerribleTom and I may be talking out of school and he/she may be correct in terms of what a licensed electrician does in terms of insurance etc but licensed or not, I would imagine if they do something that is not up to code, it doesn't matter if the sparky is licensed or not, I wouldn't think. Insurance companies will do whatever they can to wriggle out of claims, even legitimate ones. Just ask people who went through Katrina et al.

Not to mention, forgetting insurance, we're talking about the safety of you and your family. I think if two breakers behave the same, there's a problem with the wiring or an appliance/lamp, and I'd be dubious of any alleged 'electrician' who fails to make the rather obvious connection.

This is off the OP subject, but I've never had any experience with an insurance company trying to wriggle out of a "legitimate" claim. I do not have flood insurance because it is not a problem where I live. Unfortunately, many people along the cost did not have any insurance let alone flood insurance.

Some years ago we had an extensive fire at our home. State Farm spent no time investigating the origin but rather in fixing our home. It was later found our furnace had a gas leak.

Sorry but I have to disagree with TerribleTom and I may be talking out of school and he/she may be correct in terms of what a licensed electrician does in terms of insurance etc but licensed or not, I would imagine if they do something that is not up to code, it doesn't matter if the sparky is licensed or not, I wouldn't think.

Show me a single example of a court ruling in favor of an insurance company because the insurance contract states that any fire resulting from something not up to code is not covered. If you can find one, I'll reconsider my position.

But you won't find one. Why? Because mortgage lenders wouldn't accept it as valid coverage to protect their interests.

Insurance companies may try to wriggle out of paying in some cases and play some games now and then, but the underlying principle is whether or not the covered parties (typically the homeowner and the mortgagee or trustee) were negligent.

Even in cases where insurance companies have attempted to put explicit language in insurance contracts shifting the burden to the insured to maintain everything in up-to-code status, they've lost good-faith insurance lawsuits right and left. It's not the kind of conditions that courts are inclined to enforce via adhesion. Period.

[As a side note, pjb999, I said nothing in my comment about licensure status of the electrician. Please re-read carefully. You invented that part.]

For the most part, a homeowner needs only to act as a reasonably prudent person to keep coverage in effect. Hiring an electrican (even if, unbeknownst to the homeowner, the electrician is not, in fact, licensed) is still reasonable behavior, as is following the advice of someone reasonably believed to be qualified and knowledgeable.

I've heard insurance scare stuff for years. Give me true examples. Give me the case law. I really want to see it.

As for the Katrina stuff, well force majeure (acts of God) is another issue altogether. But, again, even in the context of a Katrina victim, show me a case or even a documented annecdotal example where a claim was denied solely on the basis of wiring not being up to code. Go for it.

As for the safety part of your comment, please refer to my first comment in this thread:

While it may be tempting to blame a circuit breaker when it trips, most of the time breakers are correctly doing the job they were intended to perform--to keep you and your house safe from fire.

On that, we agree.

License laws are an interesting subject in Texas. We have two features, that of the master status of the electrician, and his/her license with the State of Texas as a licensed electrical contractor. Texas goes after non-licensed individuals doing electrical work in a big way. These guys can't pull permits so they usually tell customers that permits are not required.

Now, all of this said, all the licenses in the world does not necessarily guarantee competent work. Seems to be the case with the OP presuming he is using a licensed electrical contractor.

Insurance companies pay for home owner negligence. Think about the pot of oil left on the stove or the candle left burning. That's home owner negligence.

They do not pay for homeowner arson.

Insurance companies pay for home owner negligence. Think about the pot of oil left on the stove or the candle left burning. That's home owner negligence.
They do not pay for homeowner arson.

True. :D In fact, a lot what insurances cover is indemnification from torts of negligence--including those slip-and-fall claims if you don't shovel the snow off your walk, etc. And car insurance covers negligence in the case of accidents, too.

My point is that those rampant fears about insurance being voided if anything about the wiring isn't up to snuff are largely unfounded. I don't know how many times I've heard people express the opinion that any DIY wiring is likely to void insurance in case of a fire.

Advice like that is way, way overblown and the belief that insurance coverage is so fragile is sometimes fostered by scary language buried in the fine print of insurance policies. When put to the test (i.e., the courts), an insurance company trying to deny coverage almost always has to prove negligence or even gross negligence to enforce their own fine print. Even if a policy states that coverage may be deemed void because of wiring that does not meet code or non-professional electrical work, it doesn't necessarily mean that an insurance company will win a lawsuit for bad-faith insurance if they refuse to pay.

And the plain fact is, reputable insurers seldom attempt to void coverage. In the rare cases that coverage is voidable, it's usually a combination of violating their fine print plus negligent or grossly negligent behavior on the part of the insured.

I agree... Do not change the breaker. I have worked in the field for 33 years. I am also having problems with the arc-fault breakers. I have had Florida Power and Light put meters thru out the house and have found even a HD tv because of internal Capacitors hit neutral to ground and will cause the breaker to trip. In my exp. so far with the breakers it is usualy something the homeowner has brought to the home. My question is why didnt these companys do more testing before letting the National Elect. Code pass for these requierments? I am having to run seperate circuts for HD tv's. This costs the company money not the Homeowner.

I came upon your posting in my search regarding these new arc fault circuit breakers. We are experiencing something strange in our newly built master suite and I wondered it anyone else was having similar problems. Every time my husband gets a phone call on his Nextel phone, the circuit trips. I think it only happens when the phone is in a particular place though, which happens to be next to one of those safety-type electric bathroom outlets (terminology?). At least in our case it only seems to happen with the Nextel, not with any other cell phones. It has happened multiple times so we know for sure it is related to incoming calls on the Nextel. I heard these new ARCI's pick up radio frequencies and that this is not uncommon. I heard that swapping out one arc fault circuit breaker for another (yes even another new one, maybe a different brand) sometimes fixes the problem. Could it be because one picks up a frequency that another doesn't? Anyway, if you haven't considered cell phones as a possible cause, you may want to pay attention to that and see if you are having the same problem that we are having.

Not an electrician, but do maintenance on apartments. We run into a lot of nuisance trips with the 1st generation of arc fault breakers (2012 or so?) from various electronics. They're crazy expensive ($50 for a 20 amp), but we replace them with new arc fault for safety.