Turn off the breaker.

Well of course we did that.

You might need to see what you're allowed to do so maybe a one time meeting with a construction lawyer will help. Each state has different laws on what can and cannot be done.

For example, in FL, we have to give the contractor a chance to "fix" the issues before firing them. And it all has to be documented. If we don't do that, we are on the hook to pay the contractor.

Thank you for that input. I will look into the laws in our state.

I keep my children out of work areas for their sake and the sake of the people working. I would never expect a worker to factor my children in their workspace, ever. That is not safe for the kiddo and inconvenient for the worker. If these wires were left out after the electrician was done, then it's still the parent's job to ensure the safety of the child. I am sorry this sounds harsh, but the buck stops with parents until the children are old enough to keep themselves safe.

Kids, and many adults, need to be taught build site safety. Never touch wires. Never go under ladders. Don’t touch water shut off valves. When framing is happening, wear a hard hat and safety glasses. Always wear thick soles shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Keep your hands in your pockets and just don’t touch anything.

An in progress build is not a safe place for small children to explore, and does not carry an expectation of safety. Especially if there is no professional on site. Doubly so if the professional was asked to leave the site without the opportunity to secure it safely. You should board up the room if the kids can’t be kept out. And verify that the breakers are off. You have assumed the responsibility for site safety since you are in a dispute with the contractor. This is not really on him.

This occurred after the hardwood was installed. And I specifically asked them to in sure nothing was hot knowing it would be a couple months until appliances were installed. They knew their work was wrapped up until I called them back to connect the appliances.

If they left hot wires out willy-nilly, I would be beside myself. But, fortunately your child suffered no harm, so I doubt there is anything you can do. What a terribly irresponsible thing to do. Who knows what could have happened!

The story is changing from; “asked them to stop all work”, to “asked them to make sure nothing was hot”.

The electrical work was wrapped up weeks ago and that’s when I asked that the wires not be left hot. But other trades have been in the house since then working on a bathroom and drywall point up. Their sloppy work and lack of attention to detail contributed to us asking them to stop. But leaving hot wires when I asked them not to was certainly one of the reasons. Story is not changing. Unfortunately I have “stories” spanning 12 weeks of their nonsense. Here are my dryer vents as an example.

I am delighted that the little one was not seriously injured or worse. If you are seeking damages for this I would be cautious. An attorney may take up the cause, however this does not guarantee success. The only real winner is the attorney, he gets compensated no matter the outcome. As a defendant my primary arguments would be 1. your instructions to stop everything and leave and 2. A 8 year old has no business in an area under construction/renovation. I would just let it go and thank heaven above your son is still alive.

I don’t want damages for the shock. But I do want them to willingly agree to reducing the invoice for the work that has to be corrected by someone else. And I want them to understand why I don’t want it corrected by them. I don’t want them in my home. I made other arrangements and had my children out of the house during the demo and framing and drywall. But once the flooring was in there should have been no reason for them not to be in the home.

I realize that there are many people that are not exposed to practical home improvement things like this anymore, but this is a learning opportunity for all. Wires stuffed inside boxes are not “explorable”. Wires ANYWHERE on a construction site should not be touched, period.

This is why large industrial companies use lockout tags when electrical gets worked on. Too many other trades come in behind the electrician, searching for power for the tools that they need to use, and what wasn’t hot, now is. Wires are always acted on as if they ARE hot. Until you prove that they are not.

If you don’t own one of these, go buy one for your tool box. Be safe. Never assume. And never touch. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-Tester-NCVT-1SEN/100661787

Read your contract, take lots of pictures, save all documentation and written communications, and look up your local regulations and regulating bodies. You may not be entitled to the cost of having everything fixed. No stranger on the internet will know.

And at least now your kid knows not to touch wires. (Beats my husband the 50-something EE who cut through a live wire this weekend--that was fun!)

I don't know the laws of your state, so I can not advise in that capacity. If it were my project I would pay for what I thought was fair work. They did work and the law in much if not all of the country is that they should be compensated for the work they did do although it may not have been up to your standards. I would then have estimates and receipts for work that was needed to repair what was not done properly be them. Accompanied by lots of photos. This way if you are sued, you will have evidence to negate any possible damage award to the contractor if they decide what you paid them was not fair. This is assuming of course the law does not require you to allow them to repair their own work. In which case you will be out even more money because you will still end up losing in court. I would be doing some serious research right now or get a consultation with an attorney to determine your legal options.

You must assume all wires are hot unless you tested them yourself and determined them to be safe. You can't rely upon other people. According to your description, additional tradesmen accessed the site after the electrician left. One of the may have turned the power back on. You will never know for certain.

I'm glad your child is okay. I hope he has learned a lesson. Does he understand what it is that he did wrong? If not, you should explain it to him. Children should always be supervised very closely in a construction zone. Actually, they should be kept out of it. You failed to supervise them. Don't blame anyone other than yourself for the incident.

This incident has nothing to do with how bad your renovation contractor has been. That is a separate issue. You should contact an attorney to discuss what is reasonable to pay and have them negotiate a final settlement with the contractor. This is going to cost you money. It's going to be more money than you would have spent if the project had gone well and was to your satisfaction.

Get the attorney and a good contractor. They will guide you to a satisfactory result.

First, go see an attorney BEFORE you negotiate a settlement.

If my understanding of the situation matches the reality, I would argue this is a termination with cause. In that case, the correction would likely be at his expense, at least partially. So it is entirely possible that he will owe you money for correction and completion of the job. Not that you will likely collect it...

Next, the electrician has a duty to prevent any foreseeable injury. In practice this means that he can't leave any exposed conductor live. Moreover, he can't leave any exposed conductor in any state which a reasonable person might expect them to become live. In other words, he can't simply turn off the breaker and not cap the conductor and then leave the job site, as a reasonable person would expect that breakers will be turned off and on at a job site.

However, if your son had to remove the wire nuts in order to get shocked then it is a lot more nuanced, although still not a terrible, case. Ask yourself this, should an electrician be aware that capped wires on the floor will be attractive to an 8 year old as a play thing. If so, he has a duty to prevent injury.

I would argue, you have a right to feel safe in your home and you have a right to not do business with people who make you feel unsafe. The only thing in question is the extent to which a reasonable person would feel unsafe in this situation. I wouldn't let a contractor back in my house that left or allowed to be left exposed live conductors near the floor.

Good luck

I would like to hope that an electrician would have capped and taped the wires, put them back in the box, and covered the box with a blank plate. And/or taped the breakers OFF. Or pulled the breakers from the panel.

@User There were no caps, boxes, or tape. This is how the kitchen was left. He walked past the yellow wire on the right and brushed up against it.

@homechef59 No, he did nothing "wrong". The only lesson here is for me to double check that the contractors did what I told them to do.

Clearly, I understand that keeping our children safe is our responsibility which is why I told them not to leave anything hot! I trusted that the master electrician would not leave these loose, uncapped, untaped wires hot -- especially after I specifically asked him to ensure it! Of course, I now know to add this to my list of items to QA given contractors aren't trustworthy.

Amazing how some people are not reading what you wrote and are wanting to blame you. You did nothing wrong. However the $350-$400 you'll pay for a construction lawyer's 1 hour of time so you know your rights and how you should proceed, will be well worth it.

Lose wires should never be HOT and work-space should always be clean after everyone is out.

At the same time nobody should be in the work-space (especially children) even if this is your Home when Contractor is not there, unless he tells you it's OK to be there.

Being a home builder during new home construction when you meet with the homeowner on the job-site to discuss something I tell them not to bring kids with them, because kids are all over the place no matter what parents tell them and it only takes a second for something to happen.

When working on remodeling project for homeowners with children you try to block the area off best way possible when you leave but not always you can do that and it's the parents responsibility to keep the kids and themselves out of the work-area while the project in progress.

One example, it happened to a friend of my when I was starting out, he was doing work on the basement and they would leave tools on the job-site.

Over one weekend the homeowner was building shelves in the garage and he used contractor saw to cut a few pieces of wood and the saw kicked back and he end up cutting his leg and getting 45 stitches. The family went after the insurance company and insurance company covered only 50% and the only reason they got that is because they left the saw plugged in. If the saw was wrapped up they wouldn't go that because he took it upon himself to use the tool at his own risk.

For the last 30+ years I been packing all my tools away, my kid use to tell me just leave it we coming back tomorrow and I tell him pack everything up and put in the truck.

That said, and in regard to the job they doing, in most States you have to give a contractor a chance to fix the issues...unless the contractor is unlicensed in the State in that case you can fire him and get someone else.

Any other reason to replace your contractor, he would have to be in breach of contract, not showing up or abandoning the job, create hostile environment, create major safety issues which can cause harm to you and your family etc in that case you can stop the job and seek legal advise, but you will need documented proof, pictures, texts, emails, etc to show cause... because if there is no evidence (not counting subpar work) you can end up being in breach of contract yourself.

Good luck.

@GN Builders L.L.C I have reached out to an attorney to ensure we are aware of the laws in our state. I am up to speed now on what the state board requires as far as contracts go, and they're far out of compliance, which would allow me to file a complaint. Unfortunately that also means I don't have a clearly defined remediation process. The "balance due" is about $8k. I am hopeful that we can come to some sort of agreement that he will cover the cost of what it will take to correct his team's shoddy work.

Would you consider the loose wired w/ no caps/tape/boxes that were left hot to have created a major safety issue?

@ Melissa Taliaferro

Of course I would never leave hot wires exposed and my electrician would never do that. He will have one working outlet to be used and everything else would be off until the final work is done and tested before the inspection.

I'm not defending your contractor and if you in a legitimate position to get someone else to finish the work you should go and do that because that would be in your best interest.

As trying to settle with him 90% of the time it will get you nowhere and if he does agree it will be a miracle.

In any case agree or not... you have to get a few estimates what it will take to finish/fix his work, document everything previous contractor did, the new contractor will have to write everything up in detail what is left, what needs to be replaced/fixed, etc and present that to your contractor and you will need that if the case goes to court.

Also keep in mind that not many contractors will agree to take over someones job (depending @what stage the job is, usually you have better chances to get someone in early stages of takeover vs. later stages because when they take over at later stage, they will inherit all of the headaches and already unhappy customer who paid out most of the moneys)

But if you do find someone to finish it and I'm not sure what stage the job is now and how much the previous contractor messed up and to what level... but most of the time new company will charge more money in comparison to the leftover balance to cover themselves.

It's the worst situation to be in for anyone so I hope you get this resolved and get everything done.

Wish you all the best!

I'm sorry to all of the above posts . You're all qualified people who I respect but really a qualified electrician does NOT leave hot wires lying about. There should be nothing left HOT for anyone to touch. It's not the job of a home owner to check whether things are hot or not. Most homeowners have no clue on how to do that and that's why they hire a qualified licensed electrician, That's their job, If they didn't do that I would say they are negligent and do not know what they are doing.

Should your 8 year old be playing around pulling things out of electrical boxes...NO, I don't know if that was the case in this situation,. If all of this is for you to file a law suit,,,,,good luck, you're wasting your time and your money.

But, homeowners who hire professionals are not expected to supervise their work and make sure it is safe.

Inga

"electrician (sub they hired) left the wires for the dishwasher, garbage disposal and outlets on the island hot, and our 8 year old son was shocked! What should be done about that type of issue?"

Immediately seek emergency medical care. Electricity can cause internal damage to the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, renal, and nervous systems as the current travels along blood vessels and nerves. What is visible, on the skin, is the tip of the iceberg; most damage is internal.